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Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger


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dmac0923
Enthusiast

Feb 27, 2008, 11:26 AM

Post #1 of 9 (4231 views)
Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger Sign In

2002 ford ranger 4x4 automatice 145,000 miles ABS front disc/rear drum

first off when i park my truck over night with the emergency brake on, in the morning the rear pads rust/seize to the drum and i have to rock the truck to break them loose.

sencondly. it feels like the brakes are dragging, the truck seems like its pulling a heavy load. i touched all four brakes and none were hot or warmer then others.

finally, there is an issue with the brake pedal. it seems there is excessive pedal travel before i get effective braking and once that point is reached the braking effort seems to stay the same even those im pressing hard and furhter on the pedal.


So i went ahead and replaced the shoes, drums, and all new hardware on both wheels. Now when i put the drum on the shoes on both wheels drag against the drums even with the Star wheel adjuster all the way retracted.

all the parts matched the original ones. any ideas?
__________________________________________________
2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2002 Ford Ranger
2004 Toyota Corolla
1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Feb 27, 2008, 12:15 PM

Post #2 of 9 (4227 views)
Re: Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger Sign In

Park cables are the likely problem. They must be free as a bird. If they hang up the forces when the service brake is used gets anchored funny for lack of better words and it will screw up you new job. The force is going thru the parking brake bar actually. Wheel cylinder aren't that expensive so consider tossing those out but be ready for problems with rusted brake line and be able to repair or replace it!

You can't really lube up sticking cables and I do suggest OE fit high quality replacements. In anything with brakes lube the areas that need to slide with rubber friendly brake lube - specifically.

Back drum brakes have a lot to do with pedal feel and how far the travel is before brakes start working. Adjust those with star adjuster (lube those too!) and if the cable(s) need adjusting (one for both) then do it only when the back service brakes are correct. Basic rule of thumb - parking brake should hold vehicle with about 7 clicks - too many more or less is trouble....

T



dmac0923
Enthusiast

Feb 27, 2008, 12:29 PM

Post #3 of 9 (4226 views)
Re: Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger Sign In

the cable runs down the drivers side and just before the drivers rear wheel well, there is the 3way coupler where the front cable connects to the two rear cables.

do you think i just need to replace the two rear sheethed cables to each wheel?

it just seems like something isnt letting the shoes retract fully.
__________________________________________________
2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2002 Ford Ranger
2004 Toyota Corolla
1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Feb 27, 2008, 12:51 PM

Post #4 of 9 (4225 views)
Re: Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger Sign In

Right at that coupler the ONE cable from the front splits to apply both rears. Just tug on the front cable and watch the cables to each rear come out of the casing some and let go - they should go right back in. Chances are just one of them is hung up right now. If they can't return it will drag or mess up all other adjustments. They only force to retract them is the spring on the cable at the wheel inside with the service brakes. It can only fight so hard. Your foot will win out over a stuck cable and make them go on but just that spring makes them go OFF.

These things are prone to corrosion and most fail due to lack of use like me - I never use the damn things. I do spray them everywhere I can find with grease to prevent this crap and that does help.

I know rust problems perhaps more than some folks who don't see much of it as this is RustoChusetts! Spray all the clips, brake line flare nuts, threads and nut for adjustment of cable now with PB (power blaster) and hope things even come apart with use of foul language!

This stuff is fussy to remove and fussy to adjust just right and matters for the service brakes. It's primal engineering that works great when corrosion isn't a factor.

BTW - those cable are hard to cut. Bet they still use the three pronged things that hold casings in and it's tricky to hold all three back in to remove the case and if they (cables) are toast just snap those off.

The springs, cable, and the lead ball/barrell ends are fussy to hold back to remove or install. There are some neat tools to help but you can do it with like needle nose vice grips and the bad language mentioned above!

The stuff that may break is available OTC at least here so relax knowing you can get out of thisWink

T



dmac0923
Enthusiast

Feb 27, 2008, 4:13 PM

Post #5 of 9 (4220 views)
Re: Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger Sign In

thanks for all your help Tom. Ill be back at it tommorow. actually thinking about it now the Parking brake pedal did progressively get higher (less Clicks) and firmer. so i guess logically that should have been telling me in the first place that the cable was getting more and more seized.
__________________________________________________
2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2002 Ford Ranger
2004 Toyota Corolla
1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1


dmac0923
Enthusiast

Feb 28, 2008, 12:42 PM

Post #6 of 9 (4214 views)
Re: Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger Sign In

ok i removed the parking brake cables from the backing plate and reassembled both drums. it seems to have helped some. with the adjuster still bottomed out i still get some minor drag but now i can turn the drum with one hand where as before i needed two and it was a tough task. could that just be the clearance from the brand new drums and shoes?
__________________________________________________
2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2002 Ford Ranger
2004 Toyota Corolla
1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Feb 29, 2008, 11:36 AM

Post #7 of 9 (4208 views)
Re: Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger Sign In

If they still can drag with the cables out then is the connecting bar stuck or a wheel cylinder not letting shoes return to the top anchor? You can look to see if they return fully. Something is preventing that from happening - perhaps the shoes have dug into the backing plate or something like that too. New drums and shoes would be close but not to drag...........

T



dmac0923
Enthusiast

Feb 29, 2008, 12:45 PM

Post #8 of 9 (4205 views)
Re: Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger Sign In

i hate to just throw money at the damn thing, but at this point i wonder if its almost worth it for peace of mind to replace both wheel cylinders and the rubber brake hose on the rear axle.
__________________________________________________
2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2002 Ford Ranger
2004 Toyota Corolla
1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Feb 29, 2008, 6:59 PM

Post #9 of 9 (4199 views)
Re: Rear drum brake trouble on 02 Ranger Sign In

Check around - those parts don't cost much - just a pest with the brake lines when they are rusted,

T







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