Its a 04 F150 Super Cab 4x4


Cold morning and for some reason my F150's e-brake wouldn't release so I backed it up and drove it until it unhooked. It was on really tight. Came home after work today to find that the cable that runs to the passenger side with a spring unhooked from the hook which is now submerged inside the brake shield/brake rotor. See pictures below.

How hard is it to fix this and is it driveable minus the metal noise i hear when the wheel spins (ofcourse not smart but I have to leave for class in less than 30mins so no time to pull it apart and try to reconnect it.)
I know stupid question to even drive on it but I drove from work to home with just the noise and no other visible damage.


If not I'll just have to pull out the Mustang in this bad weather here....any advise how to fix this properly?

If your state does not require inspections then I would just pull the rear rotors off and take out the e-brake shoes and put your rotors back on and don't worry about it. If you never used them anyway then your not gonna miss them. And with out them there you will never have another problem again.

Assuming you haven't been using your parking brake often, your brake is probably frozen open. The cam that opens and closes the parking brake has a tendancy to rust, and can sieze into position. This is likely the problem. You will have to take the back brake discs off and break free the cam from it's open position. I did this and also added caliper grease to it to keep it from freezing again.

and when he does have a hydraulic failure of his primary system how do you expect him to stop his truck? throw the rock attached to the rope out the window???

hey guys thanks for the info. I forgot the most important detail, I live on a hill and park on uneven terrain all the time so its gets used alot.


My main concern for now is to figure out the best way to connect it and unfreeze the break, throw some caliper grease on it and hopefully pray it holds until Saturday when I can take both rears apart, clean, grease, and put them back together again. Similar to what this guy mentioned here: https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...ke-repair.html

I would not drive around with out an ebrake. you need to pull off the rotors and fix that cam like mentioned. I use mine all the time and it still froze up. you can pull it apart sand and clean it, then lube it up with some lithium brake grease. you'll be good to go.

perfect. Ah it should be fun hammering a rotor off at 6am in the morning before work, only option i have lol

well half of the offending part, broke off or was broken, I was able to pull it. Didn't have time to get the rotor off this morning but as soon as I saw that there was no point in going any further with my lack of time. Pretty much it sounds like a set of keychains bouncing around inside my rotor when the wheel spins, which by the way seems to be completely free now....(guess all the ponies broke free the e-brake assembly.....so now I have to replace that as well) --- based on that I can possibly do anymore damage to the ebrake assembly on that side since its already broken apart....just my luck.

Exact same issue happend to me. When I changed my brakes/rotors - I took a stab at the e-brake.

Had to take a 3 lb sledge to seperate the rusted lever. Soaked in WD-40 and used a wire brush to scrap off any remaining rust. Put some caliper grease over the setup and now it's smooth as butter.

I was suprised to notice that the e-brake shoes were still in decent condition. Probably put 30K miles on it while siezed up.

It pays to bookmark good threads!
eBrake Repair Thread - Click Here

Awesome thank you!

Lucky you the shoes were still good. I had probably the same issue with the brake stuck open for 30k (or more, who knows) and occasionally have the problem with the severe vibration from the e-brake. When I took the rotors off, the shoes crumbled to dust. Had to order new ones, no one stocks those things.

^ any idea how much they cost? Looks like I will probably have to replace them too.....how hard was the install...

I think i ordered them from Autozone for $30+/- (can't remember exactly how much) Full set in the box. They do not include any hardware (clips, springs.....)

Install was pretty easy. The hardest part is just holding the shoes in place when trying to put the retaining clips back on. I didn't replace any of the hardware, just used the old stuff. I don't use my brake often, but sometimes. The springs and retaining clips were fairly rusted, but not enough for me to replace them..... Someone on here will scold me for that.

Edit: I do remember having to adjust the star nut on the bottom of the shoes to a shorter setting, I couldn't get the rotor back on with the way it was set when I took them off. The new shoes might have been just a bit thicker than the stock ones.

Also, before you remove anything from these brakes, take some pictures of what's there to start with, helped me to put everything back together the way it's supposed to go, it was the first time I've ever messed with drum brakes of any kind.

ah definitely will passenger one is broken apart already since it did by itself so I plan on using the driver side one as a guide, just saw all these springs and other pieces and was wondering how I was going to be putting it all together lol