Place outer bearing and parts in a clean location or soak in solvent or lacquer thinner. Remove brake drum, pry off inner grease seal, remove inner bearing. Inspect the spindle for wear or discoloration where bearings ride. Run your fingernail across the underside of the spindle to check for a ridge or galling from bearing maladjustment, lack of bearing grease, or wear. Replace spindle if a ridge is present. The spindle is brittle, and could snap at the thin spot. Correct bearing adjustment may be impossible with a worn spindle and could lead to bearing failure.

If the brake drum slides off of the spindle effortlessly, consider yourself fortunate. Sometimes removal can be an exercise in futility, especially if the brake shoes were neglected to the point of wearing down to the rivets. If the drums were not machine turned on a brake lathe, a ridge at the back edge develops, making removal difficult.

Usually you can coax a stubborn brake drum by prying with a pair of screwdrivers between the drum and backing plate on opposite sides.

If it still won't budge, remove the brake adjustment hole plug at the bottom of the backing plate, manipulate the self adjuster ''kicker'' back and back off the adjuster star wheel with a screwdriver or brake spoon. Turning self adjuster downwards loosens brake shoes. Some brakes do not have self adjusters and can be identified by having much coarser teeth on the star wheel. These are manually adjusted by the old ''lefty loosey, righty tighty '' method. If all else fails, due to rusted or seized components, remove brake cylinder retaining bolts at top of backing plate and the brake hose, and grind or cut off brake shoe retainer pins. The brake shoes will still be held in place by the springs, but it may allow enough movement to let the drum pull forward. If nothing else works, proceed to ''plan b''. Good luck !

Ford released a service bulletin as asbestos was phased out that called for manual adjusters to be retrofitted whenever metallic brake linings were installed. Ford's bulletin explained that the self adjusters would over tighten the shoes and lead to premature wear and overheating of brake components. Which brings up the point concerning brake dust. Older linings may contain asbestos that has been proven to cause cancer. Mr. Safety says ''wear a respirator or dust mask to reduce the possibility of inhaling asbestos dust. Use a pressurized can of brake cleaner to remove accumulations of dust by washing it away''. Wear safety glasses. DO NOT BLOW DUST OFF WITH COMPRESSED AIR !

Who knows what evil lurks within the shadowy confines of the brake drum? You will, after a brief inspection (not your underwear).

Pull back the rubber boots on the brake cylinders to reveal any fluid leaks or rusted pistons that may be seized. Although rebuild kits are available, new replacements are the preferred method to eliminate leaks, and it saves labor.

Inspect the area where the shoes rub against the backing plates for wear, and all the springs and hardware. Most brake springs and hardware are available new.

Observe how the brake shoes have worn, if the center portion of the shoe is worn substantially more than the ends, suspect the brake drums of being oversized. Original brake drums can only be surfaced to a maximum oversize of .060 inches. Some replacements claim to be able to be .090 over. Most brake drums have a chamfered edge that can be used as a guide to estimate the amount of drum remaining.

Brake drums that exceed .060 reduces the brake shoes contact area which causes the shoes to overheat and glaze thereby reducing braking efficiency.

I use a micrometer brake drum guage that give an accurate measurement of oversize, however, the drum may be out of round and may need excessive material removed to provide a concentric surface.

CONTINUE