77 zk650 rear drum brakes

i need to change my rear brakes. but the mufflers are in the way. a friend told me to remove the shocks and let the swing arm fall and that i should be able to remove the tire with out taking off the mufflers. would this work? i dont want to remove the mufflers if i don't have to. any advice thanks

You don't need to loosen the bottom shock mount bolts and drop the swingarm.

If you look at the top of your swingarm, you will see two bolts (one on each side) that secure the chain adjusters in place. You can just pull those bolts, then loosen the axle bolt. Remove the bolts for the brake rod/cam lever linkage and the rear torque link bolt. Take the chain off the sprocket and then you can just pull the whole wheel/axle assembly straight back and off the bike. After that just take the axle out and you've got easy access to the drum brake...