ted_pulliam

Last night on the way home I kept smelling that hot brake smell like a big rig in the mountains, only it was my truck!

When I got home I found that the driver's rear wheel was hot, and when I raised the rear off the ground, released the ebrake and put the tranny in neutral the tire didn't want to spin. This just started happening.

I backed off the star adjuster on the brake shoe inside the rotor until the drag mostly stopped, but I think in the process I may have lessened the effectiveness of my emergency brake.

I've not been able to wash the road salt and grime off the truck lately and I suspect something may have rusted up in there which caused this. Before this incident I had to adjust the rear ebrake shoes a couple times when I noticed the parking brake not holding on a hill. Of course with 208000 miles they could just flat be worn out.

Is there an easy procedure to check, if necessary remove and replace the rear ebrake hardware and lube it all up? My Haynes manual covers mostly pre 01.5 trucks and doesn't have much to say about this.

many thanks,

Ted

johnh

e brake shoes should never wear out unless they are applied while driving...on my truck the e brake is the service brake shoes and will wear out with out using the park brake....... years ago i was traveling thru southern Mo during an ice storm, and stopped for fuel.
forgetting winter driving rules ( never apply park brake in the winter) i left the engine running with the park brake on while filling up.....i drove for 300 miles with the park brake frozen on the passenger side .finally it wore enough to stop smelling........when i got home i replaced the rear brakes.
only the right side was "locked"up......the cable had got ice in it and wouldn't release, and i had no way to thaw it out...............

DodgeRamdiese01

Haven't been inside the rear brakes for awhile but it isn't that difficult to lube all the moving parts maybe free(ing) up some rust I have never used my parking brake because I have kick pannel speaker enclosures that dont allow the lever to go down. so mine is probably rusted in the open position, good luck.

SIXSLUG

Its no big deal, just takes a little time. Your starwheels are probably foze up from road salt and wet weather driving. Mine were when I pulled and cleaned them a while back.

You need to pull the calipers and take the retainers off a couple lugnuts and then slide the rotor out. It can get pretty grungy in there.

Also, make sure your pedal is coming all the way up on release of the p-brake.

ted_pulliam

thanks guys for the tips. I'll get it squared away - Ted

SIXSLUG

Ted, I used anti-sieze on the star wheel threads rather than grease. At reinstall I backed them all the way down and adjusted them after the tires were back on.

To ease possible frustration, my notes say Drivers side: down to spread
Pass side: up to spread for the starwheels.

Dave2001

Did you drive it with the e brake on? If not I would look at the disc brake area. I had heat and smell from my right rear and it turned out to be the caliper. I agree with johnh, the e brake should never really wear out.

ted_pulliam

Nah, I had the brake off. I think when I disassemble it this weekend or early on next week, I'll do as SixSlug suggested and put the no seize on. That should fix it up :-)

Like you and JohnH said, it probably isn't that the e-brake shoes are worn, but they might just need a little help.

Ted