Is My Rear Caliper 'Frozen' ?
 

Little help?

Kind of hard to figure out just what the problem is because I don't really want to mess with it in my rain soaked driveway (dang I sure could use a garage) but she just doesn't even want to back down out of the driveway! . . .

Even in "neutral" with the engine off!?!

I'm thinking that the drivers side rear brake caliper is 'frozen'

I intend to put the rear up on jackstands and have a look to see WTF is going on but didn't get a chance to do it last night due to both rain and dark . . .

any suggestions? offer of help / sympathy?

Until you put it on jackstands and check it out...all I can offer is sympathy :D:(

when I get her up on the stands, is there anything special I need to be looking for?

:banana:

No...If the caliper is locked up you'll know it. You won't be able to turn the wheel over even when it is up in the air.

one other thing that could cause wheel lock up is the parking brake and related parts. i've seen these get real rusty and hang up, the cables sometimes seize up and wont release even if the p-brake pedal is fully released. i havent seen too many calipers seize i had a right front brake hose fail internally and it made it act like the caliper was frozen. so make sure everything moves freely.

Dang Rain . . . I wasn't about to try much in the thunderstorms that rolled through last night but I was able to pull her up a couple feet with no problem (already at the top of the driveway and can't go much further without hitting fence) I then put her in neutral and let her roll back . . .

she rolled free and easy about 3 feet and then SLAMMED like hitting a wall!

I am afriad that something might be terribly wrong in the rear end . . . how do I verify?

she is 2WD with 3.73 LS oem

raise up both rear wheels off the ground on jack stands then shift to neutral. try spinning the wheels by hand at the wheel. with a limited slip rear end if you roll them forward they will spin in the same direction. i would roll them backwards and see where it stops.

while you have the rear up take the calipers off of the rotors and try to spin them.

i have seen p-brake cables that will apply the p-brake when a vehicle is in reverse it could also be a p-brake shoe catching on the inside of the rotor.

i've seen two s-10 blazers where the caliper bolt broke and the caliper dug into the rim then tore up the whole rear of the truck almost looked like it got rear ended just no body damage.

thanks for the good advise Mr. Bentwrench!

I was able to get her tail up in the air last night (the Expy's not my wife's) and sure enough, it was a p-brake shoe catching on the tiny drum inside of the drivers side rotor . . .

I tapped her back into place (in the rain) but wasn't able to disassymble it and do it right (in the rain) because it was raining

Maybe we'll see the sun this weekend but until then I just won't be applying the parking brake!:rocker:

good to hear you got itfigured out. now i would replace the drivers side p-brake cable. or atleast remove it and make sure it moves freely. but it probably wont. ive replaced lots of driver side p-brake cables on expy's think they run about $40 they are easy enough to replace but sometimes they dont like to come out of their holders a 3/8 wrench flare nut if you have one works good for depressing the locking tabs at the bracket. or if your replacing it you can just break the 3 tabs off and pull it out. also check to see if the mechanism moves freely when you disconnect the cable. they can get alittle rusty.

i hope yours goes good but i have seen these turn into replace cable replace rotors and replace p_brake shoes. P-brake shoes are like $100 and i beleive a dealer only item. some times you have to remove mechanism and put in vise heat it up and wiggle it till it starts to move then take it apart sand it and lube it up good with antiseize.

i'll be here if you need more help with this stuff.

Along the same lines, how can I get the rear rotors off when the parking brake is hanging up? There doesn't appear to be a star adjuster to back off. Any suggestions?

well a big hammer will get them off but will most likely ruin them at the same time. i cant think of a way to get the rotor off without ruinning it. unless you get lucky and can pull it off by hand. ill get back to you if i can think of something that will work.

hmmm i think i recall a rubber plug on the back of the backing plate. there should be a star wheel under there.