i was driving home from work today and suddenly the truck started shaking violently all the sudden. I pull off and everything looks fine, all the wheels still have the weights, the drive shaft(s) appear ok, nothing is leaking, no flats, nothing. The yoke was pulled out about 3 inches, not sure if that is much of a problem. My dad and I think we have isolated it to possibly something to do with the rear end. something clutch like (lsd)? you guys got any ideas what it could be?? We are going to go ahead and have gears put in this week, but im puzzled as to what it could be. It will get the vibration back after driving a bit (10+ miles) and the truck is warm there also is a nasty metal on metal squeel, maybe the u-joints? If you drop it in reverse back up a bit then start driving again it takes this vibration/squeel a good while to come back? its driving me crazy, im not going to be driving the truck again till I can figure it out. Any ideas? my explanation is probably not the greatest though, sorry...

 

Emergency brake is sticking. Next time it does it, pull over and feel near your wheels. I bet one of them is HOT. Search and you'll find how you fix it.

 

is it really that simple? come to think of it i did use the e brake when I was parked on a hill the other day...

 

Just check if it gets hot, if so that's your answer.

 

I had a friend who forgot his ebrake on his Ranger, and the wheel got so hot, the paint on the rims started cracking.

So be careful when you are touching the rims after you do the test.

 

I agree... It happen to me too. I just disconnected my ebrake from the right wheel and it stopped it. That reminds me I should probably fix that.. You will also smell the brake burning...

 

I had not even thought of this at all, but after searching like thump suggested it sounds like the problem. I adjusted the pads in, hopefully that will releave the problem. Id rather not take them apart till my leaf packs get here friday and do it all at once.

any reason why it sticks? i hardly have used the ebrake at all until recentely. I use it to park in the steep driveways since the attempted break in on my truck when it was out in the street..

thanks for the quick replies. I knew i could count on you guys, saved me some money for the time being..

 

My truck did this the first month after I bought it. It was so bad I had to have it towed to the dealership. One of the cables was pinched, which held the e-brake on. Others on here have taken theirs apart and have some parts rusted open/shut causing the ebrake to hang up, that seems to be the common cause as I have not read of anybody else having my issue.

 

On the early new model F150s, you do not even have to use the e-brake for this to happen. Started on my 04 at 38k. It was the e-brake. Later had a problem with the front calipers that was similar.
You might just try adjusting the e-brake looser. That was all I had to do with mine. They had been way too tight from the factory. Could only get the pedal down about 1/3 the way. Even after adjusting it, it only went down about half.
They adjust just like any other drum, with a start wheel.

 

There's a TSB for this on the e-brake. I had it happen as well. When it starts shaking, apply your e-brake while you're driving and quickly release it. Worked for me until I got it to the dealer. They changed the parking brake levers and anti seized it up. Haven't had a problem since.

 

My rig has had the violent shaking 2-3 times in 75,000 miles. Today it was the worst it has ever been. I went to the car wash and set the E-brake, big mistake. When I left it felt a little sluggish but I just ignored it and kept going. After 1-2 miles the thing was shaking so bad I had to pull over and check it out. I don't suggest touching the wheels to feel if they are hot. I just hock a loogie on the rotor and you can tell it's hot cause the spit boils instantly. Anyways I babied the rig to some back roads so I could check it out. It took me about 15 minutes of messing around to fix it. I made 5-6 runs at 40MPH and hit and released the e-brake 2 times and then slowly engaged it untill the rig stopped. The last time I did it I got this nasty squeal, I'm guessing I wore the shoes down enough to fix it or it got 1000000 degrees and decided to release. I'm on my stock rotors still and I replaced the pad's one time at around 45,000miles. Next oil change I think I'll be doing a complete brake job. If anyone has some good leads on cheap slotted/drilled rotor's I'd appreciate it.

 

I'd inspect the E-Brake and fix the damaged parts. It sounds like it's probably damaged. The E-Brakes are actually a drum style so it's separate. As far as brake upgrades, do not go cheap. Trust me, you'll regret it, do it once and do it right. I highly recommend getting a set of Powerslots, which are slotted, with a set of Hawk pads. Not to mention changing out the brake fluid to a high performance fluid. I had an incident in my truck when I was pulling a trailer that was way too close for comfort. I ended up ordering new brakes that night, the set-up I just recommended, and the braking performance increased dramatically.

 

how much better over stock? x2? or better than that? i'm just waiting to get Bambi one of these nights going to work. how much would that setup set ya back? cheapest place to get them from?

 

I had that once holy crap that truck shook like hell. Now it is perfect and wheel and rotor are both cool after driving.
There are scissors that get frozen behind the drums. They just need to be cleaned and lubed then everything will work perfectly

 

i went with Thumps reccomendation of powerslots and hawk pads. and the braking was significantly improved. not to mention they look better then my old rusted Oem ones, and they dont squeal every time i hit the brake pedal. and i dont have to clean my rims every other day now