I think I'm missing something here. With it out of park, and with only the left rear tire off the ground, you can rotate it by hand but it wont turn when it's on the ground, is that right? But it will rotate going backward?
What happens when you drive the truck? Do both wheels turn freely then?
The only thing I can think of, if the wheel locks up in one direction when there's weight on it, is a brake shoe return spring is broken. That can allow the front shoe to catch on the drum and self-apply. That will be aggravated by a parking brake cable stuck in the partially-applied position. Ford has had a real big problem with that since the '70s. To identify that, remove that wheel, then slide the drum off. First look at where the two shoes contact the large anchor pin at the top of the backing plate. If either shoe is not tight against that pin, the parking brake cable is not fully released, or there's grooves worn in the backing plate and the shoe is catching on them. Next, look at the strut bar between the middle of the two shoes. You'll see there's an anti-rattle spring on one end. Use your thumb to push that bar forward against that spring. It should move about 1/8". If it is tight and there's no free play, again, the parking brake cable is partially applied.
If the cable isn't rusted tight yet, you can use a pry bar where the cable attaches to the bottom of the parking brake lever, and push that lever back. From then on, don't use the parking brake until the two rear cables are replaced. New cables from Ford, if you can still get them, can develop the same problem within a year. On trucks and full-size vans, the right one gives even more trouble because of the way they routed them. Some go all the way to the rear bumper and then come into the brake assembly from the rear. That's a lot of cable to expect to work freely, and they usually don't.
Saturday, August 16th, 2014 AT 8:22 PM
