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I have been struggling to come up with a way to remove my rear brake drum which has broken and stripped studs. I was able to remove the other drum with a OTC dogbone puller, but had nothing to attach it to on the other drum.
After studying it for a while I decided to try to pull if off using the groove that is below the nut. I sourced a 2″ 150 pound pipe flange and had 4 grooves machined in it to clear the 4 ears on the hub, then rotated it 45 degrees. I plan to run four 3/4″ grade 8 bolts thru it to a blind pipe flange on top of the shaft/nut end then tighten the nuts evenly to pull the hub.
Here is what the parts look like. The hub on the left is the blind flange, the second is the machined flange installed and the third is the initial flange before machining .
I had to have a radius machined on the drum side to clear the studs.
This is how the parts go together, only with longer bolts.
I will let you know if and how it works
Good luck with your hub puller.
As the old saying goes, ‘There’s more than one way to skin a cat’.
Good luck! It looks sensible, but you never know. There is a last gasp fallback option if you run out of patience.
I once had to open up the differential and pull out an axle shaft to take the shaft/hub assembly to a machine shop for hydraulic separation. It took about 3 minutes under 20,000 lbs of pressure to pop the hub loose with a VERY loud bang. Nothing was damaged…except my wallet because the set-up time in the shop was substantial. Afterward we could find no clear reason for the difficulty. You have the advantage of already knowing the problem.
The engineering looks good! Once you put some pressure on the puller bolts, use some heat on the hub, it should expand and let loose..
I’ve been trying to get the rear hub off my ’25 touring for some time. Last year I had a hub puller on the wheel for months, drove it like that, heated it several times, and called it many creative names.. still no luck..
If I have to, I’ll put some serious heat on it, and will have to repaint the hub. The brake lining appears to be getting thin, and the squealing is annoying. So it’s a job I hope to accomplish before Warwick this year.
Greg L.
Bill, this puller looks like quite the innovation. Keep us up to date on your progress!
Best-John
Greg is spot on with the heat recommendation. I failed to mention that heat was an essential, even with the hydraulic approach. I’ve also had it make the difference with a mechanical puller.
Success. I just installed the puller, heated either side of the keyway on the hub with a MAPP torch for a couple minutes, tightened the bolts and in about 1 1/2 turns I got a slight “pop” and the hub was off. No drama, no loud bang, no large movement.
You need to use “T” head bolts to clear the studs and the base of the 4 “ears” on the hub. I had to grind 2 sides of the heads down on my hex head bolts for clearance.
The fact that the hub has 4 ears and there are 5 studs, gives some odd spacing for the bolts to allow you to turn the machined flange 45 degrees with the bolts installed.
I used 3/4″ x 10 x 5″ Grade 8 bolts. You could probably get by with 11/16″ or 5/8″ and get some clearance that way.
Thanks to everyone for your input. I will gladly loan it out if someone wants to try it.
Now if I can just get my brake shoes to release, then I can get the drum off.
Great news.
Good luck with phase 2 of your drum removal.
Drove the adjustment bolt on the backing plate in and it released the brakes. Drum came right off. Now to see if I can get the wormgear to move.
Hi Bill, did you fill the differential with either Kerosene, ATF, or light hydraulic oil to help loosen up the bearings and meshing gears. ?
Greg
Greg,
Not yet. I was going to use ATF-acetone. I was also debating taking out the axles. It has been sitting so long and the outer bearings might be part of the issue. I have the rear cover off the worm gear so I can get to the nut to provide some leverage. I was going to soak with ATF and work back and forth. I think it is going to take some patience.
Bill
Bill, if the worm bearings are bad I think you will find they are very expensive. It may be a better option to get a good used rear end. Many of the cars were converted over years ago to the hypoid type. From observation I think I have seen less than 10 cars still running the worm in all the years looking at the cars. Either way it probably will be less expensive to find a good used rear of either type. Last I remember all the bearings in a hypoid rear still run around 500.oo dollars plus machining for modern seals. Post a photo of the worm if you have one as most members have never seen one. My best. Ed.
Bill, the puller you made is very slick. I have an old one bought years ago at Hershey. I left it on one rear end tightened to “the max”” and about a week later we were in the shop and heard a very loud bang and crash. It let go and jumped about 4 feet into a pile of other spare parts. I never stand in front of the drum with a puller on it. I have never seen one rusty so it’s just the taper keeping it on.”
Edgar,
Thanks for the advise. I might have to go your route with a “new to this car” rear end. I have noticed a decided lack of info on the worm rears, so I think it would be fun to get it apart and see what is there and take some photos.
It is a little cold here in Atlanta, so I think it will be awhile before I get back to it.
Edgar,
I think my hub came off so easy because either 1. the puller puts less force on the taper. By that I mean it is not flexing the drum/hub that the OTC pullers do when attached to the studs and/or 2. six months or so of soaking with every penetrating oil known to man might have helped.
On the safety front. I backed off the axle nut but left it still about 1/2 way attached. I guess there is some risk of thread damage, but it keeps the hub under control when it lets go. Having pulled a lot of XK Jaguar hubs, the heavier the puller the less movement when it does let go.
It’s vital to keep the axle nut on the axle when there is that much force being exerted by a puller. All that tension on the drum from the puller is potential energy, and it instantly converts to kinetic energy, the drum could easily do some damage to a person’s legs, knees or nose!!
I have an original worm gear rear axle in my ’33 836, and other than a persistant front seal leak, it does fine so far. I keep sulphur free 90wt in it, and keep my fingers crossed too!
I have a couple of parts- differentials and I think one or two hypoid rear axles to use if my worm gear one ever dies.
I’d soak the diff as much as possible, put a heat lamp on it, or a heat gun. Heat and let cool many times over several weeks, and it will certainly help get freed up. I have a center worm gear soaking in ATF in my shop.. I bought the differential three years ago at Hershey. I’ve not worked on it yet to see if it will come apart or not.
I’m really curious to see if the worm and gear are usable or not. And it will be interesting to see the wear patterns on the two.
Greg L
Greg,
I read somewhere in the old service bulletins that you can flip the worm gear and use the other side of the teeth (reverse side) if too worn. Heat lamp is a good tip. Thanks. I was thinking of heating the ATF before putting it in.
When I opened the rear cover, I had no oil come out. That could be a good or bad thing I guess. I will let you know how I am doing with it.
Bill
I have never worked on a Pierce worm rear. I have played with the Stutz worm rear, very similar. Not too much to them. The Stutz rears seem to show quite a bit of wear, not sure why. The Stutz guys made new ratios in England for big money, and they failed under load from what I have seen and been told. I remember seeing the bearings in them, they were quite large and impressive. So was their price. I see no issue using the worm rear as long as your happy with the ratio. If you want to gear your car then the hypoid is the best set up.
I went up to the Long Pierce Compound this weekend to resolve some issues with my ’33 resurrection. Greg and were trying to get a pair of rear brake drums with studs so I can put wheels on the worm drive and get my car to roll for the first time in 60 years. I
I took the hub puller and we found 2 complete axle trumpet assemblies. When we went to pull the drums we found out that the hub on this set only had a 1/2″ groove to attach the puller and the hub was much beefier, to the point my puller wouldn’t fit.
