97 Rear brakes sticking. ABS??? Proportioning valve??? What is it???

Okay I am taking the Explorer over to a buddies monday morning and we are going to check out the whole rear end to make sure that my dragging drivers side rear brake is really the brake dragging. Make sense??? Well I have replaced the caliper, rotor, pads and it still is dragging. In my conversations last night I found out that since this thing has ABS it may not have been bleed properly at one time. My parents used to own this thing and had the rear axle replaced by a Ford dealer last year due to some weird deal in the axle... Well my buddy was thinking when they did this they didn't blead it correctly. He thinks that they may have left some air in the system.

Okay with all that BS said, is there a way to FIX the ABS proportioning valve without having to replace it??? My buddy was saying he didn't have the tools to do this but wanted to look at it with me anyway just so I know what's going on.


THANKS!

Dealers always say only they can properly bleed the ABS. I don't quite agree, although I will say the ABS is a pain in the !@$ to work with. I don't know any specific info on the workings of the proportioning valve other than to say it's a piece of !@$#.

Ryan you should consider bypassing the ABS system completely, it's more trouble than it's worth, especially on an older truck, or a truck that is driven by a skilled driver, or a truck that isn't driven a lot.

I have heard the rubber brake hoses can cause brakes to drag.They say the inside comes apart and acts like a one way valve trapping pressure in the calipers even if the hose is not cracked on the outside. Hope you find your problem!

I would bypass it in a minute if I was the one driving this every day. However its my Wifes daily driver so.... I just want to know as much as I can about this system before doing anything with it.

Well doh! I think we got the problem figured out! It was the darn parking brake dragging. That and some mistakes made by me when installing the pads. Its all much better now. So far anyway!

I was just going to say. most likely the parking brake....

Yeah... I like the old drum brake system better. Its a lot easier to work with!

Ah well at least I learned a whole lot more and was hopfully saved from having to deal with a whole lot of dollars!

rpenner54 said:

Yeah... I like the old drum brake system better. Its a lot easier to work with!

Ah well at least I learned a whole lot more and was hopfully saved from having to deal with a whole lot of dollars!

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I'm glad THAT's over with... I like my Explorer again.

I'm not with Ryan for his mechanical skills.