I'm really not a total idiot. I drove about 10 miles with my emergency brake on. No brake light on. I couldn't tell it till I got home and the both rear wheels were smoking. I couldn't tell by the way it drove that the brake was on. Anyway, what is likely damaged now? New brake drums and shoes, bearings? Dang it. Sprayed both wheels with water till they cooled down. Lots of steam.

 

Probably need shoes and drums. May check them out and be OK adjusting them

 

10 miles? just check your shoes and drums probably not so bad if they weren't ancient.

 

They were brand new shoes, drums and wheel cylinders. I guess I will pull the wheels and drums off tomorrow to inspect. I drove it around the block and everything sounded ok with the exception of a clunk I don't recall hearing before.

 

Just take it apart and check them out. If anything, maybe new springs for the shoes and adjust your self-adjuster. Could have taken it out of whack.

 

Definitely going to pull the drums tomorrow. Shouldn't the brake light come on when the emergency brake is on?

 

No. Brake lights are controlled via a switch on the brake pedal arm, the E-Brake doesn't trip it.

 

But the brake light on the dash should come on, which is what I think he's referring to.

Your drums are probably warped from spraying them with water.

 

absolutely right. But again, isn't that light based on whether the emergency brake pedal is pushed down or not? If so whether they engage or not doesn't matter

 

X2................

 

Yes, I was referring to the dash brake light. I was thinking while I was spraying water that the drums may warp but I also didn't want a fire to break out. When I test drove after everything cooled down, I did not notice any uneven braking but I will take a closer look tomorrow. Why do you think the brake light didn't come on?

 

[QUOTE=Glenn54;16776422 Why do you think the brake light didn't come on?[/QUOTE]

There is a little push in switch above the brake pedal arm. That little push button may be stuck. The fix for that may be as simple as spraying the button with WD40 and working the button out. That is how the older ones were designed anyway.

 

My 96' fits your description. My light comes on about 50% of the time the pedal is depressed.

 

I find that the little right angle spade connector would get jarred loose from releasing the parking brake pedal.
​​​​​​​Got so sick of having to put it back on, I ended up looping one of those tiny zipties around it.

 

​​​​​​​Yeah every once in a while mine does this. But I stomp my brake hard enough there is no moving the truck without realizing its on... (Being a 5 speed helps that realization)