WD-45 brakes

I'm having a problem removing the pins that hold the brake shoes in place. I've been spraying them with Kroil and tapping with a ball peen hammer for a couple days now. I did manage to get the brake rods out of the toggles today. Tomorrow I may use the rosebud on the bottom of the housing to try and break them loose. What I don't know is how far do the pins go into the hole on the other side of the shoes? There is no way to get a torch to that side of the pin to get any heat on it. Something else I would like to know is if I would cut the brake shoes from the pins, can I get new shoes? All this is to put new seals in the differential and final drives. Dad bought this tractor from the original owner in '64 and he never had these pins out. Thanks for any advice or encouraging words.

S.C. this is a common problem. Go to the top of the Discussion Board for Allis and click on Archives. Do a search on WD or WD45 Brake Pins and you will find reams of info. There are numerous approaches, but none of them are magical, unfortunately. Time, moisture, rodent urine and a weak design make this a problem for most folks who have to work on these brakes.

Stu is correct. There are lots of posts on this issue. What is unusual in your case is that your goal is the seals inside the brakes next to the differential and the goal isn't to simply change brakes.

The pins go all the way through the brake shoes and go into the casting for the rear end.

I've struggled with these several times and what has worked best for me is as follows. I removed the rear wheel and fender. I supported the main weight of the rear end with a bottle jack placed under the differential housing closest to the wheel removed. I then used a cherry picker (or engine hoist) to support the weight of the final drive and rear axle. I then loosened the large nuts that hold the final drive to the differential housing - don't remove them but have at least 1/8" space between the nut and the casting. Once these nuts are loose, try to break loose the axle from the differential. As soon as the axle is loose, work the axle around until the brake pin comes free. You may need to re-tighten the nuts a couple of times and then re-loosen to get the pin free. Mine came free almost immediately as soon as the axle moved from the differential housing.

I can't recall if the entire axle can be pulled without removing the brake shoes. I believe there is a problem with the linkage but am just not sure.

I just got done getting my brakes out of my wd last weekend. I took a torch and cut the pin in half. i had to take the draw bar brackets off so I could cut the brake shoes. once i got the brake shoes out, the pin on the inside was loose and came right out. Then I removed the axle housing and then I heated the casting and welded a bolt to the end of the pin and took the air impact and broke it loose. worked the same on both sides. I found 1 set of brake shoes on ebay. I am looking for another set.

Thanks for the advice. I have been able to move the pins in a little by bumping with a sledge hammer but they are solid. The shoes are tight on the pins and now I can't turn the right wheel becase the shoes are touching the side of the drum. I've decided the first thing I'm going to try is to weld half inch fine thread studs to the ends of the pins and try to pull them. If that doesn't work I may just cut the shoes. I sure hate to do that. This is a very poor design but I'm sure it was a cheap way to put brakes on this tractor. I'm going to ream these holes out so I can throw those pins in when this goes back together.

The axle housing can't be pulled,because the brake shoes are cupped around the brake drum...been there,done that. Rusty,Mn. has the right idea. I just finished doing the exact same thing to one of my WD45's last night to get the brakes taken apart...what a job! LOL! It took about 4 hours just to get the old brakes taken off. I'll be putting Never-Seez on the pins when I install them this time. It should be available at any major parts store chains. I highly recommend the stuff! Rick

I weld a threaded rod to the end of the pins(5/8" I believe), slip a short section of pipe over the rod & pin, then a couple washers and a nut. Torque on the nut, pound on the end of the rod, heat the casting, and utter a few words of "encouragement".

I had lots of fun with mine. The first one came out with my homemade angle iron puller, used fine thread bolts. lots of oil lots of tapping.

The second brake was completely siezed the rod was hanging down and I have a feeling this brake had'nt worked in forty years. So even to move the mechanism it was lots of oil and lots of tapping.

My angle puller bent like cheese. Tried welding a bar like some others had suggested. Eventually I snapped the cap off flush with the housing. Once it snapped the metal was not as hard. I was then able to drill right down the center and tapped a thread to use the socket and washer pulling method. I think the photos I posted should give you some ideas.