please help...brake problem, can't get home from work....

[01maroonz71]

well, when i got to work this morining i smelled brakes like crazy!!! what the hell, but i was a tad late so i had to wait till after work to check it out, so after work i jacked the truck up with a forklift and pulled the tire/wheels off one by one. the rear driver tire would not spin at all...so i released some pressure with the brake bleeder screw. that didn't help, so i pryed the pads a little bit away from the rotor and boom, turns easy now. i took 100% of the fluid out of the caliper thinking something wa sin there(dirt,etc...) and rebled and it didn't help. im at work, and i can't pull the caliper off b/c i don't have all my tools. could this caliper be "bad"???? is that possible??? its grabbing so much the tire won't spin at all by hand. any input would be appreciated...thanks
~Dave


oh yeah, this is on a 14bolt rear with 1/2ton chevy front calipers on it. thanks.

 

[Leper]

OK, by your post, I am assuming you have done a rear disc brake swap. What you have moved seems to indicate a stuck caliper piston or slide pin. You are going to have to add more brake fluid to drive your truck. If you can work the caliper in and out while still attached to the truck, it should probably get you home. You need to bleed the brakes. Starting with the one you opened the line on.

You can drive around a little bit and check each wheel for heat. The hottest on is going to be your problem. I am hesitant to tell you to block off a brake line because I don't know your skill or experience level.

 

[onetonbb74]

caliper could be bad. ive had this problem and changing the caliper fixed it. A temp fix (8mi drive) for me was vice grips on the flex line for the ride home where the tools are at.

Do your brakes drag while driving? Or after you hit the petal, does it feel like it waits a second to release the brakes after you pulled your foot off the petal?

 

[01maroonz71]

yeah, this morning, and while moving around the parking lot they dragged bad. it's def the drivers rear tire...the hub was so hot after i got to work i could barely touch it this morning...i could block off a line, but figured i'd just catch a ride home, it's only like 3miles(but don't wanna risk it) anyways...im gonna pick up a new caliper tomm. what sucks is that i just bought these about 5months ago when i did the swap. not sure why it would go bad so soon. also, the caliper seems to be stuck "out" b/c it took quite a bit of force/banging to get it to colapse back into the caliper. thank alot guys, i hopefully will get off with some daylight tomm and be able to fix it. haha.