You should use your parking brake EVERY time you park, on a hill or not. It's there for a reason...to use it.

Make a good habit out of it and you won't have that problem.

 

Automatics dont need it on level ground, and in the winter they can freeze.

 

i agree

 

UPDATE: Ok, I went to my dealer and had a guy drive around the service area with me. Just bout 5 seconds into the drive it starts up again and the guy is like 'wow, i didnt think that was your truck when you drove in. I thought it was something in the road.' So now my baby is at the dealership getting examined. He said he will call when they figure out whats wrong. Let me tell you, the grinding/clanking is really frickin loud.

 

So what happened???? :-)

 

It's been almost 5 years! He is really good at keeping a secret! You would think that he would have broken down and told us.

 

Yeah I hate a cliffhanger:-) Getting ready to go out & do rear brakes & either adjust or replace the e-brake shoes on the 03 screw.

 

Might want to ask advice in the 97-03 section.

 

Thanks - I should be fine, I've done them once before (& to many others to mention) just not the e-brake which may or may not need replacing (I have the shoes handy just in case).

 

I know, old thread ....

I almost ALLWAYs use the P-brake even with Automatic as I have seen automatics break the parking pin that locks it or the case and the vehicle roll away. I stop and apply the parking brake itself BEFORE I place the vehicle in Park and BEFORE I release the foot brake. Old habit.

Back in the mid '80s I had a '86 Chevrolet Caprice police car, it had disc front, drum rear brakes. One night I and two others responded to a domestic violence call and we got there to find beat up wife home alone and she said hubby left running. Then, a car stopped and said a man ducked into the woods a half mile up the road. I jumped into my car to follow another up there and pulled her into gear and hit the gas hard and it twisted the left rear brake backing plate away from the axle housing. The bolts did not brake, the axle flange was OK. It just tore out from around the 4 nuts that hold the backing plate on. Awfullest clanging and noise.

The brake backing plate will hold brakes to skid any tire you put on there, but if that brake is locked hard (I'm sure I gave it a good stomp with the rush when we arrived) and you hit it with some power .... not just traction .... the brake parts can fail.

It was not the only time I drove off and had to release the parking brake ...
... but it was the only time that I did so hard enough on the gas with the brake applied hard enough to tear the backing plate away.

That was a 11 or 12" diameter drum brake on the '86 Caprice that the parking brake used the rear service brakes on, these trucks with rear disc have a much smaller "parking only" rear drum brake inside the rear disc "hat". Not enough leverage there on small diameter to rip the backing plate apart .... but if locked hard in a static conmdition and someone hit it hard with power ... in 4WL especially .... not at all surprised to see the small brake shoes loose their linings or the hold down hardware destroyed and the stop pin broke.

 

I had a hot smell near the rear of my truck a while back, pulled the left rotor off, the brake linings were separated from the metal part of the shoes. They were just floating around in there. Truck rolls much freer since I replaced the shoes. Guess I got rid of some excessive drag.

 

Roush .... I just remebered .... my wife's cousin's husband had same thing exactly on his '06 STX 4x4.

They aren't service brakes, just small drum brakes meant to hold an already stopped truck. I know that they will wear out fast if used much moving.

 

Actually I believe they ARE emergency brakes and not simply a "parking" brake, reason being why wouldnt they simply use the e-brake cable to squeeze the disc pads to the drum like other Ford products? I believe the thinking is if you burn out your brakes you still have those drum shoes to slow you down (hopefully).

 

No, it's because on a heavy vehicle, you can't squeeze the pads tight enough to adequately hold it. Discs require a lot more power to stop a vehicle than drums. Remember the old days when cars all had drum brakes with no power booster? It's almost impossible to adequately stop a vehicle with disc brakes without a booster.