Frozen Wheels?

This might be a stupid question, I attempted to search the forums before posting this...

After a week of freezing temps, snow, & rain, Ive noticed that when warming my truck up she doesn't want to move at first.
Literally feels like I'm "breaking free" when I leave my drive way.

I have a 19' Manual TRD, any idea if its just the wheel hubs frozen?

I hope it's not the transfer case.
When I first noticed this issue I did try to throw it in 4hi & 4lo. She didn't break free.
Threw it back in 2wheel & had a friend push me a little bit & things started rolling again.

Any idea what might be happening here?
Thanks yall!

 

Are you using your ebrake when you park?

Don't do that.

 

Yeah either ebrake or, once I had a Subaru and left it parked for the winter. The brake pads had seized to the rotors from the salt, but that was months of sitting.

 

I'm of the same mindset as the previous two guys: The E-Brake.

The e-brake can freeze in place. If the weather is cold and wet, it is very likely that your e-brake has simply frozen in place. ... To release a stuck brake you can do several things. If it is safe to do so, you can try rocking the vehicle back and forth or manually getting under the vehicle to pull the cables.

 

Parking brake freezes on these trucks really bad. If you ride the parking brake for a little bit before you park it should burn out all the water and it wont freeze. But you will lower the already super high lifespan of your rear brakes.

 

I live where its -40C regularly. I use my ebrake every time I park since new, never had an issue with it sticking or freezing.

OP - My guess is that your pads are sticking to your rotors. I've had the same stuck feeling your describing, in the winter its pretty happens regularly but in the summer even I'll get it when the truck sits for an extended period of time on my driveway when we get lots of rain, the rotors get a thin layer of rust.

 

Wait what? you've never had them sticking then go on to describe how you've had issues with them sticking?

 

That's a pretty 'dry' cold isn't it? Some of the reported problems are actually the ebrake cable freezing in the sheath which is water logged.

Shoes freezing to the drums would be unusual unless maybe a fording had been done just before parking.

 

eBrake is the drums on the rear, I am talking pads and rotors on the front

 

OP did you actually need a push to break free?
It gets to -13f regularly where I'm at and sometimes after a car wash if I park the car I can hear the ice around the wheel hubs break free when I go to move again. But never to the point of being stuck.

 

None of us are talking about the front though, these trucks have issues with the rear parking brake freeze when you use it in winter.

 

Yeah thats a valid point, it's dry as shit when it's this cold. hmmmm

 

I was just responding to OP's post is all, the issue he is having sounded like his pads were sticking to his rotors via surface rust. I am basing this on the fact that I use my ebrake constantly and I've never had issues with my drums sticking

 

I’ve had trucks do this, including my dually. I’ve never really thought anything of it. Sometimes the heat from the vehicle melts things and they refreeze after a couple of hours. Heck even my four wheeler I plow my driveway with gets frozen to the ground.

 

Pads should not be touching the rotors unless the brake is applied. Making freezing pads to rotors being really difficult.

Surface rust from rain or humidity will be scrapped off by the pads after a couple of light applications. Odd sound, but harmless.

 

Gotcha, lots of us have had this issue with the parking brake, it comes up pretty often here.

Here is the first and last time I used my e-brake in the winter

 

+5 on the drum rear brakes and ebrake! Rolling backwards just a touch will help break them free faster than going forward. Best to leave the ebrake off in the winter overnight (up north/when freezing and wet).

To reiterate: Tacoma rears have drums, not rotors. I live where it can get -20F and when it's dry I'll live dangerously and leave my ebrake on. After it rains the front rotors will get a little crusty (light surface rust) for the first stop or two.

 

After water crossings is freezing weather ice will form between the brake pads and drums/rotors that must be broken to move. It only takes a few minutes if it's really cold. You can do the same if you park after driving in snow. I've had that happen a few times. I've never had it happen after driving in rain and have temperatures drop later but suppose it could happen.

 

I'm going with parking break. I don't know why I didnt think about that.
I normally don't use it since I have a MT but with all the ice we've had I threw it on for safety.

Yeah, we had to give it a little nudge.
I think the 1" of ice that came down had everything pretty locked up.

@everyone THANK YOU FOR ALL THE ANSWERS! TACOMA WORLD RULES!

 

I swear my ebrake seized after washing my truck in mild weather almost immediately after washing it. I think the more you use it the less of a problem it is. Don't really understand why it happened, I just remember coming on here and reading about it and was left scratching my head.