My new brake drum is stuck.

[joshhemming]

Last week I replaced the rear brake shoes and drums with new AutoZone Duralast parts. The job went well except the brake hardware kit they sold me didn't have enough of the yellow shoe return springs. I put it back together using the 2 old (172,000 miles) springs on the passenger side.

I didn't like the idea of driving around with brake springs that old so yesterday I bought a second hardware kit ($3.99 at O'Reilly), jacked the van up and removed the rear wheel. The drum wouldn't come off.

The parking brake is off.

I turned the self adjuster all the way down. Since the other wheel is on the ground, I can only turn the raised drum a little way back and forth. There doesn't seem to be any drag so I think the shoes are fully retracted. If I turn the adjuster all the way up there's definitely drag.

I've banged like hell on the edges of the drum with a large hammer.

My neighbor saw me banging on it and told me the only way he could get his drum off was to bleed some of the fluid out of the piston. I haven't tried that yet. Any other ideas ?

[BrooklynBay]

Try to turn the adjuster to tighten it, then loosen it, then tap the edges with a hammer. I don't think you have to drain any fluid out. Check the parking brake cable to see if it got caught on something under the vehicle.

[joshhemming]

Update: The mechanic down the street came over, hit it once with a larger hammer on the OUTSIDE forcing it in, and it immediately came loose. I had been using a smaller hammer hitting it from under the vehicle, trying to force it outwards. Who would have thought?

[BrooklynBay]

Thanks for the update! One member on this site had a quote in his signature: When in doubt, use a bigger hammer.