sticking parking brake?

[ShafferNY]

My parking brake stuck tonight. Both rotors got cherry red and smoke started rolling out from the rear wheels. The odd thing is, I could barely even notice the difference in the way the vehicle drove.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me. It's happened before. Only this time both rotor overheated.

It's as if the parking brake doesn't release all the way. This only happens spuratically and I can't figure out why.

Has anyone else had this problem?

I've got to wonder if it's this "automatically adjusting mechanism" in the parking brake that's not letting it release all the way.

 

[JeepJeepster]

What makes you think its not the calipers locking up? How do you know its the parking brake?

Reason I ask is some people(including me) have had one and sometimes both rear calipers seize up. I could hardly notice it driving down the road. I caught it as I was slowly pulling out from a red light, I could hear the right rear brake moaning. I immediately stopped and let the rotor cool down while also pouring water on it since it was pretty dang hot. I didnt want the bearings in the axle to get to hot. After it sat awhile it released some but I didnt use the brakes most of the way home(only 3 or so miles). If I needed to slow down I pulled the ebrake.

 

[ShafferNY]

There's no way I can be certain it's not a sticky caliper or in this case both, but what are the chances that both calipers would stick at the same time?

I assume it's the parking brake because whenever it's happened, it was just after applying the parking brake.

Also. After I pulled over, I let the rotors cool down until they were no longer glowing. I applied the parking brake, backed up 2-3 feet, released it and head down the road. By the time I got home(5 miles or so) both sides had cooled down considerably. I drove it to work and back this morning and had no problems what-so-ever. It's about 2-3miles to where I work.

It seems as though it happens when I park on a flat or a downhill,apply the parking brake, release it and then take off. I suspect that it doesn't fully release and the shoes drag. If I back up with the brake applied, it forces the shoe in the other direction and they don't drag. Make sense to you?

I take my boat to the boat launch 2-3 times a week and always use the parking brake while dumping the boat in the water and I've never had a problem. The vehicle is always backed down the ramp when the brake is applied though.

In this part of the country there are many hills. I'm half tempted to test this theory out by parking facing down a hill and applying the parking brake to see if it sticks.

I've had everything apart about a month or two ago when I first had this problem and everything seemed to move freely.

Any thoughts?

 

[tjkj2002]

Your parking brake may be just fine,lube the contact points though just in case.

The main problem may be your parking brake cables themselfs,water could have gotten into the cables and corroded them where they will stick sometimes.No real fix for that problem but replace the cables themselfs,but they are not that pricey,about $30 each but install is a royal pain.

 

[ShafferNY]

I'm just totally baffled by this.

The cables look like new on the outside. I realize they could be corroded on the inside, but they seem to move freely when I had everything apart.

When this first started acting up a couple months ago I was an hour away from home. I limped it home and tore it apart. Once I took the rotor off the linings for the parking brake shoes literally fell out of the 'hat'. The linings had completely separated from the shoes.

At that point I thought it was a simple fix. I thought the lining had come loose and where binding everything up. I did a complete brake job and didn't have any issues for a while.

Hell, maybe the linings fell of the shoes again. I'll have to look at it.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[ShafferNY]

I took the driver's side rear apart this morning since that was the side that appeared the hottest the other day. The parking brake shoes look pretty good and aren't glazed over at all. The inside of the hat where the parking brake shoes ride looked like normal too. It wasn't overly shinny, grooved or anything.

At this point I'm guessing JeepJeepster is probably right. The caliper is probably the culprit.