It's a '99 F150 4X4 4.6L I've replaced the pads, wheel cylinders, bleeders, lines and drum hardware. Bled the brakes a bunch and still no pedal. After a 7 mile trip to work, the right-rear drum feels hot to the touch. The left side is cool. I have the adjusters on BOTH drums as far in (loose) as they go and I can turn both drums by hand when the truck is in the air. I can't lock up any of my brakes. I'm lost?? Why would the right drum get hot as if it's dragging, yet I can turn it by hand and the truck just had way too much pedal. Thanks in advance for any pointers..

 

looks to me like you answered your own question.

hot brakes after driving 7 miles (city driving?) are not a surprise. If they were smoking, I would be worried... but just being hot is normal. That is their job, transforming your speed into heat...

You need to properly adjust your adjusters... not open them up all the way. If I had to guess, I would guess that you screwed up the left side worse than the right side. So probably ALL your braking is being performed by the right side. That is why it feels hotter than usual. And that is why you have no brake pedal.

Adjust your adjusters properly so that both sides are doing the braking and your pedal will feel much better.

 

Thanks for this. I got home from work today and JUST finished playing around with the drums. Found out that the E-Brake cable was broken inside the sleeve and was slightly engaged so that explains a few things. I'll re bleed again tomorrow and see if I can get it back to new. But this did help quite a bit. Could this have been the reason my transmission blew? Unknowingly having an e-brake lodged? I'm not sure how far the previous owner drove like this so..?

 

It seems logical to me that your tranny could have gone because there was more load or drag on it from a slightly engaged e-brake. Tranny.... it also depends on what you have been towing, hauling, and how many miles you have on it.

My buddy bought an 04 used with 70,000 miles on it used it to tow 9,000-12,000 pounds nearly everyday for over a year and then wondered why the tranny had to be rebuilt. I told him that, that model year truck was not built to pull that even at max load and that the "max Load" does not mean sustained and everyday all day.

But sure the e-brake cable may have possibly contributed to the tranny going

 

your welcome!

hard to say on the tranny... could have had a slight impact, but probably wasn't the entire cause. It would have to be dragging really hard to be the main cause and if so, you would have smelled smoke every time you stopped.

I had an ebrake stick once after an oil change (I never use it) and it was very obvious due to the vibration and then the smell once I stopped (which was right away)