Unbolt or just pull brake drum?

[Rivernut]

I have an '03 V6 AWD Vue in need of a rear brake job. Do I need to undo the bolt in the center of the axle to remove the drum - is the bearing assembly at the back of it, or does this just slide off with a hammer / torch? I can't tell if it is one piece with the hub or two. Is it rusted together or is the drum integral with the hub? No manuals available still, and I could find nothing on this or other sites.

[IMkenNY]

I have an '03 V6 AWD Vue in need of a rear brake job. Do I need to undo the bolt in the center of the axle to remove the drum - is the bearing assembly at the back of it, or does this just slide off with a hammer / torch? I can't tell if it is one piece with the hub or two. Is it rusted together or is the drum integral with the hub? No manuals available still, and I could find nothing on this or other sites.

No need to remove the axle nut, the drum just slides off after you remove the wheel.

Hit it with some PB blaster where it meets the hub and wheel studs to break up the rust.

Make sure the emergency brake is not engaged

[greyhound bus]

Once you get the drum off, remove the rust from the hole in the drum and on the hub and apply a little bit of antiseize. The next time, the drum will slide off pretty easily. For you new Vue owners, it's best to do this BEFORE the drum gets rusted to the hub. The same thing applies to the front rotors, but they come off a little easier even when rusted. Be careful not to bend the backing plate or break a chunk off the drum if you have to bang or pry to get it to release.

2007 Vue FWD V6- Storm Gray, GT velour seat covers, Trailer hitch, Saturn hitch cover, Cargo mat, Vent Visors, Rear air deflector, Splash guards, Custom Saturn front license plate, Chrome exhaust tip.

[Ritz]

A rubber "dead blow" hammer is usually pretty good for breaking the drum loose from the hub. It should just slide off.

Best,

[GearGuy]

Of course make sure you remove the drum retaining washers around the lugs before you start to remove them.

And I agree with applying the anti-sieze while new. Makes it so much easier to work on over the life of the vehicle there after...
I've also tried a thin layer of very thick synthetic caliper grease with good results.

[Rivernut]

I've already beat it with a large mallet and sledge, hitting it in, out sideways, you name it. I took off the two washers too. I tried a propane torch and I sprayed a lot of Liquid Wrench in all the right spots and rotated it in between spraying it over and over. I gave up and put the wheel back on. This was a couple of days ago. Maybe when I take the wheel off it will have loosened up.

[F-Bobby]

I've already beat it with a large mallet and sledge, hitting it in, out sideways, you name it. I took off the two washers too. I tried a propane torch and I sprayed a lot of Liquid Wrench in all the right spots and rotated it in between spraying it over and over. I gave up and put the wheel back on. This was a couple of days ago. Maybe when I take the wheel off it will have loosened up.

i dunno how mechaically inclined you are but im guessing somewhat being that you wanna try to do the drums on your own. 1st the reason its more then likely stuck on there is because a ridge of rust has formed around the outside of the drum lip where the shoe does not touch. this prevents the drum from sliding off as this ridge gets caught on the shoes tem selves. IF you can. get a long 90 degree pick and a small flat head screw driver or brake spoon (i prefer the brake spoon because its bent almost at a 90 degree angle). This is where you need some patience. take the rubber grommet out of the back of the drum plate. next take the pick and turn it so the hook part is horizontal and slide it inside. you are gonna need to feel around with it. you should hit the star wheel adjuster almost immediately. you need to slide the pick over to the front side of it. when you do turn the pick 90 degrees so the hook is now facing down. and push towards the outside of the drum. if you feel something that had some spring tension to it stop and make sure you hold the pick there. That is the adjuster lock. Then slide the brake spoon in. and try to work the wheel around in what would be a counter clockwise direction from the back of the vehicle. that will pull the shoes in and then you shoudl be able to pull the drums off. This is a very pain in the ass thing to do if you arent used to it. i made a pick exactly the right length so i could do it at work.

its a bit tight behind there so you may have to find the right angle so you can manuver the pick and the brake spoon to get them both working in tandem to move the adjuster.

after you get the drum off get some nice rough sand paper and clean all that rust off the inside of the drum and put aintiseize on the hub surface.

BTW Its a bad idea to heat the drum. You can warp them pretty easily and then you are gonna have a nasty brake pulsation.

hope this helps.

[Dante]

Good suggestions gang. Last time I rotated my tires, I tried to pop off the drums and I'll be damned if I couldn't get them loose. I'll try the penetrating oil and a brass mallet, and if needed, the "spoon" idea next time.

[Rivernut]

I do a decent amount of work on cars. I bought my current house because it has a four car garage with a pit and counter tops and cabinets on one side for working on cars, boats, lawn equipment, etc. I've rebuilt engines, transmissions, rear ends, and just about everything else on a car, truck, boat etc. It felt like the drum was rusted on as it had no give. Does anyone make a large puller for brake drums? It would be a lot easier than beating the thing to death and sneaking around the back to the brake adjuster. I have done the anti-sieze thing on other drums and it worked well.

[fdryer]

Apparently you're not a 'gorilla' mechanic! :D Now before you get any ideas I had the same drum removal problems you have and countless others will in the future with this stuck brake drum symptom. Beating on it with whatever you can dream up won't work unless you have a brother-in-law in the auto body repair business. After giving up trying I went to him and he did this; took a long 2 x 4 or appropriate piece and placed it on the lip of the brake drum from under the car to force the drum away from the wheel hub, beat on the other end of the 2x 4 with the largest hammer he had (you know body shops have many tools) rotating the drum between beatings and voila! The drum eventually came off, star adjuster backed off or not! Sometimes its good to use gorilla strength as he demonstrated that forcing the drum off from the backside against the lip with large beatings from a heavy hammer will drop the drum in no time. I was astounded and impressed. Will never forget this example and the brake drum never suffered from the beating. When you think it over you'll see the simplicity of this maneuver, hammering the drum against the thin lip to force the drum away from the wheel hub. True gorilla mechanics w/o a drum puller needed! :cool:

[Ritz]

Not sure about the VUE, but a lot of drums have 2 threaded holes that you can screw an appropriately sized/threaded bolt into. As you gradually screw in those 2 bolts they push against the hub and pop off the drum. Might be worth checking out.

Best,

[F-Bobby]

Apparently you're not a 'gorilla' mechanic! :D Now before you get any ideas I had the same drum removal problems you have and countless others will in the future with this stuck brake drum symptom. Beating on it with whatever you can dream up won't work unless you have a brother-in-law in the auto body repair business. After giving up trying I went to him and he did this; took a long 2 x 4 or appropriate piece and placed it on the lip of the brake drum from under the car to force the drum away from the wheel hub, beat on the other end of the 2x 4 with the largest hammer he had (you know body shops have many tools) rotating the drum between beatings and voila! The drum eventually came off, star adjuster backed off or not! Sometimes its good to use gorilla strength as he demonstrated that forcing the drum off from the backside against the lip with large beatings from a heavy hammer will drop the drum in no time. I was astounded and impressed. Will never forget this example and the brake drum never suffered from the beating. When you think it over you'll see the simplicity of this maneuver, hammering the drum against the thin lip to force the drum away from the wheel hub. True gorilla mechanics w/o a drum puller needed! :cool:


yeah and thats a great way to ruin all the springs and hardware in there too. i guess if you are repalcing everything in there its not a bad way to go . but ill guarentee i can get the drum off faster by using my method then with that metchod. and itll be cheaper too.

[F-Bobby]

Not sure about the VUE, but a lot of drums have 2 threaded holes that you can screw an appropriately sized/threaded bolt into. As you gradually screw in those 2 bolts they push against the hub and pop off the drum. Might be worth checking out.

Best,

no thses dont have them unfortunately. on most cars it makes the job a lot easier. however you do have ot watch out because if they are REALLY stuck on there you will crack the drum or rotor in half at the screw holes. and thats no fun at all. lol i had a kia rotor stuck on so bad that after we broke the part where the pad rides off the hub we literally split the hub in half taking it off the car. We called it Kias custom 3 piece rotor design.

[fdryer]

yeah and thats a great way to ruin all the springs and hardware in there too. i guess if you are repalcing everything in there its not a bad way to go . but ill guarentee i can get the drum off faster by using my method then with that metchod. and itll be cheaper too.

True only if there are tapped holes made for this purpose and rarely are they done; most brakes come off readily and machining these holes into drums isn't as cost effective as one would like to think. When those drums were hammered off nothing was bent, broken, or deformed. It was comical when I saw it done but it got done neverless. :D

[Rivernut]

I got them off with my 15 pound sledge. I did not to beat it too bad without knowing for sure that the drum was a separate piece from the hub. I also know that bearings can be damaged by impacts such as this. I took it easy and hit it on alternating sides, then went hand to hand combat with my 5 pound hand from behind. I used the left over Seafoam spray that saved my SL2 recently. The drums came off pretty easily, but more importantly, I did not damage anything. I was surprised to see my rear brake shoes with 98,000 miles looked virtually new. I tore the brakes apart, anti-seized all moving metal to metal parts and reassembled it with new springs. I kept the new brake shoes in their box for the future. The parts were moving freely. The adjuster was not way out on either. The shoes had worn evenly comparing left and right sides. The drums looked and felt okay on the braking surface. I did notice that the adjuster lever on the passenger side was not fully returning or activating the star adjuster, but the new springs and anti-seize lube helped that. The driver side worked very well with just a lubing. So I am puzzeled. I do not recall ever replacing the rear brakes on this vehicle. I know I was delinquent in waiting 98,000 miles to do a rear brake job on a car I bought loaded for 25K, especially being an amateur mechanic. I couldn't believe I had let this many miles go, so I looked in my Vue's folder and I can't find a receipt for rear brake stuff, so I'm pretty sure these are the original brake shoes. The front have been done three times. Why are the rear shoes not wearing down? They engage when the pedal is pushed, we tested this many times. does this vehicle have a huge bias - more than normal to the front?

[burnout]

Good question... I've got 54k on mine, and the shoes look brand new. I'm not easy on my brakes by ANY means either.

[DavidBo]

I recently did a set of rear drums and was also amazed by the lack of wear after 80K of city driving. Turns out the lack of wear was due to siezed up wheel cylinders, they weren't wearing because they weren't working! I replaced everything and was amazed how weak my brakes were before without even realizing it. Can stop on a dime now and give you a nickle change.

[JimJohn1213]

Just had my rear brakes checked and cleaned at 98K and the mechanic said I still had 70% left on the shoes. So I guess very slow ware is normal for for the Vue.