Brake Drums

[TomJ]

Hi all:

I wondered if the lug bolts on brake drums could be punched through the drum? �I have one thats broken and needs replaced, but I have only pulled the good ones so far and in looking at them it looks like they come through from the back side but mine are frozen (I think) and I can not knock them through.

Also I tried to attach a couple of pictures to show what I'm looking at but couldn't pull it off. �Anyone know the trick to attaching photo's?

Thanks much
Tom

[brotherdavid]

yes they do press out but you will have to do it on a press. they come out very hard.
 go to walcks forum page, he does one on there.

[Carls_jeep]

To add a photo you have to use a site such as PhotoBucket.

[TomJ]

Thanks guys, I knew someone would know.  I bought a '49 last summer and just a few months ago picked up a '51 that a guy a couple hours from me just wanted to get rid of.  The '51 is completely in pieces with alot of things missing, but the frame was ready to go so it seemed like a good start.  My son and I are working on re-assembling the newer jeep by comparing it to the older one (the '49 is stripped down to a running chassis.  Bought all the books and manuals I could find and read all the restoration blogs I could find but there are still some things it would be nice to talk to somebody about.  My next problem is that the engine that came with the newer jeep has several exhaust manifold lugs that are broken off and one that is missing.  Anybody had any experience finding a machine shop or auto shop that can get those out?

Thanks again, I know I'll be back

Tom

[Carls_jeep]

If the brake drum is stuck on the studs spray it with a penetrating oil of choice and let it soak a day. If you use a dead blow hammer on one side of the drum it will pop loose. You may have to spray it several times over several days and whack it a few times each day. At some point it will give up and come loose. The drum is not a tight fit on the studs or axle, it's just rusty.

Anyone that has done a lot of brake work has had to use "mechanical motivation" on the drum to remove them on occasion.

[Bob W]

Hi Tom,

On a CJ-3A the wheel studs are swedged in place. Sometimes they can be pressed out, but sometimes the swedging must be cut to avoid damage to the hub or drum.

[TomJ]

Hey thanks again: I watched the Walcks video, short sweet and to the point. I might try the oil, wack, and wait technique, I have time on that part.
Tom

[rocketeer]

If the brake drum is stuck on the studs spray it with a penetrating oil of choice and let it soak a day. If you use a dead blow hammer on one side of the drum it will pop loose. You may have to spray it several times over several days and whack it a few times each day. At some point it will give up and come loose. The drum is not a tight fit on the studs or axle, it's just rusty.

Anyone that has done a lot of brake work has had to use "mechanical motivation" on the drum to remove them on occasion.

Carl, I think you might be confusing a CJ3A drum with later model drums where the studs are part of a flange on the axle and the drums just slide onto the flange. That's not the case with a 3A. The studs are pressed in from the rear and then swaged to hold them in. They are actually swaged into the outer plate on the drum itself. To prevent damage to the hub and/or drum, a hydraulic press should be used to replace them.

Look at the shoulder of the stud as it exits the outer flange and see if it looks like the corners were peened over. I've seen that in the past. That peening usually needs to be ground off before trying to press the stud out or it can enlarge the hole to where a new stud will not tighten up when pressed back in.

Larry

[Carls_jeep]

Actually I was describing how to get the drum off the axle flange and studs. To get the studs out of the axle is not always easy. It seemed like he was trying to get the drum off the axle shaft flange.

I went to the shop and looked in the Willys shop manual and another rebuild manual I bought. The Willys manual shows the drum on the inside of the axle flange and the other manual shows the drum on the outside of the axle flange. My drum was on the outside of the flange and I just smacked it and it popped right off.

It looks like some drums are on the inside of the flange so you would have to pull the flange first to pull the drum. The only Jeep I have worked on is mine so others may be different.

Almost all drum brakes on cars and light trucks have the drum on the outside of the axle flange so they are easy to remove with a little persuasion.

[rocketeer]

But these jeeps didn't, not from the factory. All CJ3A and most M38's had integrated drums and hubs. 1952-71 CJ3B, CJ5 and CJ6 models with the 9" drums used seperate drums. Someone changed your rear brakes to a later version sometime in the past.

The drums and hubs are held together by the swaged lug studs hence the cautions that Bob and I have posted.

Larry

[Carls_jeep]

So it's as I thought, there was a variation in production. Well, if the brake drum is behind the flange you could beat on it for years and not get it off.

Since his Jeeps are a '49 and '51 then the drum is behind the flange but I think he said the whole Jeep is in boxes.

Like I said, if the drum is on the outside you can pull the drum and then the flange but if the drum is behind the flange you have to pull the flange and drum.

I got to thinking so I pulled one rear wheel and my drums are on the inside of the flange so I had to pull the flange and drum at the same time. I remembered making a puller to pull the flange but I thought I had the drum off first . Old timers brain fart there.

I don't doubt the studs are swaged to keep them from coming out when you change a tire.