I am having a hard time getting the rear drums off... I too off the wheel but the drum doesnt want to come off. Is the ceter of the drum a retaining nut? I dont have any tools to take it off if that is the case.

I thought the only thing that held on the rear drums was just the tire.... Apparently not.

When drums get worn down most create a groove that the shoe rides in. Well the shoe doesn't go all the way to the very edge of the drum so you'll typically find a ridge on the outside edge of the drum that the shoes usually catch on. Just yank. Grab some PB blaster and a rubber mallet and go to town on those things. You're replacing the drums as well, right?

I ran into this problem too when the previous owner decided to replace the shoes after putting grooves in the drum with the old shoes. I had to loosen the adjuster (the star shaped adjuster wheel) for the park brake so the shoes weren't pushed out against the drum any more. Drum came right off after that.