BBQ Brake drum.

[John - NNY]

Well, I burned 1/2 bag of charcoal under my rear brake drum to try and get the brakes to free up. No luck. The adjuster on the back doesn't budge either. I also heated it with a oxy/acc torch for 30 minutes. No luck. I also used a 12' section of train rail as a breaker bar. Again, no luck. It looks like I will have to torch the drum off. I think the drum has been stuck for 50-60 years.

John
NNY

[Chris Haynes]

Have ya tried Kroil or PB Blaster? The adjuster is obvilously rusted and ya need to remove the rust before it will turn.

[Stakebed]

yea spray everywhere in any holes aroudn the backing plate and drum with PB blaster, liquid wrench or somehitng (use the whole can if you have to) and let it sit and soak for a few days

[E.Moore]

If you find that nothing works to get the drum loose from the old brake shoes, You might consider using hte acetelyne torch to melt the adjuster out. By carefully cutting away the adjuster, the backing plate can be saved and possibly fit with a hydraulic wheel cylinder. Once the brake adjuster has been eliminated, the shoes should be free to move away from the drum. The drum should be free to turn, then the fun begins to get the drum separated from the axle shaft.

[Chris Haynes]

By carefully cutting away the adjuster, the backing plate can be saved and possibly fit with a hydraulic wheel cylinder.

I am very interested in any information you have on converting a AA to hydraulic brakes. Specifically what shoes and wheel cylinder fits.

[E.Moore]

Scroll down the forums to March 18, 2008 and you can see a pair of front AA backing plates with hydraulic cylinders and AA shoes. Rears would be done the same way.

[Chris Haynes]

Scroll down the forums to March 18, 2008 and you can see a pair of front AA backing plates with hydraulic cylinders and AA shoes. Rears would be done the same way.

I can figure out how to install the hydraulic units. I just need to know what Year/Model will fit. Hopefully not something as old as 1951 and impossible to find.

[Jim505]

I had a similar problem with my AA. I found an old blacksmith shop and he had all the stuff needed to get things loose. Suggest you check out a railroad workshop or see if there is a blacksmith locally that has been around for many many years. This guy had a railroad wheel puller and another tool that got the wheel broke loose. Good Luck.

[John - NNY]

I was ready to start torching the drum off. I had one more thing to try. I used a 12 foot section of train rail as a breaker bar and beat on the drum with a sledge hammer. I was able to get the drum to turn a little bit. I don't plan on using this drum.

Now I need to fabricate a wheel puller.

John
NNY

[dyoungs]

Where are you???

[Chris Haynes]

I took the KR Wilson tool book, my rear hub and drum to a fabricator to get a puller made. So now he sez he can't find my freshly restored hub and drum with a NOS bearing in it. So much for taking projects to the experts.

[Tony G]

Knuck,
Looking at a pic of the KRW tool (if I saw the right one) didnt instill confidence in its ability to remove stuck 80 year old hubs.I made a whopper of a puller for mine. I took a hub out of a rotted out wheel and welded a wide pipe/tubing over the center hole and welded a large fine threaded nut in the center. A fabricated jam bolt through the middle and cranked it in with a 3/4 drive ratchet.After cranking it almost tight enough to flip the truck over I gave it a couple whacks with a sledge hammer and bada bing it popped off.

[dyoungs]

I have a puller that I made out of 5/8 plate steel and a 20 ton bottle jack if you want to use it. My phone is 607-217-8404... Not sure if there is anything else you need..
Dave

[GreMac]

Hope y'all don't mind me jumping in on this. I have a 1933 BB and I haven't been able to find a good technical forum site for the AA's younger brother so I have been scouring the web for AA info when it’s applicable.
I have a right rear drum locked up just as John NNY described; I could barely turn it with about six feet of cheater pipe. I couldn’t back off the adjuster since the brakes were engaged and I actually ended up breaking the head off the adjuster trying to do so (another TIG welding project). I am trying to salvage all the parts I have so I ended up drilling out the rivets from the backing plate with intentions of pulling the drum along with the brakes still engages in it. I didn’t realize that the parts were also attached at the axle housing flange so drilling the rivets was a waste of time. Any way I ended up building a puller, that can double as a battleship anchor, out of oilfield scrap. The puller ended up a being overkill because I was able to pop the taper without even using a hammer. Even after the taper popped the puller was still needed to drag the drum across the service shoes, which were locked in the engaged position. Definitely the first of many educational experiences in the process of restoring this truck.

Does anyone here know of a good online resource for BBs?


Thanks - Greg

[modeleh]

Greg,
This forum and the newsletter set available through Neil Wilson is about the best information you'll find for the BBs. I have a '32 that I am working on right now, there are similarities with the AA chassis but also lots of differences such as the rear spring hangers, which I had a problem with and had to have new bolts made with longer threads because the first few threads in the hangers were stripped. There seems to be some things you'll run into that you'll be sort of on your own with. Drop me an email if you have any questions.
Kyle.