Removing the drum

Chris

You MUST use a proper old timey wheel puller. Like this one or heavier dutier is even better. Once you get it, make sure to loosen the axle nut, but do not remove it completely because the potential energy released when the drum pops off can be amazing!

Good Luck
Steve

http://www.tooltopia.com/otc-tools-7394 ... TAoduU3zug

The first thing you need to do is back off the adjusters for the shoes. That may free up the drum. I strongly recommend you go to the Imperial Club website. They have tons of great info about working on old Mopars. Find the Repair area and go to the Brake section. That way you'll know what you are up against.
Here's the poor man's method of removing your drums. Note this will only work if the car is drivable and you have some sort of way to stop the car, so at a bare minimum your park brake must work. And for god's sake don't do this with other people or objects around. I live out in the country so I have no worries.
1) Remove both cotter pins.
2) Back off both nuts until the washers are loose. This will be less than a turn.
3) Drive the car slowly until you hear the drums pop loose. You'll know they are loose when the washers are no longer loose.
Now it's just a matter of supporting the car securely and taking everything apart. My advice is to replace everything that brake fluid touches. This would include steel lines and rubber hoses. It's a good idea to replace the rear axle seals and check the bearings. Before you put the drum back on apply a small amount of anti-seize to the tapered shaft so the drums will come off easier the next time.
If the car can't be driven then you have no other choice than using a puller. Beating on the drums with a hammer will NOT free them up! You'll either have to buy one or borrow one. Look around, they are out there. Here are some cautions when using a puller.
1) Don't use a cheap one! I have a heavy duty KD brand.
2)If possible use 5 legs. By that I mean most pullers only come with 3 so you may have to find two similar pullers and combine them.
3)You'll take the big nut all the way off. Before installing the puller put the nut back on with the smooth side out and on far enough where it is even with the end of the axle. That way you won't damage the end of the axle and when the thing finally pops loose it won't end up in your lap.
4) A reasonable amount of heat may be needed.
5) Patience is the key! This may take a few days of constant tension.

Good luck.

So the castle nut and washer are holding it on?? Ok, good thing im used to doing axles, lack of tools is my favorite thing. Causes innovation. Like you can use a towing chain to remove axles, just screw it on and yank it.

So im gonna go pull the coter pin, loosen the casle nut, yank the drum, and when its loose, back off the castle nut and washer till its off?? Correct?

Simply taking off the nut is not going to allow the drum to come off unless you've been livin' right for a long, long time. The hub of the drum is on a tapered axle shaft with a long square key, and they are typically quite stuck.

You're going to need the puller. There are stories running from "it popped right off" to "I had to cut the drum off" and everything in between. Before I got my own OTC puller, I was able to rent one from the local U-rent It type store for like 8 bucks a day or so.

Our club member Les Fairbanks makes a puller with excellent design and I think even a guarantee that you'll be able to pull the drum.

If you use heat (AS A LAST RESORT!), then use a large tipped torch like a rosebud and apply a lot of heat quickly just to the hub of the drum. Don't get crazy. You don't want the heat to get to the axle or the drum itself. You need the hub to expand from the heat, not everything else. Keep the propane bottled torch in with your plumbing stuff where it belongs.

There should be a slotted hole in the backing plate where you can get to the brake adjuster to back off the shoes.

I turned the two bolts on the back plate that have the springs on them, and they stopped turning so I think I adjusted them inwards all the way.

but I have a big gear puller from when I did rockcrawlers, and I stuck it on there and it didnt budge one bit.

I say words twice, I say words twice:

You MUST use a proper wheel puller
You MUST use a proper wheel puller

Old military folks know that lingo; repeating it to get the message through the static. I'm also repeating for emphasis.

I will now go work on something, and leave you to you own devices.

Have a nice day
Steve

well steve. You gotta put yourself in my shoes.

I have a big giant gear pulley/pulley puller tool. sockets and wrenches out the wazoo! (my dad bought all my tools in the '80s for $30,000). a grease gun, wheel cylinder rebuild kit, and a lot of OEM tools.

my budget: $0.00.
Income: $0.00/week
Checking Account: $0.98
Savings account: --$6.14
Time alotted for the desoto: 5+hrs/day
Running car count:0
Cars total:4
Parents willing to help: 0

I have no room anywhere to buy the proper tools, or much of anything for that matter. I do all my work by myself, I pay for my own parts, and I only have what I have.

So if you were in my position, how would you do it?

Sounds like it's time to seek out a local car club of gear heads that can maybe help. A lot of DIY Mopar guys with cars with tapered axles own their own pullers. We're an amicable bunch; I bet you could borrow the real deal if you asked nice.

How 'bout a picture of your big puller?

Mine looks a lot like this, but its straight, and the Jaw arms are about 1.5" thick, and its about the size of the tire of the desoto.

Yeah, that's not going to get it done. You've got to pull on the hub of the drum. If you use that style and put a hard pull on it, you run the risk of warping the drum.

An older issue of the club roster has 5 names in it of people from the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. Maybe some of them will chime in.

Chris, I agree with what Tim Bowers is saying. I think the best thing to do in your situation it to find someone who has done this job before and has the proper tools so they can show you how to do it. This is no easy task, especially for someone who has never done it and doesn't have the proper puller. You will be money ahead. Remember, the cheap man spends the most. Good luck.

Chris, is the drum on the drivers or passengers side? If it is on the passengers side it will have right hand threaded lug bolts. If it is the drivers side it is left hand thread. If it is RH thread you might be able to make a puller if you have a piece of steel about 1/2" thick that you can drill holes in using the holes in the wheel for a pattern. You will have to get some 1/2-20 bolts 3 1/2" long. Put the plate against the axle and screw the bolts into the drum until it comes off. If it is left hand thread you can't get 1/2-20 left hand bolts so that presents a problem. Google'"Les Fairbanks rear drum puller" and take a look at the puller I make to see what it will look like. Les

Chris, I am in AZ and have done this and it is not usually pretty. I did it with a puller I borrowed from Checker auto - now Reilleys, so I do not know if they still allow you to borrow the tools like they did about 10 years ago. But it is worth a try.
I would first get the adjustments right so the drum rotates.
I actually damaged the end of the axle 40 years ago when I did this for the first time - for me and the car. I was apparently like you - young and no money. It has been OK but you really do need a good puller.
Tim Mabry's method may work - if you just take it out to the desert.

I got it off using a FWD car hub puller, and my propane torch. I wrenched on that hub puller so hard I stripped the threads on the tool itsself! Thats when I heated up the center and it popped right off! Easy squeezy, lemon peezy. And the wheel cylinder was rebuilt, but they didnt hone it, and there was so much junk inside, no wonder it was frozen!! and the brake fluid looked like coca cola, so I need to flush that crap out..

The brake fluid fill spot is that Square plug under the gas pedal right?