97 Ford Ranger rear brakes

[ski332]

The rear brake on my sons ranger is grabbing all the time For some reason it won't release completely.One person told me it might have air in lines a diff person said it could be the brake cylinder,I have turned the auto tensioner down to nothing but that didn't help Its the driver side rear (if that makes a difference)

[equinox]

I assume that these are drum brakes. Is the truck manual or automatic? If automatic does he ever use the parking brake? It could be the parking brake cable not releasing fully on that side. Have you pulled off the drums and had a good look? What is the conditon of the pins and springs and have they ever been replaced and or lubricated? You can also check the wheel cylinder at the same time for any seal seepage. I assume that the brake lines are solid steel, but if they are the flex type there is always a possibility of one collapsing and not releasing brake fluid when the pressure is off the pedal also. I am thinking that there is something going on with the parking brake as a starting point.

[sidny]

My experiance with two ford rear brakes on two diferent vechicles was frozen wheel cylinders. I now change the brake fluid every once in a while, and yeah, lube what needs to be lubed with the proper stuff.
Sid

[trexk]

I agree with Sid. It is probably the wheel cylinder on that particular wheel not releasing. Wheel cylinders are not hard to change. Just have to bleed the brakes afterwards.

[ski332]

I replaced wheel cylinder Didn't solve the problem .One thing I did noticed was that while truck was on jack stands the wheel was hard to rotate for about 1/2 a turn then got easy for 1/2 a turn.Was wondering is it possible for drum to warp??Old cylinder looked alright no leakage but as for being seized I don't know.Truck is a 4 speed manual shift with power brakes

[equinox]

Did you also lubricate the hardware with correct lubricant as well when you changed out the wheel cylinder? Any flex line between the axle steel line and chassis tube bundle that may be collapsing causing insufficient release of fluid when the pedal is released? What about the parking brake cable etc. as I mentioned before and I am sure it is always used being a manual xmission. Still need to completely eliminate a brake issue before looking for something else like the wheel bearing. You said you backed off the shoes completely in the past and still had some binding. I would guess that if the drum was that far out of round before all this started to still allow some binding there would have been alot of braking vibration felt, though not through the pedal. It wouldn't hurt at this point to have the drum guage checked for roundness and wear and if required have it turned or replaced.

[newtofta]

probably a sized -park brake cable

[the_tow_guy]

Had an impounded car I was prepping for sale couple of years ago with a grabby brake. Turned out to be contamination of the brake lining material; new shoes fixed it. Racking my brain to remember what the base issue was, leaky wheel cylinder maybe. Probably not the cause in this case if visual inspection shows everything clean & dry, but worth mentioning.

[ski332]

UPDATE---Still have same problem heres what I have done so far
---changed wheel cylinder
--backed off brakes all the way
--parking brake cable is not seized its loose
--have switched drums from passenger side to driver side still same prob on driver side doesn't matter which drum I use no problem on pasenger side with either drum
--if I pull drum out a little their is no binding when I turn it
--axel spins freely when no drum on
--no collasped flex line

[equinox]

Any interference from the backing plate against the back edge of the drum? I think pretty much everything else has been covered by your repairs, and other suggestions.

[ski332]

A co-worker at work suggeted it might be a bent axel,When I spin wheel while on jack stands no noticeable wobble.I attached dial gauge to test deflection and got a reading of 5 (I THINK)Don't know how to read indictor and can't figger how to post pic of it on this site But it went from zero to half way to the first number (10) gauge starts at 0 and goes up by 10's to 90 then starts at zero again has on front .001"--.5" Looks like no more then 1/4 " if dial goes completely around once If some one could tell me how to post pics somewhere on web I could show what I mean

[ski332]

Feel kinda stupid here but went on line and found out reading idicator is not that hard I get a reading of .005 " deflection on axel My next ? is, Is this acceptable??

[equinox]

Just wondering what makes you think there truly is a bent axle issue? Was your son blowing donuts in the mud, or snow and hit a curb or stump? Assuming it does drive forward was there any sign of vibration or shake and or bearing noise? A bent axle normally will shake a vehicle like a bent wheel. If there were truly no actual incidents like I just mentioned, (boys will be boys) would you not first think about a wheel bearing failure at this point, considering you have pretty much eliminated brakes as a cause? Wheel bearings often fail, but axles usually need a driver to help them bend.

[ski332]

Like I said a co-worker suggested it ,How can I tell if its a wheel bearing issue??

[equinox]

Abnormal noise, but also free play. Lift up and hold the mounted wheel at the 6 and 12 position and feel for movement. Also sometimes bearings seize up and there would also be noise if the wheel is spinning in the bearing raceway. Just something else to check and eliminate as it sounds that you have already done with the rear brakes as not being the cause.