Removing rear brake drums

[dszabo56]

I am trying to replace the rear brake shoes on a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan with ABS; 108,000 miles. I pried and tapped the brake drum, but it seems to be stuck around the center hub.

How do I get this off?

DAS
NJ

[wgharper]

This might seem like an obvious question - do you have the parking brake on? IIRC, it uses the rear drums, and you wouldn't be able to get them off with it on.

[alvin]

They do rust to the hub. For me, the task of breaking them loose fell to the garage (called "Bill's Ineffable Automotive Rehabilitation" of Metuchen, NJ) where the van was initially inspected 3 years ago. They used heat and probably some sledgehammer, and coated the hubs with anit-seize afterwards. There was no problem when I removed the drums for a brake job last November, and used anti-seize again. Current replacement drums from Mopar, and better aftermarket ones, have 8 mm threaded holes for pulling the drums off in case they are stuck. Before installing the drums, make sure you clean all the rust, otherwise they will not sit square.
PB Blaster should help too with breaking the rust, if you give it some time.

[Chilly Willy]

The "blue wrench" (torches) easiest way I know of. Unfortunately not every home garage has a set of oxy-acetylene torches.

[Jeepman]

Probably a ridge has built up around the outer edge of the drum which is preventing the drum from coming off. That's typical.
To relieve any pressure caused by the emergency brake cable, haul down on it near the wheel being worked on and clamp it (vice grips) at the nearest bracket so that it remains slack. See if that works.
If not, to back off the self adjusters pry the cogged adjusting wheel (upward it looks like, not sure) through the access hole. See if that works. Usually does.
This site gives some info.:
http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us...rInfoPages.htm

Note the leading shoe and trailing shoe locations upon removal of the drum. One is normally longer than the other.

[flybyy]

All of the other suggestions are true for sure,
I have to beat the drums to get them off. Dont be shy, just get under and whack the edges.. they will come..
I use a 3 pound sledge to coax them off.

[Jeepman]

Good point. I use a hammer as well to jar them into coming off. If all else fails, just pull like h***.
Another consideration is disengaging the two spring loaded retainer pins by turning them from the back.

[x99j]

don't be afraid to hurt them! i have never done the rear drums on the caravan, but on my jeeps they take a lot of hammering with a sledge to get them off! don't be alarmed if they take a while to get off!

[kenmore63]

Agreed. Did mine yesterday, hammer is the only way to go.

[webbee]

...I use a 3 pound sledge to coax them off.

If you have a Harbor Freight store in your area, they have 3 pound sledges everyday $7 and on sale today for $5.99. I'm pretty handy and I don't use mine that often, so in this case...the cheap tool wins.

As others have noted, get a BIG hammer and beat them off.