Brakes Locking Up (Solved)

My truck goes in saturday to get new parking brake lines installed, I am hoping that is the fix because right now I have to chalk my wheels when I am in my driveway.

 

There must be some combination of weird circumstances causing this for people. My truck has been sitting in my driveway since Saturday, I washed it Sunday, it rained Monday, and has been snowing and below freezing since. It is 24 degrees right now, cleaned the snow off and the handbrake released right away with no issue.

 

I'm telling you guys, there are rear brake issues with the 2nd and 3rd gens. I've had this same issue on all 3 of my 2nd gens and it was the bottom spring coming off that caused it. The most recent issue with my 3rd gen was due to missing retainer springs.

 

Okay. If you could reply, let me know how that goes. But did you physically see a kink in your e brake line? I've ran up and down it and didn't see anything wrong. So I'm starting to think that shaking the line released a spring that shouldn't be where it is instead of the problem you're having

 

I didn't it would be inside the housing. I can sometimes feel a weird "click" when applying the parking brake though. So the theory has some merit. I will definitely report back saturday though.

 

Interesting, my brake pedal does the same click when I fully press it in. And did you ever look at the springs inside of the drum thinking it was a possible stuck spring in there? Or just go immediately to the kink in the line?

 

Update to anyone still following:

After I shook the e brake line to get home, it must've snapped the spring or kink in the line back into place. I went to drive again and there was no more kink- it drove fine. So me being me, I pulled up on the e brake lever to see what would happen. Well the kink or spring that's been causing this re-engaged and i was unable to drive- forward or reverse now. I got out to shake the e brake cable and the truck didn't budge. Now the truck is just stuck where it is, even 4x4 Lo couldn't kick the brake back in place.

 

argh! I know that situation well.

I had it down to a science when this happened to me a on a trip. I'm pretty sure this is just your brake line, give the line a few good shakes all over, and really wiggle the spot where it connects to the drum. I can crawl under and with one hand on the wheel (on flat ground) wiggle, and also try and roll the tire, I can feel the moment it disengages. I feel like trying to ram it around in 4lo is just asking for something else to break. good luck!

 

I did take the drum off and looked in, I am not the most knowledgeable about them, but everything looked to be in place.

 

OH. also, you have to shake/pull/wiggle the line with the brake OFF. if that wasn't clear.

 

IO! Just gave it the shaking of its lifetime. My brake lever in the cab felt loose at the bottom position and halfway up. After shaking the cable underneath, the lever in the cab wasnt as loose going up (so instead of a loose feel from 0-50% engaged, it was only loose from 0-25%). So in a way, it is helping although my truck still isnt budging. What did you do in the long run to fix this? I think I'm going to replace all the components of my e brake assembly that's inside the drum this weekend. Thoughts?

 

I got a 17 OR that I use for all types of offroading. I beat the hell out of it in the dunes and in the mud. Whenever I go to use my E brake and remove it, im able to go forward a little and then my wheels lock. Ive noticed whenever i use my E break this happens. What I do is after turning on and removing E break I pump the breaks 2 times and put it in Drive. I put it in Park again and pump twice. This normally fixes it for me. Ive put it on a lift before removed the wheel and cleaned the drum breaks along with break line. After cleaning I can use the ebreak perfectly until I go offroading again...

 

After messing with the lever and the e brake line altogether, I've concluded its EASIER to go in reverse but not completely smooth like I thought before. I think it's due to something in the drum the e brake line is connected to that is caught on something else

 

I'll try to "pump the brakes" although I have a manual so all I'm going to be doing to "put it in drive" is put her in first gear. Maybe that's what you meant, idk, but I'll give it a shot anyways. Thanks

 

Well I guess you can hold the clutch, pump the breaks twice and see if it helps.
Sucks to hear this is becoming more common. Good luck and hopefully you find the fix

 

Well, I am not quite to the long run portion of my journey yet. Replacing the cables is going to be the first step. Do you have a dead blow hammer you can smack the backside of the drum with?

 

Ooo you're right, I think im gonna try that before I take it all apart on Saturday then. Since our trucks are identical, I'll let you know what ends up happening. My plan is to check out a diagram of what it's supposed to look like, take off the hub, see what's wrong, and try to replace what's off. In all reality though, I'll probably end up replacing everything that has to do with the e brake inside the drum to get a clean slate. As for the actual cable, that'll be a day decision to see if I should or not.

 

The drums are designed so maximum braking power is applied in a forward direction. The drum hardware geometry has tendency to “pull” the shoes into the braking surface moving forward, adding force, but conversely a tendency to lessen the pressure in reverse. This is why parking brakes sometimes are less effective when the car is parked facing uphill.

Often the solution is to reverse the vehicle to unstick the frozen brakes, just don’t do anything too extreme or you could bend to pins for the shoe mounts, which will screw up the brakes. If they are really stuck, sometimes a few minutes of heat coming off the exhaust under the truck will make some difference.

The other thing is to take your drums off (easy to do, even for a newb), and clean out the inside of the drums. Less brake dust and grime will give less area for water and moisture to collect, and ensure the drain holes are clear.

 

Interesting factoid about the e brake! I'll try to be more aware of that on a hill! Other than that, I did both 'solutions' and neither worked

 

Have you removed the drum to inspect the brake mechanism?



Need to check the following:

Anchor Spring
Adjusting Lever Spring
Shoe Hold Down Spring and Cup