JUST SHARING UPDATES!
This thread can be considered "done" but I like to finish out threads with the information that worked for me (and pictures of maybe whatever state things were in for comparison) in case anybody goes looking for similar answers and finds my threads.
I finally got the drum off with a combination of a 2.5lb sledge with pulling on the opposing side (so that it couldn't slip back and lose progress as the smacks made it jiggle around). Thankfully the drum seemed still usable afterwards/not destroyed so I guess it takes a moderate beating safely.
Lessons learned:
- First off, after I smacked the drum off, rain was coming, so I put the drum back on for protection. MISTAKE! It got as stuck as it was the first time before I could resume it 3 days later!
(this is after hand sanding down the rust ridge as much as I could by hand, which wasnt much/just cleaned up some of the roughness is all I could achieve) So DONT PUT IT BACK ON.
- I had the drum turned at the local shop, a few thousands cleaned it up nicely in a way hand sanding failed to.
- I discovered what I was doing wrong once I had the drum off - nothing! The reason my starwheel adjuster wouldn't adjust any further to loosen the drum is that it was already at the maximum backing off! I tried messing with it from the front and there was no more backing off possible. (this is what made me decide to turn the drums as hand sanding still wouldnt let the drum fit back on without sticking/hanging up bad)
- After turning that drum, it slipped right on with the cleaned up surface. The tire and wheel seems to spin freely now for the most part like it should.
Since apparently Fords have a HORRIBLE problem with those rust ridges building up and adjusting the starwheel from the back is such a PITA due to poor poor design, i've decided in the future to do prevention. I'm going to pull the rotors periodically and turn them whenever theyre showing signs of starting to hang up with a new rust ridge. Since it took 120k to get to this place i'm pretty sure every 30k from now on is plenty of inspection interval to just pull off, look, and put back on. Turning them if theyre starting to "ridge up". I think this would prevent alot of future trouble for other Ford owners too.
Here are the pics to show
This is the drum before I turned it. The rust ridge was bad enough to catch the shoes even with the starwheel 100% backed off and was making the drum heat up from a few miles of light driving at city speeds/wouldn't freespin on the jack.
It cleaned up nicely! Slid right back on, spins freely now, comes back off when I pull to inspect.