[nomoreavril]

i know thisll be moved...but i needed a quick answer and i'm doing my brake right now...

loosened lugnuts, raised car, took off ebrake, put in park, removed wheel, removed dust cap thing, took off the wheel nut (the one in the middle) and now my drum still wont come off? its like its fighting me. please i tapped it with a hammer and still nothing. its loose but still nothing. its my passenger drum brake

 

[nomoreavril]

great..moved..now my car will be sitting outside on jacks all night.

 

[nomoreavril]

see...anybody?

 

[SkaAddict]

I'll assume you're replacing the drums? Just get a sledge hammer and beat on them until they crack (and they will...cast iron is brittle and will crack if you hit it enough.) Odds are the drum shoes are sitting in ridges on the insides of the drums making it impossible to remove them without destroying them.

 

[nomoreavril]

no i'm not replacing them, i'm just trying to get inside there and and spray it down with brake cleaner b/c they squeel real bad and dont have money to have them replaced. but i cant get it off at all and its pissing me off

 

[SkaAddict]

Like I said, the shoes have worn themselves into a ridge in the drum, and you're not going to be able to get it out without compressing the cylinder (which is impossible as long as you have the drums on) or breaking the drums. If they're squealing its a good indication that the drums need to be replaced anyways.

 

[nomoreavril]

meanwhile i'm inhaling asbestos each time i hit it with a hammer because i cant figure how else to get it off

 

[madmark10]

did you take the 4 bolts out from behind the drum, once those our out then it should pop off easy or with a hammer

 

[SkaAddict]

Do you mean the four bolts holding the entire rear spindle onto the rear suspension? That won't do much...you'll just have the spindles and brake assemblies seperated from the suspension...not much help.

 

[nomoreavril]

yeah, i tried taking those off , cuz someone said something about them, and i broke my ratchet in the process

 

[nomoreavril]

i'v eactually made progress...i hit it with the hammer like 4 times, hten pull and i get like 1/10th of a mm each time

 

[mighty_mouse]

My haynes manual recomends a puller of sorts.

Mouse

 

[nomoreavril]

WELL i got it finally..my neighbor came and helped me, i guess he got tired of hearing my hammer! lol. well anyways, my gdamn shoes are cracked...like on the pads on the shoes. theres a horizontal crack on one shoe and 2 vertical ones on the other. i'm guessing i need to have them replaced. i dread doing this myself, i have done it on my civic, but this looks a lot more complicated.

 

[ianmcc]

EDIT_ Since you got them off before I finished this post I dunno if this info would have helped......
I believe you have to remove the wheel hub retaining nut.
From my Ford Service CD:
Vehicles with rear drum brakes


CAUTION: The wheel hub removal in this procedure is for installing new wheel bearings, not for access to brake system components.
(This will remove the drum but not give you access to remove the shoes or other brake components- Ian)
Remove the wheel and tire. For additional information, refer to Section 204-04 .
Release the parking brake.
CAUTION: Use a socket to remove the wheel hub retaining nut to prevent damage.

Remove the wheel hub.
Remove the wheel hub retaining nut.

Installation

Vehicles with rear drum brakes


CAUTION: Avoid any impact on the wheel speed sensor ring.

CAUTION: Make sure the wheel speed sensor ring is clean.

CAUTION: Avoid any contact between the wheel speed sensor ring and a magnetic surface.

CAUTION: The wheel hub retaining nut can be re-used four times, mark the wheel hub retaining nut.

NOTE: Do not fully tighten the wheel hub retaining nut at this stage.

Install the wheel hub.

CAUTION: Rotate the brake drum 10 times in the opposite direction when tightening the wheel hub retaining nut to prevent damage to the bearing.

Tighten the wheel hub retaining nut.

Apply the parking brake.

As for removing the 4 bolts.....

Brake Drum
Removal

All Vehicles


CAUTION: The brake drum removal in this procedure is for access to brake system components, not for installing a new brake drum

NOTE: To install a new brake drum, refer to Wheel Hub in section 204-02. (Like stated above- Ian)

Release the parking brake.
Remove the wheel and tire. For additional information, refer to Section 204-04

You may be thinking of the old-style of brake drum, which goes over an axle with 4 (or 5) lugs in the axle and 4 (or 5) holes in the drum. On the Focus, the wheel lugs are part of the brake drum.

 

[SkaAddict]

Drums are never fun...you'll need to get replacement drums, shoes and might as well get a replacement spring kit while you're at it. The new drums will come with bearings already pressed in (the bearings are built into the drums.)

I'm holding off on replacing my drums in favor of swapping to rear wheel disc, considering the replacement drums, shoes and springs will cost about a third to a half of what used SVT rear hardware would cost, and how much easier discs are to replace vs. drums. I remember doing this on my '93 Ranger and it took the better part of the weekend to do both sides...

 

[FuriousFocus]

I've had bad experiences with my rear drums and shoes, BUT i've learned about the whole deal along the way. You do not want to remove the retaining nut in the middle. If you do It needs to be replaced with a new one and tightened down to I THINK - 74 ft lbs. All that you need to do is remove the 4 bolts on the back side I painted mine so I could see them better and put a little never sieze on them so they'll be easier the next time you take them off. Thats just what I did, hope that all off us were able to help you out in some way. I would recomend painting them, It has really helped me see them alot better and it keeps those bolts from rusting out.