Rear brake drum removal advice for what its worth

[Mr. Belvedere]

I was and I know others on this site have had problems with lug bolts popping out and stripping when under load pulling rear brake drums that are really good and stuck. If this has happened, here is what worked for me: get a tap 1/2" 20 threads per inch and clean up the damaged threads and then spray brake cleaner or similar down the threaded holes in the drum to get rid of any grease since you do not want to encourage slippage. Pick up some grade 8 1/2" bolts also 20tpi that are at least a 1/2" longer than your lug bolts. For me this made a big difference for a couple reasons

1.) By the time you put the tool in position on the hub and put the lug bolts through your lucky if the bolts have 1/2" of bite so with longer bolts you can utilize every available thread for more holding strength.

2.) The original lug bolts on the car are fairly soft and seem to strip fairly easy, not so with grade 8 bolts. If they do strip out I guess you run the risk of doing more damage to the drum threads then to the bolts, a risk I took in desperation.

* As for the left side I am unsure where you can get left hand thread grade 8 bolts. I suppose a good hardware store will be able to get them for you. I was lucky as my problem hub was on the right side.

** Also it helps to have a good high quality hub puller like the Snap-on unit I borrowed from Bob Amos, thanks alot!

I find it rather hilarious the factory puts on castle nuts and cotter pins to hold the hub on. Once the hub is torqued I think I could take my castle nuts off all together with out fear of them coming off. You would think after you took them off once it would be easier the next time not so! It's a pain in the a$$ every time. Mr. B

[Normspeed]

Thanks for the tip Richard. I agree, they don't get any better after you've pulled them once or twice. I've tried a thin coating of never sieze, didn't help a bit. Darned things stick like glue.

[laynrubber]

I also use a little heat on the drum hub. But yes grade 8 bolts are the answer. Good luck in some smaller centers finding L/H threads

[hucks 50]

you have to get them off first to put g 8 bolts in dont you?