Bad Drag... the not-so-good MPG kind...

[Brandon96]

I'm having some troubles with drag on my X. If I let off the gas and try to coast its just a big no go. At first I thought it was my tires, BFG A/Ts, but I drove my friend's X today and he has BFG M/Ts and wow.. I was just simply amazed at the difference. I jacked her up to take a look behind the wheels an I noticed only that my left front brake disk is warped, I can spin the tire about 3/4 freely then it locks. With mild force I can move it the last 1/4 turn and it spins freely again. I'm not sure juust that would create such a huge problem? it may though I'm no expert.

Now here's where it gets fun, while typing this I just cooked up that it could be the parking brake. Mine, is broken. I could ram the PB petal to the floor on the highway and nothing would happen. Is there some sort of failsafe on the Parking Brake? I'm thinking maybe it was broken partially engaged, possibly giving me a slight drag? Is this even possible?

Please any suggestions on what to do would be greatly appreciated seeing as how I get 12-13 MPG combined. It hurtss!:

 

[IZwack]

You should be able to spin the front wheels w/o any sticky spots. And you should also be able to push the vehicle on flat ground when in Neutral.

 

[Brandon96]

I cannot push my X while in neutral. This sucks. Open for suggestions...

 

[parad1mg]

are you sure youre doing the pushing in a level surface? mine took 2 people plus me (and no, we're not midget sized..) to push my mounty aside on neutral when it just stopped (battery cable went loose and wouldnt start .. hehe) at a gas station and there was only a very slight incline..

check your emergency brake assembly.. take your rear tire off and pop the rear rotor off and check the brake shoes.. if the rotors are hard to remove then it might be your eb shoes sticking to the rotor.. i had the same situation when i replaced my rotors and pads.. the rear rotors was like fused with the eb shoes and it took a long time to remove..

there is a lever mechanism that actuates/engages the eb at the rear rotor

its the long spring thing that hooks up to that small tongue looking thing sticking out from the backside.. see if its moving or if it has any abnormal play on it..

good luck!

 

[IZwack]

are you sure youre doing the pushing in a level surface? mine took 2 people plus me (and no, we're not midget sized..) to push my mounty aside on neutral when it just stopped (battery cable went loose and wouldnt start .. hehe) at a gas station and there was only a very slight incline..

Pretty sure -- thats how I verified everything downstream of the transfer case (which was in Neutral) was okay with my Explorer after I finished swappping out both axles -- and that was with 36" TSL-SXs.

 

[parad1mg]

^^^ was asking brandon on that one.. we all know you have superhuman strength mr. IZ ..

 

[IZwack]

^^^ was asking brandon on that one.. we all know you have superhuman strength mr. IZ ..

Ahah oh okay, sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[JDraper]

Your warped rotor can produce the problem you're describing. If it's creating enough force to stop the wheel when you rotate it by hand, it will slow the vehicle down and hurt your mileage.

As mentioned above, you should be able to push it on level ground fairly easily. My '94 on 33" M/T's was fairly easy to move around on level ground.

There is no failsafe for the parking brake. However, if your e-brake is shot, parts of it may be rubbing and causing drag.

 

[Brandon96]

Thank you for that picture Parad. I'm not exactly understanding what you said, probably because I'm still waking up... hah, but I think I know what to look for.

As for the pushing, my driveway has an 11 degree decline and I have to moderately 'lean' against it to push her down hill.

I'm goign to get dressed an go check the Brakes out now... hopefully I know what i'm doing.

 

[Brandon96]

so I went out today just for a quick look under the truck to see whats what. I poked and pushed on random metal objects like I knew what I was doing and found nothing out of the ordinary, or nothing blatently messed up. but It was just a quick 5min get-to-know you type of thing..

Bottom line, I need help, I'll start with this. I'm new to brakes, will someone show me a thread how-to to take the rear calipers/rotors off? Or if it's really easy just a quick little rundown on what to do? and what not to do ofcourse... I'm going to need to take the rear assemblies (or is it assemblys?) apart to really check it out.

EDIT - in my fondling of my rear brakes, I did notice that one of the tonges may have play, but the lever mechanism that the eb 'wire' is conected in which 'pulls' on has play in it on the driver's side. But on the passenger's side it appears to be locked into place. I feel as if I pull on that lever, i'm actually engaging and disengaging the EB.. I could be wrong.. but again it has decent amount of play on the drivers side and is locked in place on the passenger side.

 

[IZwack]

Autzone has an online repair manual: http://www.autozone.com/shopping/repairGuide.htm

 

[Brandon96]

ok, read up on it and will either do it tommorow or the day after, depends on how entertaining my christmas presents are..

 

[gavin]

yeah... the rear is SIMPLE.
2- 10mm bolts, pull caliper, remove rotor.

well... except that parking break parts can make it difficult to get the rotor off. May need a rubber mallet and bang the "hat" on the rotor a bit to loosen up the parking break shoes.

 

[team]

do you have auto mechanics at your school? if so see if the teacher will check it out during his class.