Rear brake failure
 

Im on vacation up in vt. driving down the hill to get beer, when my brake pedal goes all the way to the floor! i limp into a parking lot and find brake fluid leaking from my rear drum there is also a spring just loose in the drum so i know its something broken inside and not in the line. so now my truck is stranded with noone to work on it til tomorrow. happy fourth right? i think the part is the wheel cylinder but im not sure. can anyone tell me if this would be and easy diy ? and what should i expect to pay to have a shop do the work? thank u all ps truck is an 04

Do you have any tools with you besides the factory lug wrench and jack ?
A pair of vice grips would be nice.

brakes
 

ive got channel lock pliers and some torque wrenches with a few sockets. ive got brake fluid and cleaner , also some locktite. thing is idk if i will be able to find the parts around here. im pretty sure its a a twenty dollar part unless the whole drum needs replaced. what do u figure a shop would charge to do the rear brakes?

Yeah sounds like a wheel cylinder to me. Since it was leaking fluid on the inside of the drum you will also need a set of brake shoes as well since the brake fluid has soaked into the shoe and also a can of brake parts cleaner to clean the drum and all the hardware off.

wow weird i have a very similar problem exept my fluid is not leaking my pedal goes to the floor and front brakes still work but something is wrong with rear i can hear it when i push the pedal i think it is also my spring in the back let me know when you find out how much that spring or what ever costs.

Where are you in VT? More than welcome to come by or if you're close it would be an easy parking lot job....

thanks for everyones help. im prolly gonna take it to a mechanic and see what the deal is tom. and Carl thank u very much for ur generous offer. im right across the mass line near brattleboro so we are pretty far from eachother, thank u tho! ill keep u guys posted .

Wheel cylinder for sure. With the new cylinders <----notice the (s)? And shoes and some cleaner, do both at the same time and get it done with. I wouldnt take it to a shop unless you have never done drum brakes or are horribly afraid of springs and maybe a busted knuckle or two.

An update...
 

got the truck back on the road after taking it to a local shop. Had them do both the wheels cylinders, new shoes on both drums, new hardware, springs and a brake flush. Cost me $347 out the door. I would have prefered to do it myself, but i'm 200 miles from home and i didn't really have any other choice. Only one thing wrong at the moment. When the wheel cylinder broke on the passenger side it snapped the automatic adjuster cable, and the mechanic couldn't find a replacement. So now im cruising around without one for the moment. I've got the broken part in my truck at the moment, NAPA doesn't have one, couldnt find one in the two cities around here either. The brakes seem fine though so idk what the hell this cable does??? I'm going to probably repair it the minute I get home, once I find the part that is. The mechanic told me it was a real straight forward process, but does anyone have any advice on how to replace this part (and maybe some info on what it does)?

How can a wheel cylinder breaking damage an e-brake cable ? I call BS. The mech broke it taking things apart and won't fess up .

Advance has the self adjust kit for $11 per side.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Drum-Brake-Self-Adjuster-Repair-Kit-USA-Brake_18310059-P_367_R|GRPBRHWAMS_1691193031____

Autozone has it for $7 per side
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par..._0_4231%2C6723

cool thanks for those links. I'm probably going to run up to autozone tomorrow and get the part. Does anybody know what this cable actually does? An easy replacement I hope. And Ken the same thing occured to me when they told me. But how could i prove it...? that is why I don't like anybody touching my truck...at all.

I've been through at least 2 in the past year, easy to break when the brakes go, which the Ranger rears seem to do quite often for me at least!

Not sure why the Napa you went to could not get them, but I have the parts kit outside in my garage.

my truck always breaks the self adjuster cable on the drivers side. I dont even bother with it anymore seeing as I found an ex 31 spline 8.8 with discs on the cheap... just need to get around to installing.

The self Adjuster cable does just that. Self Adjusts.
Your supposed to use your parking brake every once and a while, and it pulls the self adjusting cable and pushes your shoes out to the drum, so you don't have to push the pedal as far to stop.

Mine currently dosen't have a self adjusting cable on either side. (i got angry one day doing brakes, and cut the Ebrake cable for both sides) the only thing you need to do is every 2 or 3 months depending on how you drive, just adjust the self adjusting screw out a bit more.