Woke up this morning to drive to work, and my right rear wheel will not budge. The left rear wheel will spin like crazy and throw rubber under power. The truck is a 94 2500 and is only 2WD. A quick look in my library's Chiltons book suggests the following brake related issues may be related to a single wheel locking up:

-Parking brake cables incorrectly adjusted or siezed
-Rear brake shoe return springs weak or broken
-Automatic adjusters malfunctioning
-Wheel cylinder piston sticking or siezed

These all seem sensible. I'm also considering the possibility of an axle related problem, but the book doesn't have any troubleshooting guides that relate to a problem of this type.

Has anyone else had this problem, or know of any other possible reasons why the wheel would be behaving this way? Quick fixes (if possible) would be appreciated as well.

 

first thing i would do is take off tire, and drum and inspect the pads, drum, and hardware, with the drum off you'll be able to tell if the e-brake is locked up.

 

depending on where you are and how cold it is, the brake could be frozen up.

a long time ago i parked in a mudhole and the temp dropped and the mudhole frozen completely around the tire. dammit.

 

i agree, get that tire off and inspect everything

 

i havent got to the rear brakes yet on my truck. im pretty sure it has drums in the rear. are they hydraulically operated or mechanical? if they are hydraulic, they should have a bleeder right? if they do you can break it loose and maybe it will releave any pressure on it if it is a seized piston or something. im just guessing. i havent even looked at my rear brakes yet.

 

Same thing happens to me after I pack snow in my wheels the rear drums will freez right up.

 

Well, I'm hearing a lot of advocates for the freezing theory, and we've certainly had a lot of ice in Nebraska the last few weeks. I had the parking brake set, so its highly probably that its been frozen in place. Sadly, I don't have the one tool necessary to look inside my drums (you have to remove the axle bearing on the 2500). I can't even find an appropriate rental from Advance or Autozone.

Maybe I'll just buy a torch...

 

if youvehad the parking brake up in the cold weather the most def. it could be frozen parts...report after the torch

 

Or a hair dryer if you don't have one of them.

 

I just did my brakes last week on my Dodge (I have a 2500) and you do not need to remove the axle shaft or bearing to get the drims off. Once you get the wheel off bang on the drum with a mallet and pull it off. However i you want to check for frezzing parts spray some ethelyne glycole around the brake assembly ad try to turn the wheel.