My friend has an old Toyota land cruiser and her rear drums will not come off no matter what I do.. and no the parking brake was not on . So I adjusted the star wheel further than it should ever have to be adjusted and the drum turned very easily but would not pull off. I threaded screws into the provided holes to pop it off but ended up stripping two sets of screws. I then hit it with a hammer again and again and again . No success .

Have the shoes worn that much of a groove in the drum (which was my first conclusion), or is there some other factor to be considered.


-Scott

 

Make sure you backed the pads off enough - if there is indeed a groove, the drum isn't coming off until the pads are clear - does the drum move at all when you tried using the screws? Maybe try something like pb-blaster or liquid wrench around the center of the drum where the hub sticks through... usually it's just that the pads haven't retracted enough (it's concerning that you stripped screws - usually you get the mechanism to move somewhat)

also - probably a silly suggestion, but make sure you are winding the adjuster the right way to back off the shoes...

 

rubber mlets are great for that.

 

Got the drum off today! It turns out that there is indeed a groove worn in the drum that is not machinable but that wasn't the real problem with getting it off. After trying bluesti389's method, which was fun but didn't get me far, it came to me that the self adjuster wasn't letting the star contract. I used a small screw driver to push the lever back and moved the star wheel. Then the drum slid right off. Glad thats over .