2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission rear brake lock-up w/ light pedal pressure

[BTerramana]

i have searched the archives for signs of this problem. have found many with the problem but no fixes. my right rear wheel locks up at slow speeds with very little pedal pressure. if i go 35 mph and push down hard, no lock up. pulled the drum and no signs of a fluid leak. shoes and drums are new and installed correctly. i have RWAL only. i feel there must be an electrical component failure. i don't want to replace random parts till i find the right one, that's expensive and time consuming. does this symptom point towards one particular component? do these trucks have RWAL parts that commonly fail? looks as if someone has installed a remanufactered combonation valve before. it has vacuum assisted booster. '96 4x4 2500



thanks in advance, brian

 

[steved]

Take this for what it's worth... sitting still and the truck running, stomp the living %&#* out of the pedal and see if the condition goes away... I had a similar problem and it must have been a stuck valve in the hydroboost...



It never came back...



steved

 

[BTerramana]

thanks steved, i'll give that a shot. still hoping someone perhaps has a more technical post. the situation is so frustrating i'm ready to stomp the *&$#@ out of the whole truck.

brian

 

[Hendricks]

had the exact same problem on my wifes durango. It was a problem with the slack adjusters and the cables. climb under the truck and tighten up your rear brakes. if the problem gets better for a short time and then comes back you need to replace your brake hardware. hope this helps.

 

[steved]

thanks steved, i'll give that a shot. still hoping someone perhaps has a more technical post. the situation is so frustrating i'm ready to stomp the *&$#@ out of the whole truck.

brian

I was at the same point... figured I couldn't break it any more than it was already broken... got tired of almost kissing the windshield everytime I stopped.



steved

 

[yemyak1]

Have same problem on my 98. 5 but ONLY when shoes are damp. Happens after a rain or when humidity is high. I dry lining by holding light pressure on stop pedal while moving slowly. On dry days, brakes work fine.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Have same problem on my 98. 5 but ONLY when shoes are damp. Happens after a rain or when humidity is high. I dry lining by holding light pressure on stop pedal while moving slowly. On dry days, brakes work fine.

I have the same problem when it is humid or wet. My suggestion, just put a few thousnad pounds in your truck and the brakes feel just fine Oo.



On a more serious note, I pulled my drums and looked at everything I could, and, my rear shoes are almost out of life and one pad is a bit cracked. Here's my theory: I think that b/c the shoes are so worn down, the cam action is slapping the one brake shoe (on each side) against the drum causing a lock-up. (Remember that our brakes work in two ways, first the cylinder pressure starts to apply pressure to the shoes and then the more the front shoe grabs, it forces the back shoe out against the drum more via the cam at the bottom of the drum inbetween the two shoes. )



Also, the big green chrysler book of knowledge says do not mess with the cables. You can set tehm if you replace a brake cable, but the adjuster is to adjust the tension between the two rear cables, not to adjust your braking power. Don't feel bad though, I did this before I got my manual, and I cooked that one set of shoes on one side (when you crank on that adjuster, it only tightens one side), which is why they are now all cracked.

 

[robbiesworld]

Have same problem on my 98. 5 but ONLY when shoes are damp. Happens after a rain or when humidity is high. I dry lining by holding light pressure on stop pedal while moving slowly. On dry days, brakes work fine.

Both my 95's were exactly the same as this

 

[Jgolden]

For me the right rear "lockup" was caused by a leaking rear seal. Pretty noticable on snow. Diff lube gets on shoe, easy to see when brake drum is off. Just a thought.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Thanks for the tip. When I checked them last month I found that they are dry.

 

[EricBu12]

Best fix to do is get the EGR Rear Disk conversion..... No problem whatsoever now...



http://www.egrbrakes.com/index-main.htm

 

[PKnight]

rear brake lock-up.

I had this problem and found that my auto adjusters were not keeping up with the wear rate. Now I use my brakes more when I back up, on purpose, to make the adjusters work. High moisture does make the brakes more sensitive as well.