Need help: On the road, rear brake sticking. (1 Viewer)

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Vernon, BC
We are on the road, heading camping. 2.5 hrs from home, 30 mins from camp. With travel trailer on a mountainous route.

Rear driver brake is sticking. Smell, smoke, wheel hot. Wheel didn't turn when jacked up. Don't have correct socket to pull calliper.

Pads seem more worn than they should be. Maybe the hand brake needs adjustment (have never done that - what/how do I adjust?).

Tried to loosen the pads with flathead and hammer, don't think I did much.

Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated!
 
Sorry to hear@!$

I don't think it's the hand brake. But if it is, you'll need to clock the rotor (which may be hard to do) so the little rubber plug is approximately at the 5 or 7 o'clock position depending on which side you're working on. Lower and aft of axle line, to get at the star wheel inside. Using a flat screw driver through the holse, you can release the tension on the brake shoe by toggling the star wheel.

More likely, it's the caliper.piston Do you have a 14mm socket to undo the slide pins instead of the whole caliper frame? If you can't pry the piston back, there's a chance you won't be able to get the caliper back on once you rotate it off.

One other strategy once you have the caliper off is to put something between the pads about the width of the rotor. Then press the brake pedal to get the pistons to unfreeze. Once unfrozen, you may be able to pry piston back.
 
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No better ideas unfortunately. Hammer on the caliper in hopes to knock the piston loose?
 
Just to be clear.....the handbrake does not operate the disc brakes, so a misadjusted hand brake would be creating friction with the shoes inside the drum. Not very likely, unless you used the hand brake recently and it didn't release.

If the pads seem abnormally worn, it's a sticking piston in the caliper. Without removal tools, we'll all have to think for a bit about what to do.

I assume it's not a wheel bearing.
 
Thank you all. Drove to camp without problems. Wheel didn’t get warm. I’ll keep an eye on it with many stops on the way home tomorrow. Also wondering whether it might be a lack of grease in the wheel bearings?
 
I know my front pistons were rusty when I did brakes 1.5 years ago. Mechanics did the rear so I didn’t see them. Might be a stuck piston and time for new callipers and pistons?
 
If it were a wheel bearing you would be getting a rumble when driving or slop in that wheel if you jack it up and try to move it around. I seem to remember Kurt saying ABS wheel sensor codes are a common indicator rear bearings are going bad, because the slop allows the tone ring to contact the sensor when it is supposed to have a small air gap.

Also if your parking brake is sticking you'd likely be bubbling the black paint on the rotor hat. Look for that. If you actually saw smoke I'm inclined to think it is a sticking caliper, though those don't often fix themselves without some intervention. If the rear brake is extremely hot and you park the truck you might bubble the paint on the hat closest to where the disk pads stopped when parked.. could be a sign things are actually too hot.

If a big box hardware store is within reach it is usually pretty easy to find an infrared temp gun. Those are really useful here, to pinpoint things. I'm less versed on exactly what the temps should be, but assuming the other side of the vehicle is working correctly you can just compare. If that side still smokes but your calipers are close to the same temp, it is likely the parking brake internal to the disk/drum. If one caliper is dramatically hotter than the other, the caliper is most likely the issue.
 
Great info, @bloc. The nearest big box store is back at home. Will have to limp (?) it home tomorrow and take it from there.
 
Any updates?
 
Got home okay. Stopped every 30 mins to check on the wheel and while it was consistently warmer than the other three, it was not hot (like the first time).

I'm almost certain it's the brakes. Just today I've realized that I've smelled brakes in my own driveway just about every time I've gotten out of the car for as long as I remember. For some reason I always brushed it off to me braking aggressively for the last corner before my street, and never put any more thought into it. Clearly that was a bad assumption on my part.

I'm thinking it's time for new callipers all around, and new pads in the rear. Rotors + pads (all around) are 1.5 years old, so I'm thinking of leaving the rear rotors as they are. Any thoughts on this?

Doing the tundra brake conversion (copying @TeCKis300) is also a possibility...
 
Glad to hear you made it home safely. Sorry to hear this had to interrupt your camping trip, bummer.
Being that your rotors have been replaced recently I would think they’d be fine to resuse and just replace the pads. Any metal metal scaring on the rotors ? As long they are not warped, do you feel any vibrations?, I’d skip replacing them and just replace what’s necessary. If you plan on the tundra conversion well then this would be a good time to take the plunge.
How many miles are on the truck? Curious what people are seeing for the life expectancy of the calipers and brake components.
 
Glad to hear you made it home safely. Sorry to hear this had to interrupt your camping trip, bummer.
Being that your rotors have been replaced recently I would think they’d be fine to resuse and just replace the pads. Any metal metal scaring on the rotors ? As long they are not warped, do you feel any vibrations?, I’d skip replacing them and just replace what’s necessary. If you plan on the tundra conversion well then this would be a good time to take the plunge.
How many miles are on the truck? Curious what people are seeing for the life expectancy of the calipers and brake components.

Ive got 77k km on the odometer. Replaced original pads and rotors at 45k km. Rotors were warped and front pads were almost done at that point. I also had a ton of brake related vibrations both before and after the brake change. Interestingly those vibrations disappeared earlier this year, sometime after a brake fluid flush. Probably a coincidence.
 
Whew! On road troubles are so rare in these trucks, it's especially disconcerting when it happens. Inspect that hot rotor for heat/wear issues and make a judgement on whether to replace. And yes, new calipers/pads at least in the rear.
 
Got home okay. Stopped every 30 mins to check on the wheel and while it was consistently warmer than the other three, it was not hot (like the first time).

I'm almost certain it's the brakes. Just today I've realized that I've smelled brakes in my own driveway just about every time I've gotten out of the car for as long as I remember. For some reason I always brushed it off to me braking aggressively for the last corner before my street, and never put any more thought into it. Clearly that was a bad assumption on my part.

I'm thinking it's time for new callipers all around, and new pads in the rear. Rotors + pads (all around) are 1.5 years old, so I'm thinking of leaving the rear rotors as they are. Any thoughts on this?

Doing the tundra brake conversion (copying @TeCKis300) is also a possibility...

I'm enjoying the Tundra brake conversion as it brings everything back to stock feel with the 35s. Worked great this past 1000+ mile trip in all sorts of conditions.

Curious if your vehicle sees much of any water crossings? It's is pretty rare to hear of a caliper problem.

I still have a the full set of stock front brakes and OEM rotors with only 30k miles up for grabs that I'll let go for cheap...though I suspect shipping such beastly things wouldn't be good value. If anyone is local and interested, PM me.
 
Rotors don't cost too much to replace those while you're at it.. theoretically if this has been going on for a long time that rotor has seen more wear that the opposite one. Probably not an issue. But with rotors not costing much why not?

This is coming from someone that always replaces rotors when replacing pads though
 
If it has been long term I doubt it’s the parking brake. That should have clearanced itself long ago.
 

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