Ok, so this morning my left parking brake is frozen solid. I had this problem fixed in April of 08, my question is... Is it that common every two years I am going to have to get this piece fixed? And honestly, its cheaper for me to have someone do it rather than miss a day at work. And how much play is supposed to be in the parking brake pedal/lever assembly?

And for those of you that might say "Don't use the parking brake" How am I supposed to defrost the windows parked on an incline with a 5-spd. I used to have a wheel chock until someone used it to smash the back window of my old camper shell. So yea thats probably not going to happen again.

I thought I wrote a thread on this a while ago but I couldn't find it.

 

My first question is how often do you use your parking break? If you only use it in the winter when you need to warm up your truck i'm not to suprised you are having issues with it. You need to use it on a regular basis so that it doesn't get rusty and start to lock in place.

 

I use mine every time I park my truck, and it's never gotten stuck.

 

I rarely if never at all....

NOT use my parking brake.

I'm in FL..

The steepest incline I encounter is the highway on/off ramps.

It's great, cause my dad tried to move my truck once without asking..

He ended up having to wake me up to move it. He couldn't find the release.

Muwahaha!

 

Have you tried parking the truck in gear without the parking brake, then setting the parking brake in the morning when you de-frost your truck? That might save you the trouble of your parking brake locking up.

Mine does it as well in the winter, but only after I've been driving on wet roads.

 

I use it every day almost since the parking lot has enough of an incline to drain it will roll back if not engaged. And in the winter how do you warm it up. I usually have my truck run 15-20 mins (the time I take a shower before I leave).

 

I use mine everytime I park the truck. Never had any problems with it

 

Can anyone give me some information on how to disengage it manually? Its still sitting in the middle of the parking lot because the wrecker couldn't get at the back axles.

 

have you tried hitting the brake drum with a hammer?

 

yep, didn't do nothing. Hopefully theres enough light tonight to take the wheel off and mess with it.

 

I would check and see if the cable is actually moving when you cycle the pedal. It could even be froze up if water got in there. If its moving fin you'll probably have to take the drum off and take a look inside to see why the pads are hanging up.

 

Is there an adjuster on the cable between the pedal and drum i can loosen/tighten up?? I'm sorry Im at work and can't run outside and look.

 

I dunno on the newer trucks but on my old ranger the adjuster was on the frame right around the gas tank..

 

I don't remember an adjustment in the cable, but your cable may be different than mine with the 10 year difference. Check out autozone.com for their repair guides. You might have to sign up for them, they are free, but i'm fairly sure they have exploded diagrams of the entire emergency brake system, I have looked at them before.

 

I know I can pull the cable off the bracket on the drivers side frame, and it relieves some tension.

 

Thanks Guys.

 

mine freezes up as well when the roads are wet from rain and the tempdrop real fast. i've had to rock my truck to get the wheel to brake free. i'vealso had it were i had to get my blast heater to thaw it out.it suck but i just remember not to set the brake at night when it rainy out and the temp is going to drop. just do it in the morning when i start the truck to warm it up.

 

I use my parking brake every time I park the truck (5 speed as well) and I have the same symptoms. rain plus melow freezing temps = stuck. it did lock up as you are talking about and I just had it towed. There was plenty of snow on the ground and the truck just slid right up on to the flat bed.

the mechanic (yes, winter time, I wasnt going to lay out in the parking lot) said he spent 2 hrs getting the drums off and then found the hardware was fully expanded and rusty. new shoes and hardware and it doesnt stick as bad.

I think twice during a freeze and thaw weather or not Ill use my parking brake.

has anyone had any luck lubing the parking brake cables? I have also determined it has to be moisture related. and must be in the cables.

 

i use mine all the time. if i'm on a hill, i put the oposite gear (forward roll, reverse. backwards roll, first gear) i would think there is an adjuster hole in the drum. you might have to take off the wheel to get to it. at least that's the way it was on older trucks.

you can use anything for a wheelchock. brick, chunk of wood, small log. just leave it in your truck so it's there when you need it.

i think 15-20 mins is way to long for a warmup. i only do like 5 mins at the most. at the end of the night, i'll start it up and talk to other co-workers while they smoke. then leave for home. if the truck takes up longer then 15 mins to heat up, i'd look at the heating system to make sure everything is ok.

 

I've never had a problem with mine freezing up, I use it every day. One way i have found when it was really cold out and blowing and it didn't want to release is to back the truck up, I don't know why it worked something to do with the shoes getting freed up but it did so I'm not complaining.

And you waste tons of gas by warming it up that long, start it 5 minutes before you leave, driving actually warms it up faster, or invest in a block heater. they are awesome!

 

Mine doesn't ever get stuck, but if I think it might and there is snow on the ground I slam on the brakes and the pile of snow either in front or behind the tires stops it.

 

My dads 05 Mustang does that all the time. Never heard of it happening to a Ranger though.

 

rule of thumb. Use it everytime you exit your vehicle or don;t ever use it. If you use it everytime, it will work every time. Get in the habit and you won't be disappointed.

 

I use mine intermittently and it works fine, I live in the rust belt. I must have good luck.

 

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but because I have a SOHC, I always let my truck warm up. When it is cold out or when I first start it, I can hear the cam rotating. It's a methodical noise. Driving without letting it lubricate can possibly damage the cam. As far as the parking brake, I always use mine and always put my truck in reverse.