rear brake lockup

[yahoo2]

after a few minutes of plowing or anything that involves forward and backward motion on ice/snow/mud, my rear brake (passenger side) locks up at the slightest touch of the brake pedal...goes away soon after normal driving. its quite annoying anyway..thought id ask before i get into taking a look at it. i thought it could be somthing with abs screwing up but i took the abs fuse out and now have no abs (which is just fine with me) but brake is still locking
Pads have only been on for 4 months,i took the cap off and thers lots of pad there
truck is the '99 below
thanks,
Bill

[wyldman]

Sounds like you may have a caliper sticking.Next time it starts to do it,get out and see if that caliper is hotter than the other one.If so,it's most likely sticking.

It wouldn't hurt to service the rear brakes\calipers,just to make sure everything is free.

[NovaLC]

I know exactly what you're talking about.

For me, it happens when it's wet out and the truck has been sitting for a while. For example, after plowing all night, the next morning it will do that.

It's almost like there's no front brakes at all, it's all in the rear and it's almost instant, as soon as you touch the brakes they lock up.

I remember doing some research on it a while ago on some other truck site and apparantely it's very common on these GM's and nobody really had any solutions.

I don't worry about it too much, it goes away after a few minutes and it's not always there.

[CAMERON SERVICES]

I've got the same thing with my Dodge. It only happens when the truck has been sitting for a while and after a few minutes of normal driving it goes away. But like Nova said it's not a constant thing, it comes and goes. My brakes were done less then 4 months ago as well.:beatsme Nature of the beast.

[wyldman]

I think what you guys are seeing is light rust buildup on the drums and shoes.When the vehicle is parked over night,you get a rust film that forms on the metallic shoes and the drums.It takes a few brake applications for this to burn off,and the brakes will be quite touchy.Very common on rear drum brakes,and is aggravated by driving around in the snow and salt while plowing.

His truck sounds like it's rear disk,so it would not apply to his truck.

If you find the problem starts to get severe,you may want to check the axle seals for leakage.

[yahoo2]

thanks for the help everyone i guess ill just live with it as long as it doesnt get any worse. just wondered if it was serious or not.
actually my truck is a '99 2500 Sierra Classic,last year for the old style,so i do have drums :(
thanks again

[sonjaab]

Yahoo................One thing to check is the emergency brake
cables. Snow and Ice build up on them during plowing so
they weigh down the cables and engage the rear brakes !

Happened to my 94 & 97 OBS GMs several times.
Just eyeball the cables and kick off the buildup....................geo

[urethane dino]

What you have is a rear adjuster that is overacting. All the reverse while plowing is causing the adjuster to back out to much and allowing the drum to lock up. Replace the adjuster and see if that helps. I know my rear brakes feel alot more firm after a night of plowing.
Dino