1994 Ford F250 stuck brake drum

JDEM · Dec 8, 2017

I've got my 1994 F250 HD 4WD IDI diesel in my shop after years of abuse. Sterling 10.5" full-floating rear axle. I have been trying for a week, off and on, trying to get one of the rear brake-drums off. Note - this truck has never seen a winter or winter road-salt. Maybe a little salt they put on dirt roads here all summer long. Anyway - my point is - no rust. Clean truck I got from the south-west years ago and garage it every winter.

One stuck rear brake drum. I've beat on it, I've heated it, I've soaked it with rust penetrant, yanked on it with a slide-hammer type puller, etc. Good thing I am in no big hurry, but this is getting ridiculous. I spoke to another guy who had the same problem and he finally gave up and took it to a Ford dealer. He said they got it off pretty quick but has no idea how. I have the factory Ford tech manual and it says near nothing except "do not use heat" and "do not use a puller." So, what else is there, magic?

I am almost out of ideas except build some sort of puller or cut the rear drum off. Anybody else to an idea? I'd love to know what a Ford dealer would do behind closed doors.

What irks me is I just got done doing the rear brakes on a 2001 Chevy Tracker that IS rusty and a winter rig. Brake drums were stuck but - Suzuki was kind enough to have threaded pusher holes in the drums. All I had to do is thread bolts into them and push the drums off.

Wisconsin Cowman · Dec 8, 2017

Did you back off the adjuster?

el6147 · Dec 8, 2017

I did me 92 250 about two years ago same problem. I used a rose bud, had to heat a larger area then you are attempting to get them to let loose. You may experience the same thing that I did is when those drums are heated that much they will crack from the lug holes to the center hole . I replace both with new.

Steve@Advance · Dec 8, 2017

If all else fails, pull the axle and hub.

Then bang it on the floor a few times.

If that doesn't work, put it in the press.

guido · Dec 8, 2017

Hello JDM,

Frustrating as it SHOULD not have happened for the condition it was operated in. How about knocking the studs in, just enough to loosen them from the drum, as they could be part of the problem. Looks like you have heated the center hub of the drum. You can hit the area between the studs, with wood or brass punch, as lot of the rust is in the area. Good luck....

Guido.

John B. · Dec 8, 2017

If it's loose at all it will be your break shoes holding it on and the drum is probably worn so bad that it will need to be replaced. If it's not the brake shoes it's the center hub where you've been heating it. Put penetrating oil around the hub area and use a big punch and tap in between the lug studs as close to the hub as you can. I've never had to heat one up though in over 30+ years.

guido · Dec 8, 2017

Hello JDM,

I assumed that you were able to back the brakes off, and the parking brake cable is fully released?

Guido.

grizz02 · Dec 8, 2017

my 91 f 250 I had to beat on the edge of the drum it finally broke loose I used a 15 lb hammer swing away

DoubleO7 · Dec 8, 2017

If that hammer is the one you been hitting it with right close to the studs/perimeter of axle flange inside...............
Use a bigger hammer!
And swing it to hit the outer most part of the drum.
If your thinking of cutting it off or replacing anyways, use a sledge on it and swing away.

John B. · Dec 8, 2017

One other thing I forgot to mention. Start the vehicle put it in gear hold the break pedal down hard and rev the engine in forward and then in reverse a few times this can break the brake drum loose from the hub when the wheel is off. I've done this quite a few times and it works. There's enough play in the holes where the lug bolts come thru that it will allow the hub to rotate some inside the drum. With the wheel on this can't happen since the drum will be sandwiched between the hub and wheel.

oldproudvet · Dec 8, 2017

I use this vintage of truck on my farm also, no diesel, 460 5spds modified a bit. Large puller that will put tension on the brake drum, not enough to break or crack it. Then I heat the area between the studs. I don't use my rosebud, as I don't want that much heat, but if your patient it will work. I tend to use mappgas, as you can't overheat the steel. Large hammer on the puller or pneumatic chisel with a large blunt driver between the studs, carefully. You want the jarring, not the flattening of the metal which will make it tighter. Always worked for me

gab · Dec 8, 2017

I hammer on the outside edge of the drum which usually pops them loose, also have a blunt end air chisel that I let hammer between the studs. Won't be long now it will be laying on the floor.

504 · Dec 8, 2017

Ok i did brakes for a living so here goes.Pry bar between the backing plate and the drum,and (already been said) hit the outside of the drum(180 deg from the bar),turn it and hit it again. You will not hurt the drum hit it hard(we used to use a 36in bar and a spoon bill tire hammer. We did have the advantage of putting the truck on the hoist. Repete, hit it hard.

Bob · Dec 8, 2017

K, JD, you posted just yesterday about replacing the hub seals.

So you are already planning to remove the hubs and replace the seals.

So, NO issue, go with Steve and press the drums off of the hubs while you have them off to replace the seals.

Or,am I missing something?

http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=ttalk&th=1882197

JDEM · Dec 8, 2017

Yes, that is my next step. I just don't have the special socket yet to get that hub-nut off. I had thought owned every hub socket ever made, but not this one. I know it is stuck on the centerhole area and nowhere else. Oddly the other side came off pretty easy. When I get that pricey hub-socket in the mail -guess will remove hub and drum as a unit and then stick it all in a press.

This whole deal kind of perplexes me. Why the heck didn't Ford or Sterling put a couple of threaded pusher holes in the drum?

Thanks for all the comments everybody.

JDEM · Dec 8, 2017

Yes, that is next. Just do not have that hub-socket yet. Coming in the mail, soon I hope.

451 CUBES · Dec 8, 2017

Slam the edge of the drum straight on with the butt end of a big wood fence post, if your back is up to it and your garage is big enough.

hd6gtom · Dec 8, 2017

If you have a good air hammer with the hammer tool, not a chisel or punch, go around the center of the drum and work around each one of the studs. Might have to go around it a couple of times. In all the years we had a repair shop that method never failed us. If you got ear plugs, please wear them.

Rustmonger · Dec 8, 2017

When we were faced with this in the heavy equipment shop, we would cheat on the hub socket-
just get a small tool with sharp edges ( a hard hex head bolt, an easy out, a slot screw driver,....)
that can be "cocked" in the space between the inside of the hub and the nut. This assumes you have already pulled the axle.
Then roll the drum/ hub assembly in the direction that would loosen the nut (usually ccw) so that the small tool gets wedged in the space between the hub and the nut. Use a tire tool in the lugs if necessary. Done it many times on grain trucks or module trucks during the harvest, and many times out in the oil patch where we were a long way from home and shop. I have never used a chisel, but I sure filed plenty of nuts that had seen chisel abuse. Hideous, the things people will do,....

Good luck, jeff

RusselAZ · Dec 9, 2017

put the wheel back on and leave the nuts loose. Back up and hit the brakes and then the same going fwd. It won't move much but it will move just enough to break the rust.

DENNIS MIN · Dec 9, 2017

jdem,

Perhaps the shoes are holding it in? I heard of a trick that you cut the shoe retainer pin heads off from the backof the backing plate. That causes the entire brake shoe spring arrangement to internaly collapse.

I hope that makes sense.

D.

rrlund · Dec 9, 2017

Last one that I couldn't get off my 85,I managed to rattle off with the air chisel.

Mike M · Dec 9, 2017

That's not an option on my 1981 F350. You have to pull the hub and drum all as one. So you can still do yours this way.

Ragnarok · Dec 9, 2017

(quoted from post at 19:00:40 12/08/17) I use this vintage of truck on my farm also, no diesel, 460 5spds modified a bit. Large puller that will put tension on the brake drum, not enough to break or crack it. Then I heat the area between the studs. I don't use my rosebud, as I don't want that much heat, but if your patient it will work. I tend to use mappgas, as you can't overheat the steel. Large hammer on the puller or pneumatic chisel with a large blunt driver between the studs, carefully. You want the jarring, not the flattening of the metal which will make it tighter. Always worked for me

I've had to air-hammer between the studs before to get Ford drums off....have even resorted to pushing out a couple/three wheel studs with the air-hammer to get the drum to 'pop' free.

It is for sure a removable drum and not a replaced drum/hub assembly like the older trucks???

JDEM · Dec 9, 2017

My 1988 Toyota pickup full-floater is the same way. Rear drum and bearing hub come off as a unit. My Toyota however needs no special hub-nut-socket to get apart.

dr sportster · Dec 9, 2017

You have every tool but the air hammer.

GVSII · Dec 9, 2017

A heavy air hammer around and between the studs or heat in the same areas.Never known it to fail.If useing heat you'll hear a pretty loud crack when the drum breaks loose from the hub flange.I never had to resort to reinstalling the wheel loosely then driving a few feet in either direction and locking up the brakes although I think it would work.

davpal · Dec 10, 2017

The dealers have a drum puller. You can probably rent one at auto zone for the day and solve a lot of grief. You will probably need to go there anyway to buy hardware to put it back together.

1994 Ford F250 stuck brake drum

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