The Ford Focus features disk brakes behind the front tires and drub brakes behind the rear tires. Disk brakes provide better braking performance than drums, but are often unnecessary at the rear wheels, which are not affected by the steering wheel. When the brake pedal is depressed, two large pads press against the interior of the brake drum to slow the vehicle down. Over time, the pads wear grooves into the drum. Often the drum can be repaired, but more serious damage requires replacement. The first step in either process is to remove the drum itself.
Loosening the Lug Nuts
The rear tire will have to be removed to access the brake drum and the vehicle will have to be raised, so make sure that the Focus is parked on a level surface. The most difficult aspect of removing the brake drum is removing the lug nuts that secure the wheel to the axle shaft. This is because lug nuts are installed very tightly with an impact wrench. If the car is raised before the lug nuts have been loosened, turning the lug nuts will end up turning the wheel, making removing the lug nuts virtually impossible. For this reason, each of the lug nuts must be loosened before the Focus is lifted off the ground.
An impact wrench is the best tool to use to loosen the lug nuts, as it provides a lot of torque simply by squeezing the wrenchs trigger. As an alternative, a lug nut wrench may be used, but be prepared to apply lots of force to the wrench. A breaker bar can be used in conjunction with the wrench to reduce the amount of force necessary to break the lug nuts free. Take care not to remove the lug nuts, as the rear of the car is still supported by the back tire.
Removing the Brake Drum
Before the brake drum can be removed, the Focus must be lifted off the ground and the wheel removed with a floor jack. Floor jacks are assigned a rating to inform the user how much weight the jack can safely lift. Only use a floor jack that can safely lift a minimum of 3,000 pounds. Once raised, the car needs only to shift an inch or two to fall off the jack. To avoid this risk, the car must be lowered onto two safety stands with the floor jack. Like the floor jack, the safety stands are assigned a weight rating, which should not be less than 3,000 pounds. Position the safety stands underneath the frame of the Focus, then lower the car onto the stands with the jack.
To remove the wheel, remove the loosened lug nuts and pull the wheel off to expose the brake drum. Before removing the brake drum, the emergency brake must be disengaged to prevent the brake pads from pressing against the drum. The drum itself slides over the studs the lug nuts were attached to. The key to removing the drum is to evenly distribute the pulling pressure applied to the drum. To do so, grab two opposite sides of the drum and pull the drum straight off the brake assembly.
