ztim

The wheel came off okay but the drum over the brake on the right rear of my 84 Delta 88 won't come off. What is holding it on? I gotta find a leak.

texasred

Try backing off the self-adjuster on the back side. A rubber or leather mallet works great.

C.J.

ztim

What does the self adjuster look like? I tried a rawhide mallet on the backside of the cover but was afraid I bust something and then be able to get it back on.

Oldsmaniac

Often rust builds up on drum where shoes dont ride. This ridge will prevent the drum from pulling past the shoes. Some backing plates and drums dont have an adjuster slot so you may not be able to loosen the shoe adjustment....if there is a slot sometimes the spring and adjuster lever will only allow the star wheel to push the shoes out unless a second tool is used to move adjuster lever off of spoked adjuster. Lastly if the trouble is a rust ring you can try and scrape it off with a screwdriver between the backing plate and drum....keep working at it and it will release.

Oldsguy

Also, you might have an actual ridge built up at the edge of the drum which is preventing it's removal, if the previous owner never maintained the brakes then you might have to use some very agressive "encouragement" with the mallet, you probable won't damage anything in the brakes by hitting too hard except perhaps a retainer spring and if one of those go then they were too old/rusted and ready to be replaced anyway. C.J. didn't mean hitting the backing plate, hit the drum itself, first on one side and then the other. What you are trying to do is knock the crud and rust from the brakes and get them to recede (sp?) back to their resting position. If you don't know what the brakes look like or have never seen them or can't visualize it then you really should find a maintenance book that has a good diagram of GM drum brakes. It will help you immensely. Also, something like PB Blaster might help if your car has the little adjusting slot on the backing plate, you can put the straw up into that slot and spray the daylights out the interior of that drum, it might help break all that rust and gunk free. You will have a mess to clean up but brakes are really messy anyway and you may end up having the drums turned or replaced. If you plan on doing the brake job yourself, include some brake cleaning spray in your consumable supplies to make the job easier.

Just thought about something else, it could be that the wheel cylinder has some scoring on the inside of it that is preventing the brakes from returning to the resting position, when you do get the drum off, inspect that cylinder closely, as you said your are troubleshooting a leak anyway, it might be better to just replace that cylinder. It is usually cheaper to do that than hone and rebuild them anymore and some people always do them in pairs, especially the fronts but it's up to you.

Pfiffle

I agree. Hit it (the drum) with a hammer and alternate sides you are hitting. Don't "smash" it just Knock it and it will break free.

ozoneblue

If your unfamilar with the brake system parts tear the outher side down for refrence .Also when replaceing wheel cyl do both sides ,My experience has show me it will leak next

American Lead

Is it the floating kind or the kind with the dust cover with the bolt under it?