stuck brakes

[41/53dodges]

hi everybody. i am working on a 1941 dodge 1.5t flatbed. it is still in the woods, due to come out this summer. i need to find a good way to unlock the brakes so that it can be pulled out to the field. it will be dragged down the road a little ways. so i also need to know how to get the park brake handle moving again. bad experience the last time without brakes. any ideas? i want to try to save any useable brake parts, so no oil. thanks in advance. BTW- there is a decent amount of terrain it this area, so i cannot do what i did last time and use an ATV to jerk them free.

[Young Ed]

The parking brake doesn't have very many moving parts so you should be able to put oil on them and get it freed up. There are a couple pivot points and the handle button. Oiling these will not get oil on the actual brake surface. For the rest of the wheels the best thing to do if at all possible is pull the wheels and then the shoes. Put the wheels back on with no brakes installed.

[41/53dodges]

problem with that is that the brakes happen to be stuck to the drums, making them impossible to get the drums off without breaking it loose first.

[Reg Evans]

Back the break adjusters all the way off,remove the wheels and whack the break drums all the way around with a hammer. Maybe heat from a small propane torch would help too. Lots of cussing and yelling helps too.

[HanksB3B]

Is it...? If so I'm thinkin a CRANE... not wrench...

Good luck and more than anything...be careful,

Hank

[41/53dodges]

thanks for the advice and your concern. yes, that is the picture of it.

[Big50Dodge]

I wouldn't worry too much about the brakes being frozen if that photo is of your truck. Connect a chain to the frame and get a tractor to drag it out of there. I'm guessing it hasn't moved in a week or two

Once free from the wooded area, you could try to loosen the brake adjusters as mentioned previously, then roll the truck backwards some. Drum brakes work better going forward than in reverse. If 3 of the wheels break free going in reverse and one does not, try adding a big pipe to the last one to help it along while being dragged backwards.

Having dragged an early '80's GM wagon from similar conditions (buried up to the frame, and in the woods), your toughest hurdle is going to be getting it on a trailer. If you have a tractor available in the area with a bucket, that would be your best bet. Lift the front end on the trailer - then lifting the rear slightly, push the truck carefully on the rest of the way. Good luck.

[41/53dodges]

my intent is to break em free where it sits, swap the wheels, and pull it down the road to the barn. no trailer Involved, and it has to turn around a full 180 to get out of the woods, too much terrain to just back out. what we did on my 53' is, we just jacked it up one wheel at a time, wrapped a tow strap around the wheel, and jerk them with an ATV. what do the adjusters look like, anyways? im kinda afraid to stick my head under anything.