1930 model a rear drums Q.

hemiphil

Junior Member
Wanted to have a look at the rear brakes for ware and I'm having a hard time taking the drum off. Any advice?
 
The hub may be the culprit. It stick on the axle pretty solidly - a little corrosion and/or binding from when the last guy tightened the nut on the end of the axle will lock it up tight. I fought with one a while and then borrowed a rear drum/hub puller from a friend - had it off in a minute. One tip: once you have tension on the puller, whack the screw head with a heavy hammer - that helps break the corrosion. Second tip - there are two styles of puller. One works on the protruding ring hub style, the other on the recessed ring hub style. See p157 in the '12 Bratton's catalog.
 
You need a big puller. The kind that attaches to 3 lug studs. Maybe you could borrow or rent one. I bought one from a Mac Tools dealer 25 years ago and it has never failed to break a drum loose without damaging anything. Be careful with those knocker things that thread on to the axle. You could damage the axle threads.
 
There are several types of pullers. The one I used does not thread onto the end of the axle shaft. It pulls directly on the hub and pushes against the end of the axle.
 
Best type puller for 28-48 hubs is type that clamps on groove in hub,even better than 3 leg type.But I have always managed to get them off by using a home made KO puller.You have to keep the puller tight,jack up the other side,stick 2 screw drivers between drum & B P and keeping pressure on the screw drivers with your knee & 1 hand, hit the K O a good swat or two with a 4# hammer.Ive always been able to get them off this way.The odd time Ive had to heat the hub to get them off in extreme cases.
 
Another way, (has been suggested on the forum here before) is to loosen axle nut a thread or two and drive the car in a circle to loosen. If this doesn't work then use a hub puller.
Paul in CT
 
I've found removing a stuck hub to be the most frustrating job ever in working on my A. I have one hub I swear became one piece with the axle!! I finally bought one of the expensive hub pullers (from Snyder's) and it worked immediately, after I had tried every other kind of puller and everything else--short of hammering on the end of the axle with a BPH, which seems to me a bad idea, bound to do damage somewhere.
 
Another way, (has been suggested on the forum here before) is to loosen axle nut a thread or two and drive the car in a circle to loosen. If this doesn't work then use a hub puller.
Paul in CT

This method might work, but when I was learning mechanics I was told this can mess up your keyways, so I've avoided doing it.
 
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