Dragging brake on single wheel

[68Datsun510]

Hello all. Annoying issue I've been having. A few years ago when i was still driving the 68, i bought Aaron Suchy's maxima brake brackets for the rear and did the swap. When I had it all apart, i replaced all the wheel bearings. Calipers and brackets are installed pointing downward to retain OE e brake cable system.

 

An issue i hardly noticed back then cuz i was a noob, but really notice now that the same whole IRS is swapped into my 69, was that every now and then the driver side rear caliper would drag, making for 3 cool wheels and one blazing hot one to the touch.

 

No free play in bearings, hydraulics have been bled and are leak free, rolling squeaking sound that dies not change with application of brakes. All 'slider bolts' are lubed and operate freely.

 

Bad caliper? E-brake 'cycle' seems to free it up, application of brakes makes it return.

[DRIVEN]

If the e-brake releases it I would suspect a bad caliper. Don't overlook a bad hose though. They can fail internally and still look fine on the outside. The start to act like a one-way check valve.

[68Datsun510]

All hoses are steel braided. Shoulda mentioned that :P

[datsunaholic]

That doesn't change that they can fail internally. Or that a steel line got pinched.

 

However, since cycling the E-brake makes it go away, I'd say there's something mechanically wrong. The way I would check it out is take that wheel off, ensure it's free spinning, then have someone else press the pedal. Hopefully it'll stick. If it stays stuck, tap around with a hammer until it releases and maybe you'll see the binding.

 

Of course, it might NOT stick. Possibly because the wheel needs to be spinning to make it stick, and that would indicate something is moving too much, so that it moves the whole caliper when the brakes are applied in the direction of rotor travel. In that case you might be able to make it stick if you spin the wheel and have someone apply the brake. Then try the above.

 

If you still can't see the binding (and it's still stuck, the idea is to get it stuck when looking at it to find out why), open the bleeder. If THAT frees it up, it's a hydraulic problem (lines, hoses, proportioning valves, splitters, master cyl).

[68Datsun510]

Well i believe its solved, combination of issues. Caliper was hitting control arm, and my cable didnt have enough slack between the calipers.

 

Clearanced the control arm a bit with a ball peen, and adjusted the cable, and i *think* its fixed! =)

[WAGON JON]

Cross your fingers!