After using my 4 wheel drive which was operating normally, I parked my truck and about 5 minutes later started to head home. This is during a light snow storm. My ranger was acting funny and sliding to the right side(thankfully I was in an empty parking lot).

After further examination I noticed that my driver side rear wheel is locked up when I try to move forward in 2wd, 4wd hi, and 4wd lo. The weird thing is I can still go backwards.

This is on a 99 Ford Ranger with the 3.0 l flex fuel motor 5spd std transmission push button 4wd.

Any ideas what this could be?

Thanks

 

break drum seized up perhaps?

 

Thats what we were thinking, after further looking: It will not go forward at all even if in neutral and being pushed. It will only go backwards. If this is a drum break problem would I be allowed to go backwards?

 

Having it go backwards but not forwards is normal for the E-Brake. your brake cable may be seized up or your wheel cylinder is seized up. My brake cable rusted out and locked up because the sway bar wore a hole in the cable housing.

 

would that effect one wheel, or would that have to be on both wheels. Because the passenger side wheel will spin.

 

Drum breaks engage forward so it makes sense that you could only go backwards. The parking brake is mostly likely stuck so that is what it's locked up.

 

Any word on what finally turned out to be the issue? We're having the exact same problem.

 

I have had the shoe separate then ride around and sandwich with the other shoe, causing the wheel to drag. It was a real PITA to get the drums apart.

 

your e brake goes from one just under the driver door to two cables back to the rear brakes so it is possible for just one to hang up.

 

three days ago i put my e-brake on and then released it when i got ready to move the truck, it's a 2007 ford ranger,, it wouldn't move forward at all, but could go backwards,, the left back wheel was frozen, but the right side wouold spin,, i kept messing with it and it broke loose and i drove to town in it twice which is about five miles there and back,, and this morning when i got in it to go back to town for an appointment it was doing same thing,, left back wheel stuck right back wheel spinning, i'm lost omn what it is,, couold the e-brake break free and do fine a couple times then lock it's self bac like that,, or is it the gears in the rear axle locking up on me,,

 

You just bumped a 5 year old thread...

Sounds like the Ebrake cable is seized up in the driver side drum.

 

i had the same issue. drivers side rear would lock up going forward. i put new shoes and hardware on both wheels. the drivers side adjuster was frozen solid. then about 200 miles later i had the same issue. turned out to be a bent or warped backing plate on the drivers side. i had that changed, and new bearings done at the same time, no more issues since then, and ive gone about 5k miles. check to see if your backing plate is even with the back of the drum or if it sticks out past it. mine stuck out almost 3/4 of an inch past the drum on the front side.

 

My truck got stolen and when I got it back I parked it at a relatives house went to go fix the things that were caused from the theft went to take the ebrake off and the truck won’t budge forward or back it will still lurch both ways and the passenger back tire spins it’s a 4x4 4.0 96 ranger any way to fix this easily