I inherited a 2000 Ford ranger ext. cab 4X4 and I'm planning on selling it as soon as probate court date is over next month. Anyways the other day my sisters boyfriend was driving the truck and when he came back home I noticed that the right rear tire/brake was smoking. He said that he did have the emergency brake engaged while it was parked at a friends house but he had disengaged it before he left. The wheel was extremely hot and smoke was rising frome it when he showed up. I drove it around the yard to see if the tire was catching because mabye the brake had stuck but it wasn't. What could this be? Need new rear brakes or something else? -Tyler

 

Well, this should have been posted in Off Topic or in Off Brand as it doesnt pertain to a Dodge vehicle.....not here.....so if a section mod see's this, please move it

Not trying to be a retard or anything, just dont want you getting some wisea$$ deciding to be a *****!

As to your question, since he had the emergency brake engaged, there's a good chance it's the E-Brake. Often what will happen is if you do not get the brake 100% released....it will continue to engage. Now, there is also the possibility that the rear cylinder is going bad on that wheel. Could be bad brakes....

Your best bet is to take off the wheel and have someone compress the E-brake a few times and release. This will let you see how its engaging/disengaging. If nothing pops out right away....then I would also take a long look at the rotor, make sure its not worn out and potentially damaged. Sometimes crapped out rotors can be warped and cause your brakes to perform incorrectly. They can also heat up super fast and smoke.

This is just me, but I'd have your calipers and emergency brake checked by a shop. With calipers, you can only check so much. They could be going bad or they could be fine, unless you tore em off and completely tore them down....

Good luck with that!