Shop Discount Brake Drums

do you have any tips for doing that? ha, I'm sure it's one of those things that once you have some experience you can do it pretty easy by feeling around but since they don't give you the most room to get your tools in there or to see what your doing for that matter it's a little tricky.

I got it to the point where i can almost get the whole thing off, it's just the last little bit gets caught up over the last part of the brake shoes.

Hey guys, sorry it took so long getting back to you, I've been pretty busy this past week. I managed to get them off and replace the shoes. Man was it a PITA!!! Once I got one of them off i was able to see how it worked which did help but still between the strut, the brake line, and trying to fit two screwdrivers in the slot on the backing plate made it pretty challenging.

The drums did have a pretty big lip on the outside of it, I ended up getting them machined at the local shop to clean it off.

Thanks for all of your help, espically Sidom with sending me that video for that one tool!

Do you guys have any suggesstions for preventing this in the future? I do live in PA so it gets inspected annunally which the drums (should) be removed every time, but I was just wondering if theres something else I could do to help keep that lip off for future drum removal.

Thanks Again!,

-Jim

Glad to hear you the those PITAs off..... I hate'em as well...

Like I mentioned before, it's just a design issue. The shoes wear into the drum.

While it's not a requirement to turn drums everytime shoes are installed, on these I would definitely recommend it because of the lip issue. If you had someone just slap shoes on it before without turning, then the old lip stays & it just gets worse.....

What you could do would be periodically check your brks, if you notice a lip forming and there is still room left you could have the drums turned again.
Me....I'm too cheap. Between having to buy a new drum too early due to turning or fighting the shoes to get the drum off when it's time for shoes......... I'll take the fight...... I have more time than money......

If you can get one drum off then just check out the lever and practice on that side.

If not look thru the hole with a light, you'll see the lever sitting on the star wheel. It just pushes straight out to get off the wheel and turn the wheel in the opposite direction.... Before you start turn the wheel a few clicks to see which way it adjusts so you'll know the way to go to back it off.........

I have a long thin screwdriver that I bent, this way it stays out of the way of what ever you are using to turn the wheel with....

Do you mean the brakes are locking up on your and by dragging it in 4lo you can break them loose? I would be pulling the wheels and doing a full inspection. Get the drums off and see if your brake springs are rusted up or broken. Rear brakes are cheap for this. When it is stuck, does cracking loose the front brake bleeders without a foot on the brake pedal squirt fluid and free it up? A flex hose can look fine on the outside and be collapsed inside.

Both sides? Metal shaving not normal, brake dust CAN build up sometimes. If all shoes were worn evenly and all brake hardware working in place you shouldn't have metal shavings?


Make sure parking brake cables are free to move (retract) to full OFF by the spring inside.


In short just drums are not likely but rather probably need a whole redo, wheel cylinders, hardware shoes and drums. If a shoe could tilt with a broken hold-down spring it should be obvious but would redo the whole show anyway as these are not costly as things go to make right and feel perfect,


T

If it is an axle seal, yes you can do it at home. We will need to know what type axle you have. As the styles have different repair procedures. If it is the standard Ford rear end, you need to jack up the vehicle, place on jackstands, remove wheels and drums, place pan under rear end, remove rear end cover, rotate rear end gear until you see a small 5/16 head bolt, remove the bolt, remove the thru pin, push axle in to the center, remove the "C" clip on the axle, remove axle. Use the axle as a toolo to remove the old seal. Then clean the seal housing, install new seal squarely, install axle, install clip, install thru pin and lock bolt, clean rear end cover and either have a new gasket or good quality silicone sealer, install rear end cover, fill with proper rear-end grease. WHeeeeeeewwww! Took almost as long to type this as it does to do the repair. Only forseeable problem is the little lick bolt is apt to break. Be really careful on that part. Good luck.

This reply is for way2old...I have a 1995 half ton e150 with the 5.8L also. I recently tried to pull the rear axles to replace the bearings and just as you said, the little lock bolt broke! I tried drilling for a bolt extractor, but had no luck. Are there any other options to get that bolt out?

This thread is over 2 years old. If you need help with something, please start a new question of your own.

Good pictures. The axle seal is at the end of the axle. I saw other pictures you posted on other sites and the seal is what is leaking. You have to remove the axle to get to the seals. The seals go around the axle at the point you pointed out on the other pictures. Once you follow the instructions, and remove the axle, you will see the seal. Please do not be confused by the other pictures you are trying to compare your vehicle to. These are 2 completely different rear end set ups.

Lol, caught me posting things on other sites eh? Yeah, the guy on there offering me advice has surely cleared up a few things for me. I didn't understand that the axle had to be messed with inside the differential area. You gotta to all that just to change out a seal huh? What about wheel bearings. Do I have to pull the axle just to swap those out?