Rear drum dust excluder

[Lynn Eades]

It appears from your photo that the wedges are too soft. The rollers have pushed into them . This would make the load on your pull rod much bigger, as the rollers would be trying to climb out of the trench rather than climb a steady ramp.
I think the pull rod might be a weakness in the design and have seen a couple of broken ones. The pull rod I mean is not shown in your pictures.

Rick, your grease might creep to your linings.