[njsteve]

Finally got around to the rear brakes today. We had the torches, die grinder, and big sledge hammers ready to go. I was dreading the labor that was going to be involved in this endeavor.

Something miraculous happened, though: I sprayed the wheel studs and hub area with PB Blaster, waited a couple minutes and then rung the mounting hub area of the 18 year old drum with a 2 lb. sledge hammer several times. I heard thud, thud, thud, RIIIIIING! and the darn thing came right off! I tried it on the other side and the same thing happened. Both drums slid right off the hubs! HOLY S@&amp;T! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/shocked.gif[/img]

Even with 121,000 miles, the original rear brake shoes had 80% of their material remaining. But they were polished from the years of barely being used due to the defective original combination valve. Since I already had the brand new 75 pound cast iron drums in the boxes, I used them, along with the new set of 13&quot;x3-1/2&quot; shoes, springs, adjusters, and wheel cylinders. (all bought from Rockauto.com). Hopefully the scrap metal guy won't get a hernia picking up the old drums next week.

The truck stops noticeably better now. When you hit the brakes, it is a much quicker and &quot;flatter&quot; stop, instead of the previous nose diving when 90% of the braking was being done by the front discs.

So now the truck is ready for the haul to MCACN in a month.