Just had a very strange problem with my '05 Ford that is going to cost me a few bucks to repair. I'm trying to figure out what the "chicken" was. I have the "eggs" laying on the floor of my shop.

1) Was parked on a mild grade in the woods at the back of my property and because I don't like to put all the weight on the transmission park pawl, I engage the parking brake first, then go to park, so the brakes hold the weight and the trans is the backup with no weight on it. You haven't had any fun until you've had a truck jammed in park!! The truck is still pretty new to me, just turning 13K miles, and besides the first time I test drove it and function-tested everything, I don't believe I've used the parking brake at all.

2) When I left my parking spot, I did the opposite; go into drive first, then release the parking brake. When I started to roll forward, I heard a ginormous "bang" from the back.Looked underneath but didn't see anything obvious. when I drove off, I heard all sorts of funny noises from the back end like a bunch of small parts rattling in a can. Again I looked but with nothing obvious from the outside, I crept back onto my driveway about a quarter mile away.

3) Pulled the back wheels off and the brakes apart, noting that both e-brake cables were off the hooks at the wheel ends. Pulled the rotors off and all the e-brake parts just fell out onto the ground. Both sides. The shoes were all torn up, left side worse, the anchor pins ripped out of the backing plates, holes ripped into the backing plate from the shoes and they are all bent and tweaked.

4) It's obvious what I need to do, but I'm trying to figure out why. The only thing that comes to mind is that the parking brakes were out of adjustment, (way loose) and when I applied them and released, they more or less fell apart. No doubt some of the damage came from when I drove that quarter mile... it was making some nasty noise. But what started the whole thing in the first place????

 

the 04/05 trucks had an issue with the parking pawl sticking. this would cause the e-brake to remain engaged. the sticking was due to the pawl rusting in place. Ford's solution was to grease it to prevent stickage

no idea why it fell apart. that is just wierd. especially for both sides to do it at the same time

you the original owner?

 

I'll look into the parking brake mechanism just to prevent future problems but I don't think that was the issue here. I'll be talking tot he dealer today baout parts and maybe they will have some ideas. If they doo, I'll pass them on. Me, I'm gobstruck.

I'm not the original owner. I bought it in January '08 with 7.7K miles on it. Prior, it had been a FoMoCo pool truck at Dearborn.

 

It may or may have not been the culprit, but make sure you do check those parking brake levers (pawl) to see if they are seized up. Many of us had a problem with them (do a search). You have to break it apart and grease it up. I had to fix mine almost a year ago and I've had no problems since. The driver's side was seized up on mine and when I pulled the wheel off, I noticed that the e-brake cable was disconnected/off the hook.

 

Well, my dealer, Raabe Ford, hasn't seen anything quite like my problem. Lucky me, huh? They mentioned the sticking brake issue, which results in burned shoes, and they have seen the occasional issue on one side or another... never both sides simultaneously and never quite this bad. Fortunately, I can get the entire backing plate assembly with shoes and all the hardware at a good price. Will have 'em tomorrow. Still a PITA but I'm getting my "Preparation H" pretty quick. Should have the truck up and running tomorrow nite.

Been doing a lot of "fix-up" work to upgrade the truck. That's fun! Doing stupid repairs like this... on a truck with only 13K miles... not so much. Sure glad it happened to me on my own property, though, rather than out on the road. A little mayo on the poop sandwich, I guess!

 

I believe that I may have had the same problem, but now my left rear caliper has stuck. This stinks because I had new pads and rotors put on just 15k miles ago. The wonderful people at Midas want $1056.99 to complete the repair. Sounds steep since just a little over $250 is in parts.......