I am doing front brakes on an all drum car and the drums will not slide off. I spent well over an hour trying to use two screw drivers to back off the adjuster. One screwdriver pushing the spring tab away from the adjuster and the other trying to turn the adjuster wheel. I have sprayed WD40 onto the threads and I still cannot get the sucker to turn. Does anybody have tips or tricks to this operation...before I have a coronary or throw a scewdriver thought the windshield! Thanks.

I've been there too. I usually end up having the forcible Bang the Drums off sliding them over the Brake Pads by hitting the drums from under the car using a heavy ball peen hammer and a piece of hard wood.

To Day, I ensure the Adjusters Work by taking off the drums every year Cleaning the components and applying Easy Slip Silver Thread Compound to the adjust threads.

I don't suppose there is enough slack in the brake adjustment to force the adjuster out of position.

Once your brakes are in good condition, you should have no problems slipping the drums off without having to touch the adjusters.

I've had to hammer them off and use a couple large screwdrivers as pry bars to get the more worn ones off. It's very hard to back the adjusters off with the drums on as there is a spring to keep it against a tang to keep it from moving backwards. Sometimes you can get something through the adjuster hole to move it out of the way as you back off the adjuster. It helps as you beat on it if you can rotate it a little,whack it,rotate,whack etc.

Yea, I just bought this car last fall and who knows when the last brake job was. Thanks for the tips, I will give it another go tonight.

If you reach through the drum slot with a bent coat hangar and pull out the self adjuster, then use a small screwdriver to unscrew the shoes away from the drum, makes it easier.

Remember, driver side has left hand threads and pass side has right hand threads.

Meaning pry down on the screwdriver outside the drum on both sides of the car to shorten the adjuster length.

I've been there as well and I went to disc brakes after that. Try different sizes of flat screwdrivers and try to use leverage and angles to your advantage. For me, holding the right screwdriver at the correct angle did the trick. Also try some liquid wrench, PB blaster or Kroil as I found those to be better than WD40 when it comes to stubborn bolts. I got turned to Kroil via this site and that stuff is amazing!

Are u sure it is not corrosion in the center hole /stub axle area binding?
soak with a good penertataig oil, load with leverage around the outside then whack around the center, eventually it pops of.
A smear of grease around the hole prevents happening in the future.

And if real stuck with the shoes holding, chop off the pins that hold the shoes thru the backing plate....these are common , easy replaced.

All Good tips with worn Shoes - The Screw Driver method does work - ;o)

First time I ever worked on a front drum car (had done many rear drums), I had all kinds of trouble getting them removed.

It took a while for me to realize that it was much easier to remove it after removing the spindle nut/washer/bearings, just like a disc rotor :clonk:

I have the spindle nut removed. The thing was just plain froze so I put a tip of my impact chisel on it through the access hole and blasted the adjuster apart. About 5 min. and the drum was off. New adjuster $8, my sanity priceless!

I have the spindle nut removed. The thing was just plain froze so I put a tip of my impact chisel on it through the access hole and blasted the adjuster apart. About 5 min. and the drum was off. New adjuster $8, my sanity priceless!


Hilarious! You sound like you've got a temper like mine. If I didn't know how to reign it in, I could probably keep a drywall company in buisiness.

Why is it that banging the sheet out of something solid with a hammer doesn't feel near as good as actually breaking something?