2001 Rear drum brakes rusted

[Guest girlpath]

:help: The drum housings on my rear brakes are really rusted. I bought this 2001 Pathy used last December 2004 with just under 12k miles. Apparently, it sat around quite a bit.

 

Anyway, the drums look nasty, and I'd like to clean them up or otherwise brighten them. I have NO IDEA about brakes and would like some feedback.

Thanks!

[88pathoffroad]

Remove them, hose them off and scrub them down with engine degreaser, then use high-temp black spraypaint and give 'em a nice coat. They'll stay black for a while that way.

[CanadianPathyNut]

can you explain exactly how to remove the drum housing? i figured this much so far....

remove all bolts holding the rim on, then remove rim and tire, and now im lost, what do I do from here? how do I get it off to degrease the rust on it?

[XPLORx4]

Hopefully you've released the parking brake. If your brake drums are not severely worn/grooved, you should be able to slide the brake drum right off the lugnut studs. If not, there are a couple of holes in the brake drum into which you can insert a bolt (metric size, sorry I don't know the size or pitch of the threads) and as you tighten the bolt, it will push the drum away from the wheel hub.

[taff]

It is not a bolt that you need to loose. On the back top of the brake housing, there is long slot. Insert a screwdriver and turn the star wheel in the housing to loosen the break shoes. If you just want to clean it and paint it, don't bother taking off the drum. just cover everything with masking tape to clean and paint.