94 explorer brakes dragging/locking up

[pzilla]

94 explorer brakes dragging/locking up?!

i posted a thread about my issue in the brakes forum board... i took and tac welded some old adjusters with them slightly under adjusted just so that i can drive it when i need to. ive done lots of brakes without ever an issue. could it just be cheap brakes and a light amount of oil left from when i had the leaking axel seal? idk. about to dump some $ into an 03 legacy but i love my suv's... thanks again for any help

 

[AaronC47]

Brakes

If the brakes are getting loose or tight I would think the adjusters may be installed wrong sides, The thread direction makes a difference. In fact that reminds me I need to change one of mine out. I forgot to check mine and I had all in a pile and just grabbed one realizing later the mistake I made.

 

[pzilla]

adjusters arent mixed up..

i was told to check the adjusters 1st, and i had them in the right sides even on the last set of brake shoes. im on my 3rd set now... they are just 20$ shoes from autozone. im gonna try cleaning 100% of all grease and grime out from backer plates and brake area then hit it all with brake parts cleaner. also going to put back in new greased adjusters. ive had this prob now for about 6months. im almost ready to convert it to disk rear brakes... but thats a last resort. again thanks for any help/suggestions. ill post my sucess or failure

 

[TexCaliBII]

If you do decide to convert it is way easy. I put 97 rear disks on my 92 and they fit perfectly and greatly increased stopping power. You'll need everything from the axle tube out, just 4 bolts and the brake hard line that delivers fluid to the disks and they are of coursse defferent than the drum setup. Also the parking brake setup and cable.

 

[pzilla]

possible disk brake swap...

well at least thats reassuring to hear... ive done brakes on newer explorer rears and i knew axels were the same. i thought there was some proportioning valve or special master cylender needed when converting to the disk setup from a drum.. i dont mind drums if they work correctly with periodic maintenance but mine have been a p.i.t.a. for months now. ive got like 250-300$ into the brake system alone this season. disk conversion may actually save me some $ in long run. guess ill call junkyards for prices soon. thanks for the help

 

[AaronC47]

Brakes

What you might also want to do if your not swapping to disc anytime soon, is to get a NEW bottle of brake fluid and flush your lines completely and make sure the master cylinder is clean and not full of stuff growing on the bottom. Did you do new wheel cylinders or at least rebuild them also. can make a difference.

 

[TexCaliBII]

I did not change the porportioning valve when I did mine and the brakes work perfectly and feel well balanced front and rear when I slam on the brakes and in normal driving. I do plan on swapping in the correct valve when I replace the fluid as I just lilke everything to be correct. As the previous post mentions my fluid sure ain't clear and heathy looking right now.....

 

[feellnfroggy]

You can have the adjuster on the right sides, but have them in backwards. I would check that too.

 

[pzilla]

possible bad new wheel cylender...

well i was just talking to a few people and reading an old school automotive manual and its possible that not only was 1 of my old wheel cylenders bad but 1 of the new ones i just bought is also bad! ironic that it made it onto the same side that was locking up the whole time. i had noticed that with the drum off the side that drags, i can not get the brake shoes to return fully 100%... they will not contact the top opst on the backer plate, like the slave cylender is too big or binding. this is verry possible even with the new wheel cyl from autozone. cheap mexican crap could be the cause here.. im gonna have a look and take the wheel cyl off and go get another new 1 just to be sure. ill post after swapping the cylender out again. thanks again every1