SteveR Posted April 21, 2019 Report Posted April 21, 2019 Yesterday as I was driving I heard a loud bang from the rear of my car. Upon inspection I found the lest rear brake drum had separated from the hub. Can this be repaired or welded or is replacement required? I see the cost of a new Drum is around $350. Is there an alternative? Quote
Andydodge Posted April 21, 2019 Report Posted April 21, 2019 If its like the ones I've seen over the years the drum is rivetted to the hub........so have the rivets broken?............for the quoted price of $350 what do you get?.....just a drum? or the complete hub and drum and is it NOS or what?............more info on what exactly has happened, pics would help............andyd Quote
PT81Jan Posted April 21, 2019 Report Posted April 21, 2019 I don`t know if your 37 Plymouth has got the same drums like my 39 PT. But I know one of my drums had separated last year, too. At mine it was no problem to weld it. Good welding skills provided ! The yellow arrow representative shows where it has been broken and welded (18 connections brake ring to hub plate). Important was not to grind off the connections, so it was possible to get the brake ring pretty precise centered. It even was not necessary to machine it on a lathe. Don`t forget to clamp the pieces tight together before welding. Also resist the attempt to grind the welds smooth. Strength / safety is more important than uniformity there. Quote
Robert Horne Posted April 21, 2019 Report Posted April 21, 2019 5 hours ago, SteveR said: Yesterday as I was driving I heard a loud bang from the rear of my car. Upon inspection I found the lest rear brake drum had separated from the hub. Can this be repaired or welded or is replacement required? I see the cost of a new Drum is around $350. Is there an alternative? What is the cost of a used drum near you? You could use front or rear drums... Quote
SteveR Posted April 21, 2019 Author Report Posted April 21, 2019 I will try to get some Pictures of the drum. I was wondering about welding. I have a small mig welder and was wondering if that would work, but I thought that you can't weld cast Iron. I am assuming the drum and hub are cast iron. The cost of the drum/hub was reconditioned at $350 on ebay. Unfortunately I don't believe I am going to find one here in England. PT81Jan Mine is almost like the one you have pictured and separated in the same place. Quote
Ranger Posted April 21, 2019 Report Posted April 21, 2019 5 hours ago, PT81Jan said: I don`t know if your 37 Plymouth has got the same drums like my 39 PT. But I know one of my drums had separated last year, too. At mine it was no problem to weld it. Good welding skills provided ! The yellow arrow representative shows where it has been broken and welded (18 connections brake ring to hub plate). Important was not to grind off the connections, so it was possible to get the brake ring pretty precise centered. It even was not necessary to machine it on a lathe. Don`t forget to clamp the pieces tight together before welding. Also resist the attempt to grind the welds smooth. Strength / safety is more important than uniformity there. This brake drum appears to have the rivets ground off. What’s the purpose of this? Is it to allow newer rims to set flat against the drum. I’ve been wondering about this for some time as I intend to mount newer wheels on my 36 Plymouth. 1 Quote
PT81Jan Posted April 21, 2019 Report Posted April 21, 2019 1 minute ago, Ranger said: This brake drum appears to have the rivets ground off. What’s the purpose of this? Is it to allow newer rims to set flat against the drum. I’ve been wondering about this for some time as I intend to mount newer wheels on my 36 Plymouth. Yupp, there were modern rims mounted when I got my PT. I do not remember the exact shape of the rims , but I think your assumption hits the nail on the head. (I went back to original rims, modern ones are difficult in combination with historic registration) Unfortunately I don`t have a picture from the inside of the drum, but I think `the other head` of the rivets is still there. Might also be that there is a weld from the inside ... Quote
PT81Jan Posted April 21, 2019 Report Posted April 21, 2019 4 hours ago, SteveR said: I will try to get some Pictures of the drum. I was wondering about welding. I have a small mig welder and was wondering if that would work, but I thought that you can't weld cast Iron. I am assuming the drum and hub are cast iron. The cost of the drum/hub was reconditioned at $350 on ebay. Unfortunately I don't believe I am going to find one here in England. PT81Jan Mine is almost like the one you have pictured and separated in the same place. I made a schematic sketch / cross-section of the drum. Black lines is intended to represent the drum ring, which is cast iron. Blue lines what I call drum plate (don`t know the correct word for it). This is made of steel. The red arrow in the enlarged view shows the breaking point(s). So welding is just needed steel to steel. Nevertheless that has to be done careful, so that the drum ring doesn`t get too much heat and gets cracks ! Hope that helps, Jan Btw, cast iron can be welded, but luckily not needed here... 1 Quote
Andydodge Posted April 21, 2019 Report Posted April 21, 2019 Still would like to see a pic of exactly where its broken............as for the rivet heads I ground them down on the 41 Plymouth I had to fit Wheel Vintique Chrome Smoothies which were a multi fit bolt pattern wheel so there was enough clearance after knocking roughly half the height of the rivet off..........and the stock screw in bolts held the wheel, brake drum and hub all together .......but a pic of the broken drum would help................andyd Quote
Robert Horne Posted April 22, 2019 Report Posted April 22, 2019 6 hours ago, Ranger said: This brake drum appears to have the rivets ground off. What’s the purpose of this? Is it to allow newer rims to set flat against the drum. I’ve been wondering about this for some time as I intend to mount newer wheels on my 36 Plymouth. If you ground off the rivets, the drum can be separated from the hub. Makes it easier to remove the drums.... Quote
SteveR Posted April 23, 2019 Author Report Posted April 23, 2019 Now that the Easter holidays are past, Time to get to work. Here is a photos of my LH rear brake drum the separation is all the way around. Quote
SteveR Posted April 23, 2019 Author Report Posted April 23, 2019 (edited) PT81Jan Your drawing is a great help. Thank you. It appears the my breakage is on the bend. In welding would it be advisable to grind down the small tab, center the hub and then weld? I imagine I will need a puller to get the hub off the shaft. Everything in England is geared to modern cars. I did look at a puller from Amazon but it said it was for front wheel drive and the dimensions looks like it would be too small. To me it looks like from center hub to center bolt hole is 2 1/4 inches. Edited April 23, 2019 by SteveR Quote
PT81Jan Posted April 23, 2019 Report Posted April 23, 2019 6 hours ago, SteveR said: PT81Jan Your drawing is a great help. Thank you. It appears the my breakage is on the bend. In welding would it be advisable to grind down the small tab, center the hub and then weld? I imagine I will need a puller to get the hub off the shaft. Everything in England is geared to modern cars. I did look at a puller from Amazon but it said it was for front wheel drive and the dimensions looks like it would be too small. To me it looks like from center hub to center bolt hole is 2 1/4 inches. You are welcome, SteveR NO, do not grind down the small tabs ! You can use them for proper centering. And you still need them to get the drum plate attached to the brake ring. If they were away, I think it would be hard or even impossible to rescue the brake drum ... Just brush them so that they are clean for the welding process. See also my comments in #6 I do not know your welding skills, in doubt ask someone who knows about welding (filler material, order of welds, etc.). A puller is highly recommended ... I indeed bought mine at Amazon, YATO YT-0602 Fits front and rear and is of good quality. http://yato.com/products/5/YT-0602 Wish good success Jan Quote
Andydodge Posted April 23, 2019 Report Posted April 23, 2019 Steve...........this is the type of puller I have used, had it since the early 70's and its never met a tapered axle that it didn't like...........lol...........there are various types available but all work on the same basic principle, they bolt onto the drum/hub then the large centre piece against the nut/axle..........undo the centre nut a couple of threads so its level with the axle shaft which will help to support & protect the threads then tighten the puller against the nut/shaft and usually all it needs is one or two good solid wacks, sometimes a little WD40 or similar and let sit for a few minutes to hopefully seep in and retighten the puller against the nut/shaft, then another wack........and Jan's warning about the tabs is right, leave them to help with centering the drum plate to the brake ring..........regards from Oz.........BTW......I've never heard of the situation that you have..........I'm sure that welding it will fix it, just needs to be done accurately and properly...............andyd. Quote
SteveR Posted April 27, 2019 Author Report Posted April 27, 2019 Man trying to find a puller in the UK is like looking for hens teeth unless you want to spend over £100. Quote
John Reddie Posted April 27, 2019 Report Posted April 27, 2019 There are several listed on ebay right now like the one pictured for under $50.00 with free shipping to the US. I am not sure about overseas shipping but it's worth looking into. This type of puller works best for these vintage Mopar rear drums. Good luck to you. John R Quote
PT81Jan Posted April 27, 2019 Report Posted April 27, 2019 (edited) 10 hours ago, SteveR said: Man trying to find a puller in the UK is like looking for hens teeth unless you want to spend over £100. AMAZON UK in stock £43.35 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kraftmann-7682-Extractor-Extender-Silver/dp/B00XGPVT2Y/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=brake+drum+puller&qid=1556393814&s=gateway&sr=8-7 ebay UK £58.02 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-Wheel-Hub-Puller-Kit-5-legs-Extractor-Automobile-Tool-Wheel-Hub/233181317493?hash=item364ab08975:g:i-gAAOSwuG1cnKzq similar one John Reddie mentioned AMAZON UK in stock £29.99 https://www.amazon.co.uk/450741-Heavy-Universal-Puller-Remover/dp/B00K30S1US/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=brake+puller&qid=1556394771&s=gateway&sr=8-6 Edited April 27, 2019 by PT81Jan Quote
SteveR Posted April 28, 2019 Author Report Posted April 28, 2019 Thank, You PT and John. I have ordered a Puller. Let the fun begin =o) Quote
SteveR Posted May 7, 2019 Author Report Posted May 7, 2019 Robert Horne Sorry for being so late with a response. I live in England, there doesn't seem to be many spare parts for my Plymouth Quote
SteveR Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Posted May 31, 2019 I found someone to weld my hub but now it needs turning. What would be the tolerance as to the maximum that can be turned? Quote
sser2 Posted May 31, 2019 Report Posted May 31, 2019 According to FSM, up to 0.03" can be removed. If more turning is needed, a drum should be replaced. Quote
SteveR Posted June 1, 2019 Author Report Posted June 1, 2019 sser2 Thank you. It is greatly appreciated. Quote
First P15 Posted June 25, 2019 Report Posted June 25, 2019 I have a drum that’s also cracked but it’s in the corner of the casting. Impossible to repair. There is a seller on eBay with drum only. Below is the picture of it. Has anyone here ever replaced just the drum on a rear hub?? If so how successful was the process Quote
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