while i was changing the fluids rolling around on the ground underneath the bus i noticed fluid running down the rim and wheel. upon inspection aka i smelled and felt that it is brake fluid. i assume it is a leaky cylinder . that brings me to my question. do i have to pull the axle housing and baring to get to the drum? or would it be more logical to take it to a ford mechanic to have it done? though i have never worked on a rig this big i know drums quite well and just want to know what i would be getting myself into just trying to get to the brakes. i have not pulled them but i am confident from seeing the back side they are drums. thanks for your considerations.

 

A lot will depend on what facilities you have and your determination.
They can be a pain because I believe you need to remove the axle in order to remove the drum/hub. If you are not familiar with brake work, and don't have some of the tools that help make the job a lot easier you might get involved over your head on this one.
If you didn't use the parking brake much the cables could be frozen and not cooperative in returning to the fully released position which can mean replacing the cables on both rear wheels. Chances are pretty good the brake shoes are soaked with brake fluid and will require replacement along with the hardware. Then you will need to replace the wheel seals to prevent the lubricant from leaking out on the new brake shoes. Then you need to add differential lube to the rear to replace what you will lose when removing the hub and drum. Depending on the mileage you might also need to replace the wheel cylinders to prevent having to open everything up again later.
It will be a costly job if done correctly and the right equipment and tools are a big help. Get a few estimates so you don't get sticker shock. And make sure you ask for a complete estimate so you don't get any surprises once it is opened up.

 

Thank you sir that seems like sound advice and is what I figured the response would be. All that money over one leaky cylinder is what I was afraid of. But what is a man to do ay?

 

How many miles are on the vehicle?
The reason I ask is because those vehicles generally provided good service from the rear brakes. Before we go any further with this I should have asked if the vehicle had dual rear wheels. In either case they very rarely had any wheel cyl problems and once opened up depending on miles and year of manufacture wheel cyls were replaced while it was open. A good shop can get this work done pretty quickly if they can get all the parts and have the right equipment. It is a little time consuming, but not too difficult. I have found it was worth doing everything all at the same time and once done depending on how hard it was driven those brakes lasted quite a while. Ambulances on the other hand did not last as long due to the hurry up race and quick stops.

 

It is a 1997 and has 327000 miles on it. It runs really well. So when the guy that sold it to us said it was maitnanced every 3 to 5000 miles we believed him. Though on further inspection there was a lot lacking. I figure he meant fluids and such after I found the leaky brake. So there is no telling what I will find tearing into it. It used to be a tour bus so the miles aren't unusual. And yes it has dual wheels. It is a cutaway so it is the e350 chassis with the shuttle bus on the back. At least the front are discs so that's a plus. I have a large drive way to work in so work space is not a problem on a dry day. And I think the only tool I'm missing would be the special socket to get the axle housing off. Watched a few you tube videos but none of them were my vehicle. I really want to save the time and money and do it myself but I'll be pulling a car through the mountains and I'm stressing on that.

 

I can see where you are coming from, however, and I'm sure you don't want to take any shortcuts. A good place to start would be to get an idea of what the parts would cost and with that many miles if the brakes have never been replaced previously you are going to go the whole 9 yards.
Here is a list of some of the parts you will require,
2 wheel cylinders
2 wheel seals
1 set of brake shoes
hardware kits for both wheels
2 self adjusters
maybe both parking brake cables
maybe both rear dums
1 qt DOT3 brake fluid
1 qt gear lube
Possibly 2 axle flange gaskets or RTV to seal the axle to the hub when installing the axles.
You might be able to rent the axle nut wrench to remove the hubs and should use it to install and adjust the wheel bearings on assembly.
This might give you some idea of the possible cost involved.

 

Thanks for all the Intel and corespondance. I have decided because of the expense and time constraints I am going to tackle this project myself. I hope you will be available for further information in the near future. I am going to go ahead and purchase the drums, cylinders and shoes for a start. Oh and the axle nut wrench is probably a must even though I watched a video where someone removed one with a screw driver. But it just seems safer especially since it only costs 16 dollars or so, then I can work on them for any circumstance. but I figure I can rap the hubs in plastic if I need to locate and or wait for parts futher needed. I will keep track, take pictures and maybe even make a YouTube video because all my online research shows there is nothing out there about this type of vehicle. Shout out and thank you to you Hanky for being the only response on this project, though it is no surprise because it is an odd inquiry... More to come!

 

I failed to remind you to be extremely careful with the brake dust in the drums and on the backing plates. That stuff is known to cause cancer when it gets lodged in the lungs from breathing the dust. If possible spray everything down with water to hold the dust down and try to keep from getting it on your clothes etc. The warning also appears on the box the replacement brake shoes come in. Asbestos is supposed to off the market, but some of the replacement materials aren't much better.