How can rear brake drums be cutted????

[Carla]

Removing the rear hub/drum assemblies can be very difficult, sometimes, even in a fairly well-equipped shop.

The advice below, about bringing the part cherry-red, and then quenching quickly to cold, is good procedure on some work, but a major error, which must not be done, when removing hubs from tapered axles. That amount of heat applied to a hub would destroy the heat-treat of the axle shaft itself, leading to a much higher risk of an axle shaft fatigue failure. A fatigue failure at the outboard end of the old DPCD passenger/light truck axle shaft could literally send the wheel/tire/drum assembly away from the vehicle instantly, a serious road hazard.

The usual practice, for a 'well-stuck' hub/drum assembly, would be to use a Plomb/Proto 4000 series puller, or its equivalent in one of the other best quality makes (low-quality pullers seem to fail quickly)

After setting up the puller, remembering to leave the axle nut on its threads, just 1/8" or so clear of the hub, apply as much torque as can prudently be done to the puller. Its tempting to strike the puller screw to 'shock' the hub, but, remember, you are almost certainly brinelling the Timkens should you do that. If you are replacing the Timkens as part of the job, that doesn't matter, of course.

Likewise, its tempting to use a very large welding tip on the torch, and take a very quick heat over the keyway........sometimes, this will release the hub before enough heat is transferred to the axle to affect the axle heat-treat state. If the quick heat doesn't work in a matter of a few seconds, quench the hub with wet rags til dead cold, to avoid heat transfer to the axle shaft.

Sometimes, the practical method is simply to bring the puller screw to as much torque as you can reasonably get (use a graphite and oil mix, or anti-sieze, on the puller screw threads) and leave the puller on the hub over-night or for a couple of days time. A well-stuck hub will often 'pop' free after being stressed by the puller for many hours time. (remember to leave the axle nut on the axle with some clearance.........when a hub 'pops' loose, it may be found clear across the shop if you don't.......I can tell you this from personal experience, being grateful that I wasn't in the path of the flying drum)

Its prudent to mark the wheel lug studs used for pulling, and replace them with new ones. At the very least, give the affected wheel studs a very careful visual inspection for stretching/deformation, and replace if they appear even slightly damaged.

As a very worst case, sacrifice the hub/drum assembly to save the axle, by grinding through the hub over the keyway, using a portable disc grinder.

cheers

Carla

[36 Ply]

Go-

Good luck with your brake drums when the time comes to tackle the job. I think that it's great that you drive your Plymouth all over Europe, and I always enjoy the photos that you post.

Regards,
Pat O'Connor

[Go Fleiter]

thanks to all for Your help.

Will try again next winter.

[Eddie M]

I used the Miller Tool (puller) on my '57 and '60 Imperials.  The '57 was stuck for bit, so I applied penetrating oil around the hub and left strong pressure on the center driving bolt and walked away from it for a few minutes.  The pressure and oil allowed the drum to free-up and pop off.

[Wm Steed]

Many years ago I learned a neat trick to loosen frozen nuts, etc, Heat the offending part with torch to a point before it gets cherry red. Spray water from a spray bottle onto the part to "quench" the part. The sudden expansion/contraction of the metal will usually turn the part loose with no damage to the part. The application of heat to the part does less damage than beating on it with a big hammer....Bill

[Plymouth-guy]

To each his own, I just have never needed to used something as large as a sledge.

[elmo]

I dont think using a sledge hammer is over kill as long as it is used in conjunction with the proper puller , and the axel nut is first removed then turned round and put on backwards  just enough to protect the end of the axel , with the castelations facing in , then tighten the puller as far as you can , give the puller a good and i mean good hit , then tighten the puller again and hit , i guess you get what i meen , after awhile it will come loose , i have even used a bit of pipe on the end of the wrench to get more pressure, any way thats the way i have done it over the last fourty years so far no failures

[Go Fleiter]

Thanks, Guys, followed the hint letting the axle nut as safety  device. 
We had a truck size air hammer too on the puller.
We warped the  .31 inch steel puller too (Foto see brake drum thread March 14th).
We don?t try again taking off the drums before winter.

For now, we drained the wrong brake fluid (Dot 5.1 - alcohol) out with lots of  siliconic Dot 5.0.

The axle nuts had been loose since last year, we drove 1500 miles around the block (baltic sea and northern sea), but no loose drums.

So, this season may begin, axle nuts still loose and pinned. We made three small holes to the centers of the cones to let pentroil diffuse in better. No hubcovers - I refill the holes once in the garage weekly at least. Time must do.

[Plymouth-guy]

I think a sledgehammer would be overkill and may damage something. I use a three pound mallet that produces plenty of force.

BE SURE to spin the axle nut on the end of the axle flush before striking and be careful to hit it straight on. A couple times, when I was younger, I neglected to do this and not only magled the threads but bent the axle tip! Ouch!

You know what I ended-up doing with my '61 New Yorker? I broke my cheap JC Witless wheel puller, so I loosened the axle nut about 1/2 to 3/4" and slowly drove it around the block until the wheel broke loose. I know a lot of guys that have performed this fete with positive results, none of whom failed.

[Bob]

Go,

elmo54 is correct, you won't gain a thing by cutting the drums.  Just get a good wheel puller and a sledge hammer, along with some good penetrating fluid to spray on the hub where is fits on the car.  Keep working at it and before you know it, the hub will pop off, but make darn sure you have the axle nut on as your are pounding, because once it pops off, it will do so fast.

Good luck and keep us posted
Bob

[elmo]

Go   cutting it up is not going to gain you anything , my advise earlier still stands , keep the heat away  , in my previouse reply i mentioned the models that i had worked on , it was not onlly one of a kind , of each one of those that i have owned , there would have beeen at least two-three that i had as  parts vehicles that had to be stripped down for parts ,and they all used the same system as your 51.in the end they all eventualy came off just using the right puller

[Go Fleiter]

Thanks for wishes and help on thread 51 brake drums.

This one extra just on this part of the question:

When looking to the spare drum, I wonder how ever we can reach the inner 2 thirds of the cone if we decide to cut it up.
How can we avoid to cut the brake shoe plus brake plate too while trying to reach the inner portion of the cone ??????

Any idea ???

Greetings ! Go