Wheels Locking up
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Wheels Locking up
I went out to leave the other day and the left rear wheel would not move! It has happened before but I was able to just rock it loose. I think the e-brake might be locking up or worse. What can I do to fix this and better yet, do maintenance on the rest of my wheels? It feels like all the wheels do not flow like they should. Any help would be appreciated.
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Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Aurora
Welcome to FTE
You may have a broken return spring inside your brake drum, or some corrosion problems in there may be catching up with you. Do you use the e-brake everytime(which is a good idea to keep it freed up). The cable might be jamming up in its casing from gunk and corrosion. Usually when that happens, the pedal won't come up all the way when you release the e-brake. Either way, don't put too many miles on it before you give it attention. Draging brake shoes can overheat to the point of damaging the wheel/tire or even start a fire on the highway.
As far as the other wheels go, block the wheels to keep the truck from rolling(safety first), jack up each wheel and give 'em a spin and listen for noise(dragging). The fronts should spin freely, and the rotors should not be bright blue in color.
You may have a broken return spring inside your brake drum, or some corrosion problems in there may be catching up with you. Do you use the e-brake everytime(which is a good idea to keep it freed up). The cable might be jamming up in its casing from gunk and corrosion. Usually when that happens, the pedal won't come up all the way when you release the e-brake. Either way, don't put too many miles on it before you give it attention. Draging brake shoes can overheat to the point of damaging the wheel/tire or even start a fire on the highway.
As far as the other wheels go, block the wheels to keep the truck from rolling(safety first), jack up each wheel and give 'em a spin and listen for noise(dragging). The fronts should spin freely, and the rotors should not be bright blue in color.
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Joined: Aug 2003
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From: St. Peter
If you can pull off your drums and dont be afraid to give them a crack with the ol 8 lb hammer, when you get them off check all of your springs to make sure they are not broken, then look for fluid leaking from the wheel cylinder, and also look for axle oil coming out of your axle seals. It sounds like a parking brake to me though. And like it was menchaned in the previous post, make sure you block both wheels.
My parking brake was sticking and the truck was parked on a little slant, i jacked up the rear wheel without even thinking, and set it down on a jack stand, the truck seemed sturdy. So i removed the wheel and began fiddling with the brake drum, i then started wiggling the parking brake cable and it released allowing the differential to differentiate and the truck rolled forward off of the jack. I saw it moving and i backed away, then i jacked it up again this time using wheel chocks.
My parking brake was sticking and the truck was parked on a little slant, i jacked up the rear wheel without even thinking, and set it down on a jack stand, the truck seemed sturdy. So i removed the wheel and began fiddling with the brake drum, i then started wiggling the parking brake cable and it released allowing the differential to differentiate and the truck rolled forward off of the jack. I saw it moving and i backed away, then i jacked it up again this time using wheel chocks.
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No, i do not normally put my brake on if i dont have to. i think it might be the brake but the pedal always comes up fully. However, even if i barley put the brake on it will lock up overnight sometimes. I am going to take the wheels off this weekend and check everything out. Also, is there anything I can do to the wheels or bearings while I have them off. I have done a lot of work on cars and trucks but I never had to do much with suspension and wheels, besides brakes. Any help would be great. Thanks
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Joined: Sep 2006
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I'm having the same kind of issues with me 01 4x4 with the 4.0. My left rear tire locked up on me and when my dad actually tried to move my truck it made a huge clunck and then stopped again resulting in the bending of the backing plate and part of the brake shoe and a lot of mounting hardware and springs were broken... well I took it back to the shop and had them fix it seeing as my truck was JUST in there a month before this happened. Well this last Wednesday I parked my truck in our driveway (slight hill) and I was facing the road so I applied my parking brake to make it easier to shift out of park... well the second I started moving (after releasing the brake) something didn't seem right... sure enough I got to my friends house about 45 miles away and my left rear drum was burning hot while the passenger side was just warm to the touch. I've tried backing up to release the e-brake and tried applying it again and releasing it again but that just seemed to make it worse last time. Unfortunately I don't have time to pull the tire off so I think I should just take it back to the shop.. right??
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: down south
full rebuild kits for all that internal junk are very cheap. Like $7 per wheel. If something in there is worn and not working right, like the springs could cause this. A good amount of cleaning and new parts and lubrication could do the trick. As a start try not setting the Ebrake when you park it and see if it still does it.
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My 86 ranger did the same thing. I remember one day I was taking a load of stuff to the dump, with expired tags. I passed a cop, and noticed that he turned around. I made a few quick turns hoping to lose him. Of course I wasn't running, because the truck just isn't fast enough to outrun a cop. I lost him, and then circled back to go to the dump...passed the cop again. This happened three times, and the cop never got close enough to see my tags, or even behind me. I couldn't figure out what the problem was, but I ditched the plan to go to the dump that day and figured I'd go another day.
I got a few miles down the road and smelled my brakes, which I knew were dragging a bit. I stopped in some gravel and got out to look at them. They smelled horrible and the wheels were so hot I couldn't touch them. I was about 2 miles from home, so I decided to go on home and cool it slowly with water. As I gave it gas and let out the clutch, the rear wheels started to spin, pushing the front ones. I had to get to pavement before I could get the front wheels turning.
I wound up replacing the front calipers. They're only $16 at Autozone, so why bother saving $7 on a kit and having to work it yourself?
I got a few miles down the road and smelled my brakes, which I knew were dragging a bit. I stopped in some gravel and got out to look at them. They smelled horrible and the wheels were so hot I couldn't touch them. I was about 2 miles from home, so I decided to go on home and cool it slowly with water. As I gave it gas and let out the clutch, the rear wheels started to spin, pushing the front ones. I had to get to pavement before I could get the front wheels turning.
I wound up replacing the front calipers. They're only $16 at Autozone, so why bother saving $7 on a kit and having to work it yourself?
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From: in the woods of MA
It could be over adjusted - or it could be under adjusted. If the brakes aren't adjust up far enough it's possible for the shoes to be pushed out so far on the top end (the brake cylinder end of the shoe vs. the adjuster end of the shoe) that they jam...
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I had issues with my driver's side wanting to hang up and not release. It eventually cracked the one shoe and wore the back one down to nothing. More than likely some kind of build up inside the cabling. The pass side worked fine. I cut the driver's side unit off and was going to just use the pass side (mine is a 91). I made up a little cable to go between the bracket and the PB cable, but the pass side broke after I adjusted the stop.
No more parking brakes for me. I guess I just have to remember to leave it in gear
I didn't even know it had been dragging for that long. I thought I fixed it after it froze the one winter morning. I just filled up yesterday and noticed an improvement in mpg as it had been down for awhile. Guess I figured out why It stops way better now. I didn't realize how bad the front brakes were. the inner pad was like this \ and only contacting an 1" of the rotor.
No more parking brakes for me. I guess I just have to remember to leave it in gear
I didn't even know it had been dragging for that long. I thought I fixed it after it froze the one winter morning. I just filled up yesterday and noticed an improvement in mpg as it had been down for awhile. Guess I figured out why It stops way better now. I didn't realize how bad the front brakes were. the inner pad was like this \ and only contacting an 1" of the rotor.
