Sometimes in damp conditions a little rust will form on the surface of the drums. Causing it to grab like that. After a few brake applications the pads will take the surface rust off and they will stop without grabbing.

 

slight rust causes the pads to really bite and hold... once the rust is off they will work as normal.. happenes to almost all trucks.. at least the ones i've driven.. 1995 chevy, 2001 ford, and 1998 dodge

 

Well as I said in a previous post, it got much more violent after having rear brake work done at Canadian Tire. (A major auto service center up here). I have been working out of town a lot since then and never had time to bring it back to them, so today I was about to replace the drums as they are near their service limit anyway. What do I find? Well the retards at CT did not put the left drum on properly, back when they did my shoes and cylinders. The lug nut holes in the drum were not seated properly on the shoulders of the studs, so the drum was not sitting square. WTF kind of work is that? I can only assume then that my wheel/tire were not properly aligned with the rest of the truck either.
That is why I hate repair shops.

 

Mine didn't do it when the rear seals were blown and the shoes were coated with gear oil. Now that they are clean they are grabby.

 

That is something can can happen just putting the wheels back on after a rotation. Gotta make sure the drum and wheel are centered properly for sure.

 

Well after dealing with the issue for about 8 months, I finally got it solved. It was as simple as replacing the drums. My drums were the originals from '97 and had 175,000 miles. Replaced them 2 weeks ago, and the brakes are now working like they should- No grabbing.

 

Never had this before. It dose feel like sometimes they will hold/lockup but I just floor it to fix that lol.

 

How hard do they lock up on you? Do you hear a very loud chunk when "it" breaks loose?
I say this because after the first year of abusing my Ram, the EXACT same thing happened to me. I too thought it was the brakes locking up, and I floored it to fix it. Turns out that the rear end was grenading on me, and every time I floored it like that, I broke the pinion in half.

 

All the Dodges I have ever owned did that. I had a 94 Dakota, 98 Durango, and 95 1500. When ever the drums were wet from rain or dew, they would basically lock up the first instant.

 

Its not hard. I don't have to give it much gas for them to break.