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When taking the drum off, remove the cotter pin, remove the metal nut cover and unscrew the nut. Wiggle the drum and the washer, and front bearing will slide forward for removal. Reinstall the nut so the threads on the spindle are even with the nut face. Then grab the drum from both sides and pull forward 1 inch and the drum will fall down on to the spindle as the inner bearing leaves the race. Using a small amount of downward pressure pull the drum swiftly towards your body so the drum moves along the top of the spindle. The inner bearing and the seal will catch on the nut and pop out of the hub.
Clean the bearings and the insides of the hubs in gas or solvent until all the grease is gone. Then inspect the races and bearings for pits, a blue color, or wear. Inspect all the brake parts for wear and/or broken parts. Take closeup pictures for us to look at if you are unsure. If the seal is not torn, it can be cleaned and reused. Follow the instructions below to reassemble.
There is a procedure for tightening the nut in the csm but here is a brief description:
There are a couple of methods of properly packing a bearing with grease. First, use a high quality high temp grease. No reason to skimp here. The old method of packing bearings in the palm of your hand will work IF done correctly. This involves placing the bearing and a big dollup of grease in the palm of one hand and working the grease into the inside of the bearing with the fingers of the other hand. It’s time consuming, messy, and there’s a chance it won’t be done correctly without knowing. It’s much easier, faster, and more reliable to get a low cost tool which allows the use of a grease gun to pump grease into the inside of the bearing. It looks like a pair of plastic cones with a zerk fitting that sandwich the bearing in between the cones. You pump grease into the bearing until new grease oozes out from between the rollers and race. If repacking a used bearing, continue to pump until all the old grease is out and new grease begins to ooze out. Lastly smear new grease on the entire outside of the bearing before installing. If repacking the inner bearings, you’ll have to remove the inner seal to get the bearing out and replace it with a new seal after the bearing is back in. Clean off the spindle and clean the old grease out of the hub as much as possible. Coat the spindle with a light coat new grease.
Per 60’s GM service manuals, here’s the proper method: With the wheel raised and cotter pin out, tighten the nut to 12 lb ft with a torque wrench. Back off the nut one flat and insert the cotter pin. If the slot and pin hole don’t line up, back off the nut an additional half flat or less as required to insert the pin. Note: Bearings should have zero preload and .001” to .008” of end movement. Bend the ends of the cotter pin, replace the dust cap, etc. With a drum brake adjusted for no drag or a disc brake with the caliper removed, it’s normal to have a slight amount of play detectable in the bearing.
Okay. I am going to ask this question very slowly, because I ask it a lot, and I think some people think I ask it as a sort of a meaningless mantra:
Do you have a Chassis Service Manual?
You have been a member here for seven years and you have had your car for that long.
You are now 31 years old.
At the very least, you have seen me harping on this one issue for seven years now.
If you have a Chassis Service Manual, then read pages 3-2 to 3-5, and look at Figure 3-4.
After that, read pages 5-1 to 5-6 and note figures 5-4 and 5-6.
If you do not have a Chassis Service Manual, then please note that there is a beat-up one on eBay right now for $28 shipped, and they'll probably take a Best Offer for $20-25 (sorry, your year is more expensive than some).
Also, for about the same price you could join the Automotive History Preservation Society and get free access and downloads to hundreds of scanned manuals (which, because they are scans, are not quite as clear as the original manuals are).
FYI, this is NOT a "one piece" drum. This is still a separate hub and drum, with the drum held to the hub by the pressed-in wheel studs. Press the studs out, and the drum and hub will separate (likely with some light tapping due to rust). Reverse the process with the new drum. Be sure the surfaces on the hub that the drum sits on are wire brushed clean before installation.
FYI, this is NOT a "one piece" drum. This is still a separate hub and drum, with the drum held to the hub by the pressed-in wheel studs. Press the studs out, and the drum and hub will separate (likely with some light tapping due to rust). Reverse the process with the new drum. Be sure the surfaces on the hub that the drum sits on are wire brushed clean before installation.
While it should be possible for the OP to remove the drum without removing the hub, my advice would be that while he is right there, he should remove the hub anyway, so that he can inspect and re-pack the bearings, as he has no idea when, or how competently, this was done last.
We've all seen front wheel bearings in pretty sorry shape, because nobody ever took the time to go in there and do the maintenance, so I know that you agree.
While it should be possible for the OP to remove the drum without removing the hub, my advice would be that while he is right there, he should remove the hub anyway, so that he can inspect and re-pack the bearings, as he has no idea when, or how competently, this was done last.
We've all seen front wheel bearings in pretty sorry shape, because nobody ever took the time to go in there and do the maintenance, so I know that you agree.
- Eric
Read that post again, Eric. Nowhere did I suggest leaving the hub on, as step one (press the studs out) requires having the hub and drum off the car and on a press.
Eric, thank you for taking the time for that awesome description it will help me a ton.
MDchanic, I do have a service manual I bought on ebay when I got the car. It came printed and in a 3 ring binder. Some of the pages are missing and some are hard to read. It's not the easiest thing to follow. I know, I have been here 7 years, I am 31 and I ask a lot of basic questions. Keep in mind I have absolutely no one in person I can ask to help questions to other than mechanics who are waiting to take me money. I always ask tons of questions because I don't want to open up a can of worms. Little things you guys say like "Just press the studs out". Keep in mine for someone like me who hasn't even seen a drum like this, how do you think I translate that? I have no idea what just press the studs out means nor do I have any idea how to safely transfer it onto a new drum. We all have started somewhere. I learn as something breaks and I have no option but to repair it myself. This is a first time for me.
Last edited by yeahbuddy; December 9th, 2016 at 03:35 PM.
FYI, this is NOT a "one piece" drum. This is still a separate hub and drum, with the drum held to the hub by the pressed-in wheel studs. Press the studs out, and the drum and hub will separate (likely with some light tapping due to rust). Reverse the process with the new drum. Be sure the surfaces on the hub that the drum sits on are wire brushed clean before installation.
I dont understand. If I pull off the drum you are telling it is NOT going to look like this diagram?
Not quite, but sort of... Pull the whole drum off and you'll see this..
Its really not that hard, however it is a dirty job. Wear old clothes that you don't mind throwing away for your first time. Buy some good hand cleaner.
I would have a tub of bearing grease (yes you can use the disc brake stuff), a hand full of rags, an open top oil drain pan and some solvent or gas for cleaning parts. Clean the parts outside.
Okay. So, to clarify, remove the drum as though it is integral with the hub, have it measured for wear, end then IF it needs to be replaced, it can be separated from the hub. Right?
Originally Posted by yeahbuddy
... I do have a service manual I bought on ebay when I got the car. It came printed and in a 3 ring binder. Some of the pages are missing and some are hard to read.
Okay, so you got a scanned and re-printed manual, instead of an original.
See above: An original manual, even a beat-up one, would serve you better.
Even though it is missing pages, does it have pages 3-2 to 3-5 and 5-1 to 5-6?
Those are the pages you need for this job.
I would strongly recommend reading through those pages and then we can fill you in on anything that you don't understand at that point.
I know that you don't have a lot of prior knowledge of this stuff, but you can gain a tremendous amount of information from reading the manual, and this will help to direct you to more specific questions about the things you don't understand.
Also, if you do need to change the shoes or springs, you will be much happier with a set of drum brake tools, which can make the job go very easily.
Okay. So, to clarify, remove the drum as though it is integral with the hub, have it measured for wear, end then IF it needs to be replaced, it can be separated from the hub. Right?
S' alright. (Eric's old enough to get this reference)
Okay, so you got a scanned and re-printed manual, instead of an original.
Let's just be sure that the OP has a Chassis Service Manual and not an Assembly Manual (PIM). The latter are what usually come in a three ring binder with pages missing.
Let's just be sure that the OP has a Chassis Service Manual and not an Assembly Manual (PIM). The latter are what usually come in a three ring binder with pages missing.
You guys nailed it. I am a visual learner and this is what I was looking for. I understand what is going on now. It all makes sense now actually when I had the brakes repaired last year the mechanic wanted to replace the drum. He kept saying he didn't have the tool to press the hub to the drum. I guess he couldn't install new studs.
I have the assembly manual. I will need to buy the service manual.
You guys nailed it. I am a visual learner and this is what I was looking for.
Then this information from the Chassis Service Manual should help as well.
Originally Posted by yeahbuddy
He kept saying he didn't have the tool to press the hub to the drum.
He just wasn't creative. I have not had to disassemble one of these myself, but, in general, if heat and judicious use of a sledgehammer won't work, then sometimes using a bottle jack between a truck and a concrete driveway, or something similar, could work.
Originally Posted by yeahbuddy
I have the assembly manual. I will need to buy the service manual.
Definitely. In the meantime, these excerpts should help.
At age 16 I did a complete brake job on my '64 F-85. This thread reminded me of the fruitless hour I spent banging away on the front drum (WITHOUT A SHOP MANUAL!) trying to remove it. I ASSUMED it was just like the rear. It is funny now.
They do put up with a lot of abuse and still keep working, though, don't they?
I was lucky to have done brake jobs with my old man on old VWs and '40s F_rds, which come apart the same way, before I did my own, so there were no surprises (The surprise came when I did my first fullsize - "What the hell is this? A speedometer cable???").
At age 16 I did a complete brake job on my '64 F-85. This thread reminded me of the fruitless hour I spent banging away on the front drum (WITHOUT A SHOP MANUAL!) trying to remove it. I ASSUMED it was just like the rear. It is funny now.
Without going into great detail, I believe all of us learned by trial and error back then. All I had was a Motors Manual. The younger generation should really thank Al Gore for inventing the internet...
At age 16 I did a complete brake job on my '64 F-85. This thread reminded me of the fruitless hour I spent banging away on the front drum (WITHOUT A SHOP MANUAL!) trying to remove it. I ASSUMED it was just like the rear. It is funny now.
X2! I always get asked where I learned this stuff. It's from over four decades of screwing up.
X3.
Though I did generally go out of my way to get a factory manual if at all possible, as soon after getting a new car as possible (I probably got this from my father and grandfather, who, when buying a new car at the dealer, would immediately order a factory manual at the same time), and a non-factory manual if a factory manual was unavailable (I have always kept a selection of Motor and Chilton's manuals on the shelf as well, in case I suddenly "acquire" an old car that I hadn't planned on, as occasionally happens...), I will admit that when I was younger, I never actually looked at the manual for most jobs, unless I encountered a problem.
Hey MDchanic, you're going to be pretty proud of what I picked up off ebay. lol. I found some mint receipts dating back from 68-77 and this awesome authentic letter from Miller Brewing scolding employees for bailing at work! Thanks for the link I grabbed the one you shared. I should of purchased the chassis manual years ago.
Once you've got the manual, you realize how much easier it can make your life.
Now that you've got it, you should leave it next to some place you sit frequently, and just thumb all the way through it over a few weeks - that way you'll know where things are and what sorts of things are covered, and when you need information, it will be easy to find.
It won't answer every question, but it will cover most of them, and it will give you the background and the words to be able to ask the most productive questions about the things that it doesn't cover.
And that letter is great. The Champagne of Bottle Beer. It's all you need to know.
December 9th, 2016, 03:02 PM
