Brake Drums Won't Come Off

[aphaynes]

I just realized I never gave an update here. I did replace the master cylinder. While bleeding the brake lines I found that zero fluid was getting to the right front. No wonder it was pulling left, the right front wasn't doing squat. Replaced the hose on that side and all was well; no more pulling and a new MC working good.

Now, I was not thorough at that point, I never pulled the front drums to inspect the shoes, etc. So Rusty was back on the road, serving me well until yesterday. I was driving to town and started hearing an obnoxious scraping noise; so, back to the house we went. Pulled the drum on the side scraping and the shoes are shot...big time. I definetly should have checked them back when I was replacing the MC. There is a pretty significant groove in the drum, so I assume I will need to replace it. The question now is, with the drum riveted to the hub, I assume I will be drilling those out and the new drum will no longer be attached to the hub in that manner? I will take the both front drums to see if the one can be turned or not, but I expect not.

Also, are local part store chains good enough to get shoes and drums from or is it best to use an online source?

[jagarra]

Mine on my 62 were riveted on too, which indicated it was replaced as an assembly.

Checking on line for parts, it seems that the drum is offered separately, most auto stores like NAPA has them, as well as Rock Auto.
Price isn't bad either, under $30.00. So grinding the heads off the rivets and knocking the hub free may be the answer. Make it a floating drum like the new stuff and you are back in business.

[aphaynes]

Originally Posted by jagarra

Mine on my 62 were riveted on too, which indicated it was replaced as an assembly.

Checking on line for parts, it seems that the drum is offered separately, most auto stores like NAPA has them, as well as Rock Auto.
Price isn't bad either, under $30.00. So grinding the heads off the rivets and knocking the hub free may be the answer. Make it a floating drum like the new stuff and you are back in business.

Thanks for the info Jagarra.

[quest]

Originally Posted by aphaynes

Bare with me here. The only car with drums I have ever dealt with is a 78 Buick Regal. Those drums just pulled right off. Having not checked the brakes on my 2WD 65 GMC 1000 since I got it; and because it is pulling to the left if I hit the brakes hard, I figured it was time to take a look. Problem is after pulling the front wheel I could not get the drum to come off. It spins freely, so I assume it is not the shoes causing the problem. However, there seems to be three rivets in the drum; shown here at 2, 6, and 10 o'clock...



Do these have to be removed? I find it hard to believe that a 49 year old vehicle has never had the drums pulled.

Thanks.

I used to do these old brakes for a living... but Canadian models... they usually have one ore more large machine screws holding them in place I have not seen them riveted like that before.
I would keep those rivets until you verify the condition of the drums. If the drums can be saved then you might need to machine them at a brake shop if it is time for a brake job. if not them just clean everything up make sure everything works including the adjusters and reset your brakes. Make sure you have balanced braking power, that means all cylinders and parts are moving freely and not sweating/leaking.

You may as well repack your front bearings and put in new seals at the same time because if they have not been off in years then they will likely leak when you put them back on.

Have fun and wear dust mask, brake dust is nasty stuff, not good for you!

[GMCDAC]

In post 3 in this thread I mentioned about the potential problems those rivet heads can cause besides the need to grind them off for drum replacement so here goes again but a novel this time.

My '55 GMC uses the same brake drums on all 4 as the un-riveted rear drums on my '70 GMC, so it is possible that the same drums are on your era half ton trucks too.

Anyway, when I got the '55 all I was after to get it running and stopping well and I just made the brakes work by bleeding and adjustment for the time being. Felt fine with a little pull to one side, can't remember which. During this time I ran 2 different types of wheels that I had to keep re-torquing quite often. The first set were some stock Toyota wheels and the second set were some chrome modulars. Both were loosening up every hundred miles or so maybe less than that.

Fast forward to when I had saved enough cash to buy drums, shoes, flex lines and kits for the wheel and master cylinders. Up on jack stands then I noticed the rivets and how badly he heads were wore down on them along with rub marks on the back of the wheels. Both of those sets of wheels were tightening against the rivet heads before seating against the drum/hub assembly.

Maybe I'm the only one that this has happened to but it happened. The modulars went back on after the brake rebuild and stayed tight until I got new tires and went to a stock 1970 wheel a couple years later.

Never had any braking problems at all with the drums not being riveted.

DAC

[aphaynes]

Originally Posted by GMCDAC

In post 3 in this thread I mentioned about the potential problems those rivet heads can cause besides the need to grind them off for drum replacement so here goes again but a novel this time.

My '55 GMC uses the same brake drums on all 4 as the un-riveted rear drums on my '70 GMC, so it is possible that the same drums are on your era half ton trucks too.

Anyway, when I got the '55 all I was after to get it running and stopping well and I just made the brakes work by bleeding and adjustment for the time being. Felt fine with a little pull to one side, can't remember which. During this time I ran 2 different types of wheels that I had to keep re-torquing quite often. The first set were some stock Toyota wheels and the second set were some chrome modulars. Both were loosening up every hundred miles or so maybe less than that.

Fast forward to when I had saved enough cash to buy drums, shoes, flex lines and kits for the wheel and master cylinders. Up on jack stands then I noticed the rivets and how badly he heads were wore down on them along with rub marks on the back of the wheels. Both of those sets of wheels were tightening against the rivet heads before seating against the drum/hub assembly.

Maybe I'm the only one that this has happened to but it happened. The modulars went back on after the brake rebuild and stayed tight until I got new tires and went to a stock 1970 wheel a couple years later.

Never had any braking problems at all with the drums not being riveted.

DAC

I do remember your first post, but I also appreciate the detailed info you provided in this one.

I guess my main question in post #21 was just being curious if the drums had to be bought separately or if someone sold the drum and hub assembly riveted together, or if anyone bothered to re-rivet them when replacing the drum. Although rereading that part of the post, that was not a clear question in the post. No matter though, I bought what I needed yesterday based on or your original post of having no issues with them not being riveted.

I checked some of the online shops mentioned by others above, but went with a local shop once I found out they had everything I needed at a competitive price and I could pick it all up (no shipping).

Thanks for all the input everyone. I hope the weather cooperates this weekend so I can get Rusty rolling again. My wife has spring time hauling to-do's piling up on me.