Stuck rear sunstar rim

[roma3112]

Well I spent a good bit of time going through the sunstar i picked up, got all the fluids changed, serviced the mower ect. I found two problems #1 the hourmeter was not working, soo much for only 208hrs :D Problem #2 while servicing/adjusting the rear brakes i found that the left rear rim is thoroughly stuck on the axle. I tried my 2-jaw puller, tryied pounding on it, tried some pb blaster and what little heat i could muster out of a handheld propane torch. I exhausted my patients and gave up for the time being. There is no problem right now, all i wanted to do is thoroughly clean everything. I have access to an acetylene torch but i am afraid of damaging any seals by putting too much heat on there. Have any of you folks had to deal with such a problem? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[ka9bxg]

Don't laugh but loosen up the wheel nuts(bolts) a little and drive it around a bit.I have done this on cars and it works great.If it is really bad it might take a while.Bob

[roma3112]

bob ill give it a try, i am really hesitant to heat the rim with the oxy/acet torch i dont want to damage the linings or any axel seals. I really have no reason to take the drum off other than to clean inside, but it just bothers me knowing that its stuck on there. I will give your suggestion a try>> thanks john

[3212V]

roma3112, I once had a JD 318 which looks like it has the same Peerless transaxle and brakes as your Sunstar. It was 15 years old with 2000 hours on the clock when I bought it. Like you, I wanted to check out the brakes, since in my case it looked like they had never been serviced. I soon found out why. The drums were very difficult to remove. I tried the same methods as you with no luck. I was able to borrow a high quality (and expensive) brake drum puller. Not the kind that grabs the outside of the drum, but is held on with the wheel bolts instead. The drum is removed by turning a jack screw in the middle of the puller, which pushes on the axle. Here is a picture of puller similar to the one I used: http://www.kd-tools.com/2251.htm Even using this puller, it took a six foot pipe "cheater bar" to turn the jack screw and remove the drum! I'm sure this was not unusual since it was the same way for both sides. As it turned out the brake shoes had plenty of lining on them. Afterward I realized that on a hydro garden tractor like this, the brakes don't get much use, since you typically don't apply them to stop the tractor. If you can adjust the brakes through the access slot, you may want to leave the drums alone unless you have the right tool.

[roma3112]

larry thanks belated welcome to the club, glad to see some more people from the northeast :) thanks for the link, i am going to loosten the nut and drive it for a while and mabee give it another try in a month or so.