Rear Brakes Locking - Parking Brake Problem?

Treachery · Mar 28, 2010

My '93 GT is scheduled for an engine rebuild tomorrow. It has not moved in 1+ years. The transmission is at neutral and the parking brake is down.

I can not push the car out of the garage and it feels as if the brakes are engaged. Also, there appears to be no resistance when pulling up the parking brake. I tore apart the console and there does not seem to be any visable damage on the parking brake assembly.

My rear brakes are stock drums and will remain so.

I'd rather have my mechanic deal with it when the engine is being rebuilt but my Mustang is all the way in the garage and i don't want the tow guy dragging it out, if at all possible.

What is the probable cause and fix? Hopefully, it's simple enough for me to do.

Thank you Thank you.

MustangLX-5.0 · Mar 28, 2010

Are the front rotors rusty? Same for the rear drums. There is probably a small bit of rust on the drums or rotors. Remove the wheels and pull the drums. If you cant budge them, then the brakes are either locked, or rusted to the drums. Try hitting the face of the drums with a hammer (a ball peen if you have one, and not the sides of the drums). It may take a few whacks to get them loose. You may also want to try adjusting the brake shoes by turning the adjuster screw on the bottom towards you. That is, if you are standing in front of the drum, spin the adjuster outwards from the bottom. This retracts the brake shoes. It may take several turns to get it loose enough.

There is also a chance that the rear brakes were locking up from bad brake shoe springs. Getting it hot then causing it to corrode and stick to the drums. Again, try the same technique I mentioned about using a ball peen hammer and loosening the adjuster screw.

Rear Brakes Locking - Parking Brake Problem?

Treachery

MustangLX-5.0

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