M Brake Drum Removal

I am replacing the oil seals on the brake drum shaft on a '51M. How do I remove the brake drum from the shaft to get to the seals? I removed the drum retaining bolt and tried prying the drum off the shaft but it seems the only thing I did while trying to pry the drum off the shaft was to move the shaft in and out a 1/4". Question: Have I hurt anything with the shaft by moving it? How do you get the bake drum off? Thanks in advance for your help. Brad

I don't think anything holds the brake drums on after you remove the retaining bolt in the end of the pinion shaft. You will need to rig a puller to bear against the end of the shaft and pull on the brake drum. Seems I recall there are some holes in the drum that can be used to pull. The drum is likely stuck due to some rusting, etc. As I recall, mine were not difficult to get off. I doubt you hurt anything by prying and moving the shaft. It's going to have some end play in it. Just don't try to take the flanges out of the side of the transmission after you get the drum off. Those flanges are the bearing housings for the pinion shaft and the bull gear keeps them from coming out, so bull gear has to be removed from axle so it can drop down to clear the pinion housings to allow them to be removed. If you try to pry out the flanges without removing the bull gear from the axle, you may break the pinion housings. When you get the brake drums off, you will see that the seal actually runs on the projection of the drum, not the actual shaft. So there is some room between the shaft and the seal to work to get the old seal out. If the original seals are still in there, they are a bear to get out. You can try drilling them and putting screws in the holes to pry them out. Also, there is supposed to be a gasket washer under the retainer bolt for the brake drum. Since the seal runs on the drum and not the shaft, oil can get between the shaft splines and the drum and leak out at the retainer washer, hence the gasket that goes there to keep this from happening. It's been a while since I did this but this is my best recollection and I may have something not exactly right or left out something.

Haas,

Thank you for the reply - it was spot on. The drum came off easily witha gear puller and how the seal sets in and seals around the drum projection cleared up some confusion on my part as top just how it "sealed".

Thanks again for your help.

Brad