We got dump of snow here and the roads are slippery. I was comming home and decided to see if my front and rears would lock up on the ice if i mashed the pedal down. Fronts lock up, but i was haning out looking at the left rear, and it didnt lock up no matter how hard i pushed. Normal or not?

 

I don't want to say it's normal, but it's definitely typical of a truck needing the rear drum brakes adjusted. Mine used to do that, and after I figured out how to manually adjust them using the star wheel on the back of the drum they were *much* better.

 

Did the right rear lock up?

You may need to lube the starwheel and adjust.

 

My 99 has anti locks in the rear.

 

Something a loyt of people overlook is the e-brake adjustment. That has to be adjusted before the normal brake adjustment.

Rick

 

I couldnt see the right rear, because i was by myself. Whats this about the e-brake cable?

 

Absolutely WRONG, service brakes are adjusted first then the Park brake is adjusted.

on some types of vehs the park brake adjustment sets the service brakes (older jetta for example), on dodge trucks this does not apply

if you cannot lock your rears on slippery roads, your rear brakes need adjusting, if thats done properly and they still dont give desired braking effort, look into larger rear wheel cyls (GMC 1 ton) or adjusting the rear porporation rod

 

Correct. I think all these truck have rear anti-lock brakes which means that the rears should NOT lock up. Only some models (option?) have front anti-lock brakes. This of course doesnt mean that you shouldnt make sure your rear drums are properly adjusted because the auto adjuster can tend to get corroded and then wont adjust on its own anymore. If you couldnt get them to lock using the E-brake then there's a problem. And also correct is that the E-brake does NOT have to be adjusted properly or even hooked up for the rear drums to work right.

 

OK, So how do you take up the play at the top of the shoes if you do not have the e-brake adjusted? The star wheel only adjusts the bottom, not the top.

 

you don't, the hydraulics push the top .........when you take your foot off the brake,the springs pull the shoes and the pistons in

 

Exactly right, but if you pull them all the way in then you will have a lot of play with worn shoes. If the e-brake is adjusted correctly the tops will pull in to the brake adjustment and no further. 45 years of wrenching and this is how it is on every vehicle I have ever done that had rear drum brakes with an emergency brake. A lot of the Fords have a self adjusting e-brake, if you do not use it very often then when you do and it adjusts up you will be surprised at how much higher the pedal is after that. That is why you have to back the e-brake adjustment way off before you can put new brakes on. I have had people tell me the shoes are no good because they can't get the drum on.

Rick

 

So, should i just do a rear adjustment? Can i do it by just jacking up the truck and spinning the wheel and adjusting until they drag a little bit? OR do i have to pull the drum off and adjust them until snug to put back on...Its cold out, so less work is best!

 

I am going to bet the starwheels are froze up, or really hard to turn. Take the drums off and dissasemble the star wheels and lube with anti-sieze and reinstall then adjust as mentioned.

 

I'm not trying to say you're wrong here so however you do it thats fine. I've had greasy hands my entire life too. And remember that the OP was about their 2nd gen Dodge.

 

I guess it couldnt hurt to try a simple rear brake adjustment when it warms up a tad....