Front Brake Drum help!

bogdonj

bogdonj

Well-known member
Currently re-restoring our 31 Tudor and working on getting the rims power coated and new Lester tires. Well that's being done I decided to take the brake drums off and check the brakes and clean them up and get them also ready for repaint. When I got finished both sides, I looked at the one drum and the bearing racer? Inside the hub on the racer has a crack in it. (see pic). Can this be easily punched out and replaced with another bearing and the inside racer? I hope I’m using the correct terminology? If so I searched on synders and couldn't find a match to the part I need.

Any advice on this would be great! Currently learning every step of the way.

Justin
 

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I have never seen one cracked like that.

You can knock it out.

Very carefully check the hub for a crack too.

Something has let it grow and crack or some hamfister busted it knocking it in.
 
If your drums are like mine when you turn the drums over (such that you are looking from the inside of the drum) and will find notches that enable a punch to be used on the race to remove it.


Charlie Stephens
 
Yes. This is a relatively easy repair.

Terminology: your part with the crack across the face is the bearing "race".

The other part with the rollers is the "bearing" or "roller assembly".

I believe the bearing and race are available separately, but seeing as you have a damaged race, I would assume that the bearing sustained some damage too, so if it were my car, I'd replace both pieces.

You need "front wheel, outer bearing and race".

To remove the old race, flip the hub & drum assembly over, and look down through the hub - you will see four ledges as part of the hub forging - these form the seating surface for the race. In between theses ledges, you should see the back-side of the race: tap downwards on the race with a hammer and long drift-pin, a few taps on one side, then move directly across for a few taps, the go a 1/4-turn either way, a few more taps, then directly across... repeating until the race drops out.

You might need to support the drum on a big coffee-can or bucket, to allow the race to drop-out.

Once the race is out, clean any old grease / debris out of the hub cavity, wipe with a bit of clean oil, then install the new race, tapping in from the front side, going gently to make sure the race goes in evenly.

Pack your new bearing thoroughly, and coat the middle of the hub cavity between the races with grease, and you should be good to go !
 
yes turn it over and knock the race out on the narrow end of hub.....you might want to put both front wheels on jack stands and check the other side....back in the day alot of roads were dirt,,had ruts and very rough.....
 
Both of the outer races on my '31 were cracked like that. I believe you will find that when you start driving the race out of the hub, it will be loose at first, then get tight as you drive it out.

My thinking was that someone overtightened the axle nut trying to adjust out all of the looseness in the front wheel, breaking the race and mushrooming the hub. Probably the looseness was actually loose kingpins.

I ended up finding better hubs/drums.
 
You will need a new bearing and race. When re-installing, make sure the race is tight in the hub and does not turn. There is a supplier out there that sell races that have an oversize outer diameter, but then you will have to get the hub turned so it will fit. You might have better luck, (and cheaper in the long run) just looking for another assembly, (hub and drum) and installing it on your car.
 
If you have trouble removing any Timkin outside bearing races with the punch method, you can electric weld a bead on the running surface of the race, cool quickly with a cold wet rag, and the race will fall out when turned over.
 
Once you have removed the old races, save a wheel set and grind the outside diameter down slightly on a grinding wheel for use in pressing the new races into place.

Tom Endy
 
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