Frozen E brake

My son's manual tacoma won't move after sitting a few hours. Sounds like the e brake got wet and froze up. It's about 5° out. Any idea how to free it up? No heated garage to use.

 

Reverse.
Mine used to freeze up all the time in the cold. I'd just backup and it would break free. I told the dealer about it at the next oil change and they took care of it. No clue what they did. That was over four years ago. I also have an AT and I didn't use the parking break often. I hope this helps.

 

He tried reverse and it wouldn't move.

 

Any source of heat will help, from a worklight close to the inside of the wheel/brakedrum, to a propane torch applied VERY CAREFULLY to warm the metal and continued attempts to reverse should eventually break it loose.

 

I had him pump the brakes several time and it worked. I think the disc froze up. He only drives a couple of miles and with all the snow we have had they get very wet then the temps drop down to below zero.

 

I used a hammer and tapped around the frozen drum when this happened to my 08 a few years back.

 

A little tip for when the weather is very cold. Don't set the parking brake, but use the transmission and wheel chocks if you need to hold it on a hill while parked.