How do you remove the brake drum on a Chevy C60 series truck?

Answer 1

It will vary a bit depedning on the model year; GWV; and axle/brake setup of your particular C-60, but generally speaking its pretty similar to the removal proceedure on any similar heavy truck.

the question didnt specify if this was front or rear so I'll start with the rear. To start, secrurly chock the front wheels, then jack up the truck and support the rear axle with with a jack stand on each side. If you have the tandem axle version of the C-60 you should support both of the rear axles, so you would need 4 jack stands altogether.

You need a heavy duty jack stand for a truck of this size, I like to use 3 ton stands myself, but the heavier the stand the better off you are.

Now that you have your truck lifted and supported, begin the removal proceedure by removing the circle of cap screws in the center of the hub which retain the axle half shaft. there are normally 8 of these. A socket on a 1/2" drive rachet is usually the best tool to remove the retaining screws.

After its unbolted, slide the axle half shaft out of the out of the axle housing. you may need to pry it out by carefully tapping a thin pry bar between the hub end cap (which is permanently fixed to the axle shaft) and the hub. carefully tap the bar into the mating surface betwen the cap and the hub using a rubber mallet. If you're overly aggressive you risk damaging the machined surfaces on the cap and hub, or tearing the gasket between them. After that you should be able to pull out the shaft by hand.

After sliding out the axle shaft, you should see a large nut in the center of the hub. This is called the crown nut and holds the hub to the axle housing. You may need to loosen this with a breaker bar before unscrewing it with the rachet and socket. 1 inch drive breaker bars and rachets are the best choice for removing the crown nut.

Once the axle half shaft and crown nut have been removed, you are now ready to take on removing the drum.

There are 2 ways you can do that. One is by taking off the lug nuts and removing the tires, the other is to remove both tires and the drum as a single assembly. The second option requires a shop tool called a wheel dolly which is a standard item in most heavy truck garages. The dolly slides under the tires and uses straps to secure the tires to the dolly frame. Which will give you the necesary support to pull of the dual wheels and the drum all at once.

The actual removal of the hub is pretty much the same with either method. If your truck uses a cam brake system, fully release the slack adjuster so that the brake shoes will retract. If your truck has a conventional wheel cylinder based brake system, loosen the adjusting screw which you can access through small holes in the brake drum backing plate.

Once the brake shoes have been retracted, the drum is ready to come off. The drum is often a stubborn component that doesnt release easily so you may need to tap between the lug studs with a shop hammer to shake it loose. Tap in a circular pattern around the hub by tapping the spaces between each of the lug studs. The C60 uses an integral hub and drum assembly. Be careful to not hit it hard because doing so may warp the drum or possibly crack the hub. Do not tap the drum from the back side as it will cause it to warp. Occasionally try to shake it by moving the hub up and down. This is easier using a wheel dolly beause it can be done by jacking the dolly platform up and down or by pushing/pulling the dolly's handle bar.

It may take some patience but the drum will eventually loosen and become free.

The proceedure for the front is similar to the rear, except that you dont need to remove an axle shaft and the hub retaining crown nut is locked into place by a cotter pin.

Pry the grase cap of off the front hub using a flat screwdriver or small prybar being careful not to warp it in the process, then remove the cotter pin with needle nose plyers. From there the proceedure pretty well follows what was described for the rear drum.