1990 caravan turbo passenger rear brakel locks up wheel under moderate pedaL

[pauly_no_van]

Its a 5x100 hub, I removed the drum adjusted the shoes and re assembled.
it grabs and locks with a thump and doesnt free the tire til almost completely letting off the pedal.--also lets go with a thump like something is going crooked in there ...
Maybe the piston?
I didnt see anything bent in there..
Its way Not safe to drive the way it is..
I am going to go get a new hub from yard as I am baffled.
Driver rear operates normally.
Any ideas?
:confused2:

[shadow88]

Just to varify-- You adjusted shoes as an attempt at a repair, or sinse then it caused the locking of the wheel?

[pauly_no_van]

oh no it was doing this in the beginning so i took drum off and turned the self adjuster til they dragged a little.
i didnt see anything out of place.. the cylinder was a little wet maybe with brake fluid but not running or dripping.

[Vigo]

The hub cant have anything to do with it. Its going to have something to do with the brake hardware, not the hub or the drum itself.

I would compare both sides and make sure they look identical.. no missing or misrouted springs, front and rear shoes look the same on both sides, etc.

Were the shoes themselves wet? I think once they've had brake fluid on them (from a leaking wheel cylinder..) they get grabby and it doesn't go away.

[Johnny]

Look to make sure the long shoe and short shoe is correct. I think i did it backwords once and that was the one that. Grabbed like yors is doing.

[shadow88]

It's been a while, but I'm 99% sure the short shoe goes towards the front of the van.

[Vigo]

It goes whichever way it is on the other wheel that doesnt have issues.

[turbovanman²]

Short shoe goes up front, the reason the rear one is longer is that does most of the work.

If you have brake fluid on the linings, it can make them grab.

Did you make the drum removable or are you removing the whole hub?

Have the drum machined, it could be out of round and if there is a lip, its hard to adjust properly. Also, set them so there is a light drag or better yet, put disc brakes on, :nod:

[Vigo]

You dont have to 'make' the drum removable.. it already is. You just have to beat your way through the inevitable rust holding it onto the hub. :p

[turbovanman²]

You dont have to 'make' the drum removable.. it already is. You just have to beat your way through the inevitable rust holding it onto the hub. :p

From the factory, they are NOT removable, they are staked to the hub, and for me to keep checking brakes on customer cars/vans, that is a royal PITA, so I push the wheel studs in, remove the drum, grind out the hole, pull the studs back out and voila, removable drum. :eyebrows:

[Dodge Aries K]

I say make sure the "height sensitive" valve isn't jammed up. I had a van that would LOVE to lock up one of the rear wheels all the time and that was the culprit.

[pauly_no_van]

ok linings are a tad wet i think, and since i need a replacement piston, I am going to get one at the yard tomorrow while i am getting other parts.
will report once i get it right again... Thanks for all the help!!:thumb::thumb:

[turbovanman²]

DUDE, seriously, buy a new wheel cylinder, don't f*ck with brakes. Take no offence but its sh*t like this that cause accidents and people die over saving a few dollars. Get new linings, spring kits and machine the drums. DO BOTH cylinders, do it right.

[Dodge Aries K]

Yeah, wheel cylinders are like... 7 to 10 bucks or so for a new one.

[Vigo]

Yeah they are too cheap to bother buying used. Take your old one with you though, or buy both sizes they sell and return one.

[pauly_no_van]

yeah i guess... This is the 8th or 9th TM and the first time i had a problem with the rear brakes... off to the store..

[pauly_no_van]

fixed! shoes were in the right way there was more brake fluid on them then I thought...
Thank you all again for the help most appreciated!!

[wheming]

I just bought wheel cylinders for Slugmobile at RockAuto. They were like $2.50/ea! I was like, seriously?? That's cheaper than a gallon of gas! Minivan ones could not be much more.


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