For the past few days my Baja's left rear wheel has been creaking as I drive along. If I rolled it while the car was stopped it creaked. If I jacked up the rear end and turned the wheel it was silent. The rear nut was adequately tight and properly pinned on.

I took the rear wheel off and after about 10 minutes of hammering and WD40ing the brake drum finally came off. It was nearly rusted on.

A couple of weeks ago I replaced the oil seal at the brake drum end of the rear left axle and in the process I thoroughly cleaned the area with petrol and then I forgot to oil or grease the spline when I reassembled it. As a result it got rusty, and creaky in a week.

I'm usually quite conciencious about greasing splines and things like that, but this time I forgot to do it. A little wire brushing and some oil and the brake drum now slips on and off with alacrity.

I'm amazed that it could become so rusted on in such a short time. I'm also intruiged that it creaked so loudly. I'm glad that it did so. Imagine trying to get the rear brake drum off on the roadside a few months after putting it on dry. It would have been impossible without a puller or a press.

So did the creaking stop? ....lol

i wish the horrendos banging in my front end was that simple . good tip never the less.