Removing Brake Drums On A Scudo Van

[Whitespirit66]

I have a 2004 Fiat Scudo 2.0 JTD van - old shape. I want to have a look at my rear brake shoes so need to remove the drums. Can anyone tell me how to remove the drums? I'm OK with most of it, but have no experience of auto adjusters and how to back them off. I'm more used to ye olde manually adjusted shoes.

I'm assuming the procedure is the same as Citroen Dispatch and Peugeot Expert. If anyone could explain, it would be a great help.

 

[Burnerman]

First, check that there aren't any screws holding the drum to the backplate.....remove them if you can see one.
Then, whack the drum with a hammer, trying to turn the thing at the same time.....this causes the shoes to retract and centralise, and hopefully the drum will start to shift. Usually they will pull clear, but in extreme circumstances it's necessary to use a puller.
Normally on commercials, the drum is separate from the hub.....on cars the drum and hub / bearing are one casting. For these, you need to remove the central nut before the assembly will pull clear.
John
I'll just edit this one.....it can be possible to release the self adjusters by poking a screwdriver through a stud bolt hole, but you need to be familiar with that one so try the above first!
J.

 

[Whitespirit66]

Thanks for your reply John. So, am I right in thinking that I won't need to back the adjusters off to remove the drum?

I found a video (in Russian) where someone changes the shoes on a Doblo. Is this likely to be a similar set up to my Scudo? Also, near the end of the video, he is presumably levering the rear shoe to operate the adjuster outwards.? Before fitting the shoes, do you wind the adjuster in, then fit shoes, then keep levering the shoe to move shoes outwards until the drum just goes over the shoes?

 

[Burnerman]

The big issue with drum removal is that there is a rust lip on the drum, where the brake shoes don't make contact. Therefore when you try to pull the drum clear, the shoes catch on this lip and prove stubborn to pass over.
Usually the drum can be levered clear with little damage and it's best to grind the rust lip away when the drum is off.
If your vehicle has wheel bolts rather than nuts, you can peer through the bolt hole, and turn the adjuster with a screwdriver just to back the shoes off, but you really need to be familiar with the set up before giving this a try.
Give the drums a good smack with a hammer as you try to pull them clear, turning them as you go.....in 90% of instances you get away with it!
Be lucky
John