98 Ranger with one rear wheel brake slight drag

[Rick_Hahn]

Greetings: I have a ’98 Ranger with about 250K miles. Recently I serviced the rear brakes. The following parts are brand new: brake hardware (springs, etc), shoes, wheel cylinders, and drums.
Currently, there is an issue with a very slight pulsating “drag” on the right rear wheel. Problem does not appear right away when starting the vehicle cold, but develops gradually after a few miles. Problem is not apparent on the left side.
I have done the following in an attempt to remedy:
1) Measured the radial runout on both drums. The left side read about 0.016”, and the right side (the pulsating side) measured about 0.030”. I don’t know what the runout specification is. I went ahead and got another replacement drum for the right side, with radial runout approximately equal to the left side.
2) I have visually verified, several times, that the brake adjuster screws on both sides are all the way “in”, to allow max shoe to drum clearance. I have also verified that these are installed correctly.
3) I have verified that the short-sector shoe is on the front, and the long-sector is on the rear, on both sides.
4) I even tried shaving a bit of the brake lining off of the shoe, at the location which is dragging on the drum.
5) In an attempt to eliminate the parking brake as a possible cause, I have physically disconnected the parking brake linkage from both rear wheels.
Despite the above steps, the problem persists. Any ideas? Thanks

 

[pjtoledo]

I've had similar problems on both my 2000 and 2005. replacement parts just aren't that accurate anymore. had to shave a few shoes, find hi spots, shorten the adjuster etc.
make sure the Ebrake is retracting.
so, basically you have shoes that are too big for the drum. or vice-versa.
do both shoes fully contact the big pin at the top? do they go back after the brakes are applied? helpful hint, don't push too much if the drum is off.
if they are fully seated at the top my action was to shorten the adjuster by carefully grinding the slot deeper. if you go too deep just turn the adjuster out.
its a custom-fit, trial and error situation. my brakes still work fine a couple years after I fitted them.

 

[Rick_Hahn]

Excellent idea! Thanks for the good tip. I'll try shaving the notch deeper in my brake adjusters. Thanks again

 

[fiveologyjay]

I'm similar issues. Right rear wheel locks up upon hitting the brake pedal. Replaced Springs, e-Brake cable, shoes, drum, and adjuster. Gets worse after driving for a bit.

 

[55trucker]

Are you absolutely sure there is no air in the line to the rear in question?

You mention that when everything is cold there is little to no issue but when parts heat up the problem appears. (Even tho it compresses) air expands faster than fluid does, try bleeding to cure the problem.

I take it that when cold you can spin the rear wheel freely with no unnecessary resistance?

 

[fiveologyjay]

I haven't tried bleeding it. I did purchase a new wheel cylinder but the original one showed no signs of leaking so I didn't replace it. I'll try bleeding it and report back. Thank You

 

[pjtoledo]

it isn't just leaks that cause issues.
if there is crud inside the cylinder the pistons may not retract.