Frozen left side parking brake cable!!

[HEMI®Dart]

Any tips on how to release it? Truck won't move? Drum brakes. Cut the cable close to the backing plate?

 

[Ozymandias]

As you want to replace it anyway, yes cut it and hope thebest it isn't the mechanism inside the drum that is stuck.
Move the vehicle backwards first as this will free a frozen brake shoe.

 

[GAmes]

I'm trying to visualize the inside of the hub. IIRC there is a possibility the end of the cable could fall into the hub once the tension is released. I wouldn't drive it any farther than you have to.

 

[Joe Mc]

God I dislike drum brakes. Anyhow, with stuck brake I've had decent luck de-adjusting the shoes thru the slot(s) on the backing plate. You'll need a skinny screwdriver or other small diameter device to push the self-adjuster lever off the star wheel and then (hardest part, for me anyway) figure out which way to turn the star wheel. Try to do this with the wheel on and on the ground, easier to rock forward and backward using engine. You probably have to give the drum a few good whacks to free it from the hub. Suggest hitting where the drum lays on the hub versus outside of drum. Actually with the tire off, stands under both sides of the diff, put 4 lugs on, but not all the way, place in gear and hit brakes, might have to use forward and reverse to free it. You'll know by the loud clunk when its it's free. Be careful please

 

[Matt42]

Any tips on how to release it? Truck won't move? Drum brakes. Cut the cable close to the backing plate?

As you want to replace it anyway, yes cut it and hope thebest it isn't the mechanism inside the drum that is stuck.
Move the vehicle backwards first as this will free a frozen brake shoe.

I have had this problem before, but with passenger cars. Front disc/rear drum. The rear drum lining material absorbed enough water to rust to the drum in one case, or somehow glue itself to the drum. It acted like a stuck parking brake cable, but wasn't. (If your parking brake cable is terminally rusted, that's a different matter.) In the situations I dealt with, the parking brake cable looked OK. The cables weren't rusty, muddy or otherwise cruddy. If I had cut them, I would have had to replace perfectly serviceable cables. YMMV.

I bought a brake drum puller that was big enough to handle the drum. Then I removed the small bolts that attached the drum to the hub. Wearing safety glasses, I attached the puller to the drum and cranked the puller hard until it pulled clear from the brake shoes with a loud BANG. In one case, the brake linings were ruined. In the others, they looked a little moth-eaten but were still OK. Again, YMMV.