Rear brakes locking up

[smoked68]

Hi guys,
I need some help here. My rear brakes are locking before the fronts. Primarily its the left rear that grabs first. Heres the deal, New front calipers, rotors, pads and steel braid lines. The rears have new wheel cylinders and shoes. New master cylinder.
Could it be the proportioning valve? I have an adjustable one on the way from Summit, but thought I would ask the guru"s for their oppinions before wasting any more time and trouble. Any Ideas please or am I on the right track now? Thanks guys,
Mike..

[Longhorn Man]

not likely to be the prop valve... the rarely go bad, and plus, both rears would lock up instead of just one.
Try adjusting both of the rears up. It sounds bass ackwards, but drums are self energizing, meaning, once they shoes hit the drum, the torque from the wheels make them hit a little harder. If there is exsesive space between the shoe and the drum, the energizing action is increased.

[smoked68]

Thanks longhorn, I will try in just bit. So if I'm understanding you adjust them tighter? I normally adj. till I get one rev. from a hand spin. Or how do you do it? Mike.

[Americanrider]

Check out a Midas shop, they do free brake inspections and adjustments.... they them you just bought the truck. Let them do it for free and drive away clean & happy. Some other shops advertise with free adjustment/inspection coupons in the local papers.

[c10crazy]

Originally Posted by Americanrider

Check out a Midas shop, they do free brake inspections and adjustments.... they them you just bought the truck. Let them do it for free and drive away clean & happy. Some other shops advertise with free adjustment/inspection coupons in the local papers.

No offense, but I would never recommend a shop that advertises free coupons for inspections. Most times, nothing is free!

[68speedalert]

Originally Posted by c10crazy

No offense, but I would never recommend a shop that advertises free coupons for inspections. Most times, nothing is free!

And.........ya get what ya paid fer!

Could be parking brake cable on that side. Try grabbing the housing and give it a shake, it may realease the rest of the way.

Take the drum off, & make sure that the top of the shoes are tight against the top anchor. If one of the shoes is pushed away, then it is likely the parking cable.

If the cable is fine, here is the way I adjust them if I want to make sure they are adjusted the same.

If you're not that familiar with the brake set up, look at them good before doing. Experiment with drum off.

With the drum on, you want to tighten the adjuster until it won't turn anymore. With a small diameter pick, go thru the adjustment hole and push the self-adjusting lever away froom the adjusting screw. Now loosen the screw about 5-8 movements (I mean as much as you can get before moving the tool to get another bite).

Do this on both sides and they will be VERY close to being the same.