wazupdad

The fix: 2004 f-150
Parking brake problem: Parking brake not releasing and dragging. After taking my f-150 to the dealer, they couldn’t find anything wrong but said the parking brake shoes were worn and needed replacing before they could proceed and the shoes were not covered by the warranty. So, I tore into the parking brakes to replace and discovered the actuating levers had rusted together and had stuck in the engaged position. As a result, when the parking brake is released and the cable loop end that is attached to the actuating lever will come off. When driving, the parking brake was on and could not be released and caused vibration and dragging and wore the shoes out. Parking brake shoes should last forever as they should never be rubbing the drum while turning, they should only be engaged while the vehicle is stopped. To fix this, place one side of the actuating lever assembly into a vise and grab the other part with vice grips and work them apart (use WD40 to help).

Jonathan Livers

I would like to add that I encountered this same issue tonight when changing my rotors and parking brake out tonight. I didn’t have a vice available so after spraying it liberalybwith lubricant I took a hammer and held the piece against the ground and would hit the top end until it started to move (similar to when scissors close), shoot some more lubricant, then turn the piece 90 degrees and hit the top end again to work it back the other way. I kept rotating the piece 90 degrees and lightly hammer it until the two separated, took a wire brush to clean it up a bit and it went back together great! Sorry I didn’t get to take pictures of the process but I found a similar image online and hit in the direction of the arrows with the part upright (not laying flat like in the image) hope this might help someone!