Wheel draggin' brake hangup!

[YAMBIG]

I have a 2000 Supercab Ranger 4X4. I have searched for a few hours and only found a few similar problems, none of which gave me the answer I needed.
Last year when I got my truck, I parked on snow and set my e-brake and when I went to move it, the drivers side rear was dragging. Not a good time to find out that the transfer case motor was bad too! Dealer found no problem when they towed it 2 days later. They said that the drum or shoe may have gotten wet and literally frozen up. Not having a posi or limited slip, I thought that it was possible but a long shot. Within the last year I have used my e-brake only a few times for a fear of this happening again. My wife used the truck last month and you know how the story goes. After I pulled the wheel and drum, the axle spun freely. I put it back together and no problems. Two times within the last two weeks, The wheel has "tightened itself" back up. The first time I did the same removal and rebuild process. I also backed the adjuster out a little. This time I am looking for the root of the problem. At its worst I am dragging a 265-75-16 10 feet or so! Only forward and worse from a dead stop. Any Ideas?

 

[RangerX]

I'm just guessing here, but maybe the cable on that side is sticking in the housing, instead of sliding? It could be gunked up with all the sand and salt they use on the roads back there.

 

[chbtech]

I had a similar problem on my 87. Not sure if yours is the same setup, but the parking brake lever and spring at the rear wheel on my truck are located outside of the backing plate at the top. I had to completely disassemble all that stuff, clean and lube it up to get it working. It's a bit of an engineering marvel and not that easy to figure out how it actually works but I finally got it.

Whether it's a cable or lever/spring problem as I've tried to describe, you need to use the parking brake all the time to keep it from seizing.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I had a similar problem on mine- the lever that the cable attaches to on the drivers side froze up. I had to take it apart, seperate the two parts of the lever clean with a wire brush. Then I put grease on the lever where it hinges and re assembled. Works perfectly.