Rear Drums

[dubblheelix]

Hey all,

Trying to change the rear shoes on my wife's 1999 Corolla. I couldn't get the drum off (and yes, the e-brake was off). There seems to be some odd indent in the center of the drum where some special tool might go? Pardon me, but I am used to 4X4's and haven't had to do much work on this Toyota until now so I'm new to the car. I've changed MANY rear brakes, both disk and drums, but the drums are usually held on by other means. Any suggestions?

THANKS FOLKS!!


By the way, looks like a killer forum you all have here! Very nice!

[Chris Corolla S]

Well technically nothing holds the drum cover on.
You are suposed to be able to just pull it off after you take off the wheel.

However there is a slot behind the drum where you can fit a couple of screw drivers. Put one in there and wedge up the spring loaded ratchet and use another to turn the star gear up.
I got this from my Haynes Manual, which you might want to drop 30 bux on by the way.

This should help if the shoes are what's holding it on because it will manually retract them. That being said I couldn't get one of my drums off using that method.

One came off no problem and the other will not come off.
I just wanted to clean them but someday I will have to face this problem when my shoes finially wear down so if anyone has any other suggestions, post them up.

[rolla_chink_94]

i don't remeber you being able to adjust the spring when the drum cover is still on, i usually just give the drum a few good hits with my tire iron and the drum breaks free from anything restricting it.

[|PuNiSh3R|]

Yea, I don't think you can adjust the spring with out the drum being off.. That's a haynes for you.

Don't waste your cash on a haynes or chilton.. either get the real toyota manuals or the next best thing.. www.alldata.com and click on the DIY section.. (might be, www.alldatadiy.com)
Killer program.. I love it. It is what mechanics use, that or Mitchell..

Anyway, spray a lot of wd40 or rust eater.. whatever.. at the center of the drum there.. rust builds up and just makes it really hard to pull the drum off.. just gotta spray and keep chiggling the drum.
I spent 5 minutes on each front brake disc trying to get them off.. that is how rusted in place they were, just had to keep wiggling and wiggling and pulling and hammering and spraying.

[Chris Corolla S]

The information that I posted is accurate.

if you look at the back of a brake drum on a 98-01 (prob 93-87 as well) Corolla you will see a slot there. You can adjust the "star" gear through that slot with a screw driver without opening the drum cover.

[03corollace]

Chris is right. My 03 corolla repair/shop manual (the real thing) has the adjust-the-star-wheel from the slot behind instruction. Unfortunately it didn't work for me.

Fortunately, I was able to remove the drum using the instruction in my Honda Odyssey shop manual. This is how:

Not sure if this is the case for 99 corolla, but my 03 corolla and 00 honda odyssey both have two screw holes on the drum. Insert an M8 metric bolt in each hole and tighten them in turn evenly. You should hear one or two loud clangs when the drum breaks free. If the drum doesn't come off after the two bolts are well inserted, don't despair, just loosen the bolts and wiggle the drum.

I applied anti-seize before re-installing the drums.

Hope it works for you dubblheelix.

[Chris Corolla S]

^This was suggested to me also from someone who used that method on their civic. I haven't looked yet to see if I have those bolt holes...

[foompla]

yes, that method works very well. just be VERY careful not to strip the threads.



usually just beating the crap out of it works fine.

[Hajoca]

The slot in the brake backing plate is covered by a rubber plug.

The star wheel adjuster needs to be turned many many times.

I hate Bendix brakes!

I still remember the early 80's tercels and corolla drum brakes, with a flex bar that did the springs job, never wore out, and was easy to take off and put in.

[garryconn]

The same applies to 88 thru 92 according to Haynes manual. However, I am in the process of replacing my drums, shoes, and springs.... don't know too much about it though. I do know this.. pulling the drum off was tricky. It was stuck and I tried to do the screw drivers trick as Haynes suggested, but all in all I think just pulling and pulling the drum off is what worked.

Originally posted by Chris Corolla S
The information that I posted is accurate.

if you look at the back of a brake drum on a 98-01 (prob 93-87 as well) Corolla you will see a slot there. You can adjust the "star" gear through that slot with a screw driver without opening the drum cover.