91 Explorer rear brake problem! Any ideas??

[XLRRP]

Hi,

My rear brakes (drums) aren't working correctly on my 91 Explorer Sport. It seems as if all my braking is being done by the front discs. I just removed the drums and the pad hardly look used. I did carefully step on the brake pedal with the drums off and saw that the wheel cylinders are opening so the brakes should work, but they don't seem to be.

I am going to replace the pads (even if they look okay) and have the drums turned before putting things back together. Is it possible that the master cylinder or some valve in the system is not sending enough pressure to the rear brakes?

Any tips or ideas on what to check would be a great help.

Thanks,

Chris

PS... The vehicle is stock with no modifications.
PSS.. I did pull the rear anti-lock fuse to see if this helped any and it did not.

 

[00sport4x4]

Put the rear on stands and have a friend/or piece of wood "or a friend with a piece of wood" hold the the brake pedal and try to manually move the tire. This will tell you if they are atleast hitting the drum. Then you can adjust the star wheels on the drums. other then that it could be a master cylinder, wheel cylinder, or paportioning valve issue. Good luck

 

[unclemeat]

Check to see that the parking brake is not putting tension on the brakes. Mine is lifted but the rear brakes mus be adjusted with the vehicle on the ground, and not on a lift.

 

[MrShorty]

While you've got the brakes off, does the hardware seem to be in good shape? Sometimes, the adjusting hardware gets worn and stops working automatically like it should. It's easy enough to see what's supposed to happen when you have the drum off: the brake shoes extend, which stretches the adjusting cable attached to the adjusting pawl. As the cable is "stretched," the adjusting pawl should go up, then engage the teeth on the star wheel as the brakes relax. The spring should pull the pawl down with enough force to turn the star wheel which extends the adjuster screw.
If you lift on the adjusting cable and let go, is it grabbing the star wheel?

 

[XLRRP]

Thanks for the tips. I had the drums turned, replaced the pads and also replaced all the springs. The brakes are working great now. Maybe the pads were glazed. I also had a "clunk" sometimes while letting the brakes off, I'm thinking that maybe they were releasing slow due to worn springs. It doesn't seem to do it now.

Chris