I'M FAWKED!! Rear Drum Is Stuck....

[dogboy2]

Now I've done it....FAWKED myself good yesterday while trying to get the rear drum off the passenger side to replace a leaking wheel cylinder.

Went to back off the rear shoes with the star adjustment wheel as per the FSM, and good news: it turned and turned until it wouldn't turn anymore. Bad news: I turned it the wrong way and tightened the shoes outward against the drum and now they are STUCK. Can't back the star adjuster off to loosen the shoes - the brake spoon and/or screwdriver keeps slipping/popping off the wheel as it is bound very tightly. Don't want to strip the teeth off of the star adjuster but I can't get it to move, even with the self adjustment bar depressed off of the star wheel.

Smacked the drum with a dead blow hammer on both sides to try and jar the shoes loose a bit - no effect. Bled a little of the brake fluid off in hopes of relieving some pressure in the line to loosen - no effect.

I'm FAWKED because vacation starts this Thursday and if I don't get those drums off by early this afternoon, I'll be pretty much screwed for getting it all back together and operational by our departure time.

Momma isn't happy and the dog isn't sharing his house Can someone lend some advice so I can get this thing sorted and redeem myself?

Thanks,
-dogboy- '87 FJ60

 

[swank60]

Calm down!!!

The star wheel has a "button" you have to feel around for that releases the star wheel, then it will thurn the other way. You need two screw drivers for the job, use one to hold down the lever, the other to turn the wheel.

If you can get the other drum off, you can use it for ref to figure out placement, etc.

 

[Heffenoche]

There should also be a threaded hole on the face of the drum. Sometimes after you loosen the star they can still be a little stuck. If you can find the right size metric bolt this will help get the drum off. Just dont try this until after you have loosened the star as much as possible.

 

[60wag]

You might be able to get a bit of shoe clearance by loosening the parking brake lever. Its got a stop screw that is adjustable. Shortening that screw might let the lever move in closer to the back plate and give a bit of slop inside the drum.

 

[Fourrunner]

Worst case scenerio, you could cut the pins that hold the shoes and use the threaded hole on the drum like Heffenoche mentioned and pop the drum off with force. Not sure if it would work.

 

[NocalFJ60]

I jack up the rear and sping the tire while tightening it to make sure it is not getting too tight. I have tightened mine up tight and got them loose just fine. Like swank said you have to push on the piece that keeps it from rotating only one way so you can loosen it. I know how you feel the drum brakes are a bitch when you do it the first time. But once you get the hang of it then it is not soo bad. Just calm down and do not get in a hurry and you will be able to loosen it for sure.

If you didn't tightened them too much and both sides are about equal. You could maybe just try and burn the brake pads up. I would really try this unless they were barely rubbing.

 

[Adventure Teq]

Here's an idea,

Remove the lines from the cylinders, take out the 4 bolts that hold each cyl on, use some pliers and pull/turn the spring pin that holds the shoes against plate, disconnect the ebrake stuff, then try to remove the drum with the cyls and pads all together.

Never worked with 60 drums before and am referencing my 40 setup, so I'm not sure if I'm missing something. Not sure if it would work cuz I can't see everything for sure, but it seems like it might.

Sheesh, what a pain, sorry man. Good luck.

Be careful not to snap the bolts though

 

[Poser]

There should also be a threaded hole on the face of the drum. Sometimes after you loosen the star they can still be a little stuck. If you can find the right size metric bolt this will help get the drum off. Just dont try this until after you have loosened the star as much as possible.

8mmx1.25 pitch thread.


Find a 10.9 'hardened' bolt...using an 8.8 'butter bolt' *may* lead to sorrow....



Good luck!


-Steve

 

[tpike]

Some good advice and the best advice here is don't panick. That includes don't force, pry, grind or sawzall anything. ( I know that is how I make a mess generally). According to your description you don't mention using two screwdrivers simultaneously. Give yourself 3 hours to experiment with the mechanism and get a feel for it. Try and remember which way you turned the star first of all. That is your first bit of information. Make sure all tension is out of the break cable and that the ebrake levers the cable attaches to at the wheel have returned (are not stuck themselves). If you tightened it you have to get another screw driver in there and push a locking plate out of the way and try and move the star the other way with a second screwdriver. Spend 10 minutes just getting a good feel for that locking plate if necessary to actually know you are moving it out of the way. Feels like a medium weight spring, nothing hard to hold but you can definitely feel you are displacing it. Holding it with one screwdriver see if you can make progress turning the star with the other. I doubt you can make it worse. If no progress see if the other drum is loose enough so you can take the drum off the other wheel to get a good look at the mechanism. Once the drum is loose enough the threaded hole in the drum is definitely the way to go (after a little penetrating oil on the hub do that now anyway).

There is definitely a feel you have to develop for deflecting that star lock. Give yourself time to "play" with it and get the feel. I can't imagine it getting jammed tight with a screw driver on a little star wheel. I suppose I might look into the hole with a flashlight and put a drop of penetrating oil on that threaded screw (but only one drop). If all that fails you have to try to loosen the other drum and see if the lock and star actually feels different (and is therefore jammed).

Tom

 

[dogboy2]

UPDATE: Problem solved

SOLUTION: bolts in the threaded holes on the face and one BFH coupled with several good wacks forced the drum off of the shoes. PITA but it's off and the new parts are back on.

Many thanks to all who chimed in with the good advice. The dog gives his regards as well and will definitely have more room to stretch out tonight Momma, well, she's coming around slowly....

Love this board!
-dogboy- '87 FJ60

 

[alaska60]

Resurrection of this thread!

Doing my rear brakes this evening and well........................drum was stuck!

This was helpful advise.

 

[rustybucket]

I cannot think of how manyu drums were stuck simply because the owner never ever turned the drums and the old pads created grooves in them. Real friken pita yours was bad enough but at least, there was a answer. Now, try and remove four old rusty leaf springs and your stuck drum will be a walk in the park

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I cannot think of how manyu drums were stuck simply because the owner never ever turned the drums and the old pads created grooves in them. Real friken pita yours was bad enough but at least, there was a answer. Now, try and remove four old rusty leaf springs and your stuck drum will be a walk in the park

This is basically what happened to me. Grinding off the head of the nails loosened up stuff enough to pull off the drum. I was replacing everything including the bellcranks so it didn't matter. Those retainer nails come as part of the hardware kit, so don't sweat fawking them up.

BTW replacing those bellcranks was the best thing ever-perfect e-brake and brake adjustment ever since.