trouble with 02 ranger brakes

[dmac0923]

recently my 02 ranger feels like the brakes are dragging. (truck feels like its pulling something)

also my pedal seems to have excessive travel before the braking effort is really noticed. and when the brakes do engage they dont seem like they are stopping the truck properly.

another note: when i park the truck with the emergency brake engaged, the next time i get in, the rear pads are stuck to the drums and they make a loud bang when i accelerate to brake them free. this only takes over night for the pads to stick to the rotors. the truck isnt sitting for months where you would expect some rusting

master cylinder resevoir is full and no leaks in the system.
front brakes are relatively new about 5,000 miles. the rear pads had good thickness.

im thinking something is seized up and is dragging causing excessive overheating and thats what affects my brake pedal??????????

any opinions? i have to pop the wheels off when i get home from work.

 

[bisjoe]

It could be a sticking master cylinder, but that should affect the front too. More likely either the rear wheel cylinders are sticking due to internal corrosion/pitted pistons, or the return springs need replacing.They will lose their "spring" from years of heating and cooling. Typically rear brakes have so much less wear than fronts that they end up being neglected until they wear out at 100,000 miles.

 

[pintopaul]

ford has a problem with water getting into the rear brakes on the ranger , they will tell you they dont but i have had 3 rangers with the same problem, when i worked for dodge they new they had problems and fixed them with new backing plates and new drums fords not smart enought to claim they have a problem ( before the hate mail starts i own and always had fords so dont hate me ) just stating a fact.