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1948 dodge rear hub removal


Ed McDermott

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8 minutes ago, Los_Control said:

If the brakes are free and drum turns your good there .

You have the correct puller, I saw above you said a 4# hammer, thats correct.

I think you are fighting rust ... can see the rust in the photo.

Strange it appears the drum has been updated to studs and  nuts. So seems that the drum has been off before.

I think @ Dodgeb4ya  has best advice, hit it harder. Is a tapered axle and suppose to be tight.

 

It may help but I wont advise it, apply some heat to it to break the rust. Sounds to extreme to me, may cause more damage then worth.

No doubt it would cook the seals, possible damage to other parts? I wonder what others think?

 

Hit it again, what you got going on is way better then driving it with the axle nut loose. You only do that if you do not have correct tool, you have it.

I'm against it. This is not a contest. You are not trying to pull your drum quicker than someone else to save the world from an alien invasion. Just take your big hammer,smack the dogbone on the puller a few times to snug it up good,and then take your a hammer and tap around the "nose" on the drum and the face of the drum. Tension from the puller and vibrations from the tapping will eventually cause the drum to come off without destroying anything. So what if it takes a few days? We all have other cars or truck to drive to work.

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No rush to pull the drums... just get them off.

That's what I have done for over 50 years.

Shop guys cannot wait a day or more for a MoPar,Rambler or Ford drum to decide to pop if ever.

It's the life of a mechanic.

I realize Hobbiest's have lots of time to wait for the drums to let go after a day two or three if ever.

There is no abusing of tools or drum hubs using "enough" needed force to remove tapered hub drums.

A lot of people on this forum have no idea how much force is required to remove these drums let alone how hard to hit the puller with a correct weight heavy hammer.

And then hitting the Dog Bone accurately hearing that nice ringing sound on the removable type dog bone. Sound of a good solid hit.

The "BIG" Snap-On type pullers with the integral DB give no pleasing feed back sounds?

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On 10/14/2020 at 7:13 AM, squirebill said:

What everybody else said....center nut on, puller installed and under tension, then apply some heat.  I used a hand held torch with MAPP gas.  Surprised me how a little heat got things moving.

I was ready to say "heat wrench"

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On 10/14/2020 at 5:42 PM, Sniper said:

 

That is exactly how I got the hubs off my 51, I don't even own a puller.  BUT! I also do not live in the rust belt.  So YMMV.

that surprises me, a man of your talent I would assume you have all the best Snap on has to offer. xmas is around the corner :)

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My '49 parts book calls for cotter pins with the nuts on the brake anchor bolts.  They were really hard to see with all the grime coating the parts.  Did you find them and remove them before trying to back off the anchor bolt nuts?   I suggested a bit of heat on the tapered hub.  I'm not talking about a cutting torch, I'm talking about a hand held torch like you would use for soldering copper fittings.  Mine happened to have Mapp gas instead of propane.  I played this on the hub for a few minutes.  Nothing turned red.  Was just trying to maybe expand the hub and loosen it from the shaft.  Had the puller tensioned up pretty tight and also whacked the slugging bar  with the sledge hammer.   Hub came loose.  Was it the amount of tension, the heat, or the amount of the whack...who knows, but the hub came loose.  What was found was there was no rust on the hub or tapered shaft or the inside of the brake drum.  Good luck.  Did you drive the car with the shaft nut loose and cottered?  Also, do you have the slugging bar for the wheel puller?  If not, rapping the end of the forcing screw of the puller may set up the necessary impact to release the taper.  A cross type lug wrench may serve as an alternate for the slugging wrench.  Please post your findings once you get it off.    

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This set up worked for me with a small extension on the breaker bar !!!

I brought a used puller but it had no dogbone to use the BFH on. 

Keep at it you'll win in the end.

gallery_5770_178_310089 (1).jpg

Edited by 61farnham
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Hard to tell from the picture but do you have the axle nut on? If not, you can seriously injure yourself when the drum pops. Never hammer on the end of the puller into the axle. Ugly damage can occur to axle bearings and/or differential.  Always hammer the dogbone HARD as mentioned. Also keep tightening the puller. Even the slightest movement can make a difference. When it pops it will be loud. 

 

I have pulled dozens of these drums and have never had to resort to heat or driving the car with axle nut loose. Don’t be shy about pounding that wishbone REALLY HARD!

Edited by RobertKB
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I have never had to use heat either and wouldn't.

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12 minutes ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

I have never had to use heat either and wouldn't.

Yup and I did a 40 plymouth pickup that had been sitting in the junkyard for decades! We pulled the drums, gutted the brakes, put the drums and wheels back on, and then put some used oil in the diff. Towed it home on a dolly 100 miles no prob

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3 hours ago, 61farnham said:

This set up worked for me with a small extension on the breaker bar !!!

I brought a used puller but it had no dogbone to use the BFH on. 

Keep at it you'll win in the end.

gallery_5770_178_310089 (1).jpg

That has to be the shiniest gray car I have ever seen! Were you the one that spent all the hours sanding and buffing it out?

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20 minutes ago, knuckleharley said:

That has to be the shiniest gray car I have ever seen! Were you the one that spent all the hours sanding and buffing it out?

 

Would you believe that i is original paint?  Not me! ?  I do not believe anyone said it was but it does look very nice "battleship grey" ??.

 

DJ

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Will someone explain to me the big bugaboo about applying heat to a brake drum hub to get it off a shaft.  Does the same go for sprockets on a shaft or a nut on a bolt.  What have I been doing wrong all these years.  I only use heat as a last resort but I do sometimes use it to get a job done.

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36 minutes ago, squirebill said:

Will someone explain to me the big bugaboo about applying heat to a brake drum hub to get it off a shaft.  Does the same go for sprockets on a shaft or a nut on a bolt.  What have I been doing wrong all these years.  I only use heat as a last resort but I do sometimes use it to get a job done.

My concern is the potential to damage the seal that is near the hub.  There is so much mass in the hub and axle that the heat will be conducted back to the seal.  Enough to damage an aged seal that might already be brittle, maybe. 

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1 hour ago, squirebill said:

Will someone explain to me the big bugaboo about applying heat to a brake drum hub to get it off a shaft.  Does the same go for sprockets on a shaft or a nut on a bolt.  What have I been doing wrong all these years.  I only use heat as a last resort but I do sometimes use it to get a job done.

That's not being carbon nuetral here in Washington State....our governor Inslee would say.....

bad bad bad?

Plus it's not necessary with the right puller and technique.

JMO.

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3 hours ago, DJ194950 said:

 

Would you believe that i is original paint?  Not me! ?  I do not believe anyone said it was but it does look very nice "battleship grey" ??.

 

DJ

Nope! I believe that is an original  color,but not the original paint.

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Yup, I got mine off after reading these posts and watching someone do it on YouTube.  The point about pounding the dog bone with a hammer is correct.  My shop is in a separate building about 25’ away from the house, my wife was in the house with the radio going and she could still hear me pound away.  After about 15-20 hits, which caused the dog bone to basically do one full rotation, the hub popped off.  It’s not a process for the timid.  Thanks again for the tips, and as the old adage goes “when all else fails use a bigger hammer” ?

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13 hours ago, knuckleharley said:

That has to be the shiniest gray car I have ever seen! Were you the one that spent all the hours sanding and buffing it out?

Not me, the car was painted by the PO just after he imported it. It's a 50's VW colour, a near match for the original Airwing Grey, the photo does flatter it.

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