intro and Q

Hello to the forum:

I have inherited a 66 CJ-5A that is fairly rusty, but runs well. Apparently it was used as a snow plow in North Carolina, then spent a considerable amount of time on snowy roads in Iowa. The body has seen better days, but that adds to the charm for me .

Looks like there's alot of helpful information here and I'd like to thank everyone in advance for any suggestions.

Question: I'm replacing the hydraulics due to a leak, and cannot get the drums off for the life of me. Is there something I'm missing or is it a battle of wills?

Thanks,
Pat

 

In the front, the drum is pressed onto the hub. You have to take the hub off, you will need to take the bolts off on the cap, and have a hub socket to take off the jam nut, retainer and inner nut.

If you have done that, you may be able to loosen the adjuster throught the small access slot in backing plate, it helps to have a brake adjuster tool. You also may find some rapping with a hammer will jar it loose, careful not to break the brake drum, it is cast.

 

some have the stud pressed thru the drum as well,although his shouldnt be,so you are both right this one should have 3 counter sunk flathead screws that hold the drum to the hub,not sure what year they started pressing the studs into the drum as well,but i have a 11" setup that is that way

 

My apologies, I mispoke- the drums aren't pressed on. It is my understatnding they are often (as mine are) siezed to the point that (I have been told) the best way to separate is to press out the lugs. I have read in the threads you linked to that others remove the hub and drum as an assy. (as I have) to access brakes.

Hope this helps.

 

thanks for all the input.

I did not see any screws, but it's pretty rusty and I will check again.

if the lugs are swaged, how do you remove the drum without cutting the lugs? (I tried to search but didn't get any hits on 'swaged':?)

seems like it would be tough to service your brakes if you had to replace the lugs each time...

 

correct sparky my 10 inchers didn't have any screws. took me a while to get em off though.

bricktop, make sure you back off on the star wheel for the adjuster a ways though

and welcome from iowa! rust is our third largest crop.

 

Welcome from the hills of middle TN.
I had to beat the snot out of mine to get them off. R)

 

the reasons the drums are hard to pull of are as follows: once you get the drum off, you will find a lip on the edge of the drum, where the pads didn't touch during braking. the other reson is the drum has rusted to the hub.

To prevent fighting and 4 letter words being used during the next brake service, I recommend the following: take a 4-5" grinding wheel and make a taper on the edge of the drum. this will prevent a lip from formming as fast. To prevent the drum/hub from fuseing together, neverseize the crap out of the mating surface. In fact, make it a habit to use a liberal amount on ANY bolt/screw as you repair/rebuild/modify your jeep.

You will thank yourself for this later.

 

agreed karl, that's why it's suggested to back off on the adjusters by turning the star wheel with a screw driver through the slots on the back of the backing plates. glad you added the reason behind it.