Well, I bought wheel cylinders and shoes, but I can't get the drums off. Anybody know if these are actually secured by anything more official than rust?
The face is threaded in 2 spots, but I don't have any bolts to work with a puller. Any other method besides PB and BFH?
Thanks,
Might try to back the adjusters off as the shoes can have a habit of wearing grooves into the drums and the shoes get hung up in the grooves sometimes.
Typically, removing the outer wheel bearing allows the drum to essentially fall out.
Hope this helps!
Is it stuck to the shoes or the hub? The difference will be i have some play, or i have no play.
There's nothing in there to hold it on other than what you already know about. It's just stuck.
turboswede wrote:Might try to back the adjusters off as the shoes can have a habit of wearing grooves into the drums and the shoes get hung up in the grooves sometimes.
Typically, removing the outer wheel bearing allows the drum to essentially fall out.
Hope this helps!
Thanks, I could take the bearing apart but that undoubtedly entails its own set of issues that I would rather avoid. The DIY on Allpar suggests that route.
I have never gotten the hang of just how Chrysler's self-adjusters work. In their INFINITE wisdom they route the e-brake cable directly across the access port so you can't see a damn thing. Do you need 2 screwdrivers in there (1 to lift the pawl, and 1 to spin the wheel)? And which way do you spin the wheel?
Vigo, there's no play, it's solid. I already pickled around the hub with PB. I just didn't want to go wailing pointlessly on cast iron if it was actually bolted on somehow.
I may go take a run to get a bar puller before I try to take the wheel bearing apart. I understand the bolt holes are M8X1.25 thread?
Thanks, gents.
OK, passenger side off. Just needed a bigger FH. Unfortunately all I have at hand is a splitting maul. 
Hate to say it - but make certain the parking brake is off. A few times some "helpful" person has thrown the brake on while I wasn't paying attention and a every now and then it was me.
Run down to the hardware store and grab some bolts - that is the easiest way.
Otherwise I believe you will need a screw driver to hold the adjuster catch up and another one to turn it. You could also go get a new adjuster kit and a hardware kit and just bust them off.
Reminds me of when I did the rear drum on my pickup, I had my head between the hub and body of the car and had to hold the bar out of the way to loosen the adjuster. If you do it right you will actually loosed the brake instead of tightening it. One brake was covered in gear oil and the other was dry so one drum came off real easy and the other was a pain. A big hammer and a bad attitude helped get it off.
you have to take the outer bearing out, its no big deal.
and the adjusting screws, its a bit of a pain
I just replaced the parking brakes on the Rondo, which are basically drum brakes. How that design has survived for 100+ years is beyond me. Did the designer have 4 hands?
Had the same problem, heres my easy peasy lazy man fix. works every time. go buy two bolts that fit those holes in the drum. tighten them equally with a ratchet. the drum will pop off in less than a minute with very little effort. you only have to know what size bolts fit. if it was a corolla I could tell you. Oh google says 8mm x 1.25 mm. glad to help.
Well, I was thrashing away last night to try to get the van ready for an IKEA run today. I got the wheel cylinders and shoes replaced in reasonable time and started to vacuum bleed them. Lo and behold, huge puddle of brake fluid under the car.
So I climbed under, and just aft of the ABS valve, the rear lines have a section of braided stainless. At either end of those, there is a little plastic clip that holds the lines parallel. They don't even attach to the body. Apparently their main function is to trap dirt and water against the lines so they rust. Both lines rusted through at both ends of the braided section. The rest of the lines look to be in great condition except for the half inch that was under those damn clips.
So now I have to replace 2 10-foot lines that go up and over the tank etc. Plus bleed the whole system and reset the ABS. I may farm this all out for several reasons, none the least of which is that I don't think I can successfully get the van back into the garage without crashing straight through into laundry room.
At least you ended that post on a funny note. 
