How do you remove brake drums from 02 Kia Spectra?

Answer 1

Remove wheel, remove small Philips screw, give drum a whack and hopefully it will come right off. If not keep pounding, lol... and pounding and pounding...ok, here is an alternative that will work (unlike other sites, you'll see). The problem is that the back side of the drum and the front face of the hub have gotten intimate with each other, and are now seized. Breaking this bond is very difficult as it has been established over 10-years.

(make sure you have bought all three parking brake cables as well as brake hardware kit and shoes and maybe drums too). Brake lube and antiseize compound are good to use too. For drum removal, get two sets of taps and drills and bolts and a handle for 5/16 or 3/8 coarse threaded bolts. A couple of 1-1/2inch long fully threaded bolts are also needed. Rust penetrant and some cutting oil (almost any lubricant for cooling the drilling will work, but cutting oil is best for tapping). An ax or similar device, I'll explain later.

Spray the rust penetrant into the annular space around each lug bolt.

Those #3 Philips head screws do need to come out. If they wont, you'll need to drill them out. Don't worry about messing up the threads, those keeper screws are pretty much pointless.

Spray the rust penetrant into the annular space around each lug bolt.

Have a cup of coffee.

Spray the rust penetrant into the annular space around each lug bolt.

Lay the ax handle against the back edge of the drum, and draw it to you so the edge of the ax head catches the drum and nudges it toward you. One you got the idea of how this is going to work, put some oompf into it. This technique worked on one side for me.

Other sites will talk about threading a jacking screw into the threaded hole and using that to force the drum off the hub. But DON'T USE THE STUPID THREADED HOLES THOSE PHILIPS SCREWS CAME OUT OF. You will be forcing the hub away from the backing plate. With any luck you'll break the screws or strip the threads before you destroy a functional part of your car.

Forget about the star wheel you used to have to diggle with to relax the auto adjuster and get the shoes out of the worn slot in the drum. There is no access port and there is no Star wheel.

Drill a hole into the drum located like the set screw holes, except between studs where there is no hole. Slow speeds for drilling metal, oil it frequently. Go only so far so you drill just barely into the hub. You can gauge this from the set screw holes and check the drilled hole for the ring you will see where the surfaces meet.

Now set up the tap. Screw the tap in, once it starts to bite the metal, 3/4 turn or so forward, 1/4 to 1/2 turn back to clear cuttings, then forward again. If you over stress the tap it will snap, just like thap. (If you bought two, you won't break any). When you bottom out in the hole, remove the tap. The tap has a pretty long taper to it. You can grind off 75% of the taper, flat or a bit hollowed. Now you can advance the thread almost to the bottom of the hole.

Take a look and judge how much depth there is from the end of the thread to the hub. Take one of the bolts and grind off the threads at the end to make a nub that will push on the hub.

Thread the bolt in, and tighten it against the hub. Watch for movement. if none, back it out. Lengthen the nub, repeat. Once the drum moves, you can work it off pulling on opposite sides. In an ideal world you will drill two holes, tap hem both and use two bolts to push off the drum. Once the drum is off by an 1/8 inch, you can fish taping the hole in the drum and use the bolt(s) to get the drum all the way off.

An interesting option if the shoes need to be relaxed, is to break off the pin heads in the back of the backing plate (which hold the shoes in place).

On the spectra the arrangement of the spring and adjusting cog are opposite each other on the left and right sides. So, TAKE PICTURES before you take it apart. Hardware kits don't come with c-clips to hold the p-brake lever to the rear shoe, get some.

Those parking brake levers should not be bent to prevent its full range of motion. You may need to straighten one or the other out. See more under parking brake for Spectra 02