Today got around to pulling the beak drums whatever it took... It took me quite a while (3hrs) and it wasn't good enough to just hammer it (got a good hammer and I am strong (and phew got strong tryin)). After hammerin my ass off I tried prying it against the dust cover (that is actually stronger than they used to be). Then I tried a good hammer angel with a chizel to aim. Still stuck. Then I tried the break adjuster (later learned that even though they were loosed they didn't collapse). Finally, I constructected a puller. I used a black pipe 1"x ~15", and first cut holes in the middle and ends so I could pull with foundation bolts and a harmonic ballancer puller. The founation bolts didn't grab well enough and I ended up welding rail-road-spikes into the end-holes. At last!!! they pulled with the harmonic ballancer puller pushing against the axil in the middle (the
2nd one was also stuck but pulled easy with this nice puller). Once they were off I could see there was a ring of dust that was formed into a body-putty-like lip. I ground it off with a grinder-pad on my circular saw. Replaced the shoes (thought they weren't totally wipped). When putting back together, the first (most stuck) took some hammering and -wow- one of the wieghts fell off. I welded it back on, cooled it, and the rest was easy - back together fine. The best suggestion from the group was to the loosen of the e-brake adjusters, but it didn't work. In the end I had the satisfaction of fabricating a puller that can pull any drum that size with ease (my 80 camaro pulls off hard too). Anyone want one? I can make-em (specify drum-widths - probably $20 - use with your harmonica ballancer puller). Is the puller idea new??? It didn't seem well supported in the prior thread. Maybe better would be an air-based puller to just pop them quick. Anyone know of other drums this hard to pull??? (I'm 40 and have done about 50 drum pulls without experiencing this situation before). Is this a 1 in 50 situation or < 1 > Hit the h*ll out of it with the biggest hammer you have.- posted
20 years ago