truck doesnt want to move

[cheatham]

I have had very few problems with my 71 c10 lwb in the two years that i have owned it, but this morning when I started out to work something strange happened.

After warming her up i put it in first and gave it some gas- it didnt want to move. It felt just like when you dont let off the park brake, except stronger resistance. I got out and checked if a tire was flat, but no. Since I had to be at work I went ahead and pulled out of the driveway hoping somehow the brakes had froze. It wasnt wet last night, but very cold... well it eventually started rolling pretty well (after 3 minutes of driving) but even after driving 20 minutes it didn't seem quite right. Of course any time something goes slightlly wrong you pay so much attention to it that it seems that way.

Anyway, any help on this would be greatly appreciated- i have to drive 20 minutes home tonight and I dont want to tear up anything.

Thanks,
Jack

[Fred T]

Sounds like a brake problem, but needs more diagnosis. Did you check for a hot drum after driving? Was it better or worse in reverse? Did you have a tire sliding at first? If a shoe return spring breaks things can get stuck.

[Hutch]

1. I am not sure but there may be moisture in your brake wheel
Cylinders.
2. I have also seen the e- brake mechanism freeze when it gets wet and allowed to sit in very cold weather.
One cure for this is to leave the emergency brake off in very cold weather.

The moisture problem occurs when the water separates from the brake fluid after sitting for a while then in cold conditions freezes.
This is a benefit to the parts folks, due to the fact that it will cause the wheel cylinders to leak fluid and allow them to sell you some brake kits.


Be careful out there

[yellowgmc]

when i used to off road in the winter, my u joints and cv joints used to freeze. i'd have to pop the clutch and hammer the gas to get it to move at first. i've also frozen my drum brakes together with ice between the pad and drum. ice does funny things. the e brake thing used to drive my nuts in the winter. try engaging it and relaesing it a couple of times in a row. sometimes the shock breaks the ice. otherwise it's hairdryer time!!!

[cheatham]

thanks for the input.... I guess the park brake cable to the rear drums was just frozen cause i had no more problems on the way home. I guess i won't use it when its cold and wet outside...

I need to put some new pads on the front anyway, I'll go ahead and check the rear cylinders out while I'm at it anyway

BTW- the right rear wheel (especially) did lock up at first when this happened as i was testing the brakes.

[JHickson6]

Yeah my rolling chassis is like that, the passenger rear wheel is all locked up, and the emergency brake cable is completely released. I ended up just ramming the damn chassis with my Grand Marquis That got the chassis rollin!!!!

[71GMC_3/4T]

Check for 90 wt oil on the shoes.
Mine was "sticky" but only when it was cold. Found that the left side was well oiled due to the seal being shot. Cold 90 wt is more like having molasses in there. It's worth checking out.

[stknrdr]

Sounds like a frozen parking brake to me...ive had it happen several times....

Usually in this case it will move way better in reverse than forward. A few years back I went to go to work one morning and this had happened - I was a weather observer for a small airport at the time and absolutely HAD to get to work on time or it would royally screw up a whole bunch of people's days - I found it would move backward but not forward so I backed 3 miles to work - you shoulda seen the looks I got - a 70 chev 2wd rocketing to work backwards heheh still makes me chuckle to this day. Incidentally the good old chevy drum brakes pad werent much worse for wear after this abuse.

And yes it was my only wheels at the time!