Lysergic
Junior Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2021
- Posts
- 11
- Reaction score
- 16
- Location
- Houston, TX
- Ram Year
- 2012 Tradesman 4x4
- Engine
- 4.7L V8
Hello - new forum user here, longtime Ram owner, 2012 Tradesman 4x4, 4.7L. Bought it new back in 2012. Just hit 200K, still going strong. Thought I would share a little experience I had yesterday. Pulled out of the driveway headed to another town about 40 miles away. Got about 1/2-mile down the road and all of the sudden it sounded (and felt) like someone suddenly jammed 1000 wire coat hangers into one of my rear wheels. Way to ring in the New Year! Pulled over and visually inspected the rear end, determined it was coming from driver side rear wheel. Managed to limp it back to the house at about 1 MPH. Waited about an hour and let everything cool off, crawled under the rear and saw this:
The Parking Brake Assembly actually cracked! UH OH. Got it jacked up, pulled the wheel. Had to use some severe beating with a 2x4 block and 3lb.hammer to get the rotor off. When it came off, the remnants of the e-brake internals and shredded metal just poured out of it. The adjuster was split in two and had been "grooved" almost in half, length-wise. Good times! How the rear wheel speed sensor survived is simply a miracle..
Anyway, long story short, I cleaned it all up and simply removed all of e-brake parts. Some minor scarring to the inside of the drum. I was planning on replacing both rear rotors in the next few months, this just moved up the timetable. Unfortunately, I don't have a backup vehicle at this time, so upon further inspection, I realized you can run just fine minus the parking brake. I'm NOT recommending this, but in a pinch, it can be done. I've probably engaged the parking brake less than 10 times in the 10 years I've owned the truck, so..
Looks like replacement will involve pulling the axle. I'm half-tempted to pull the passenger side rotor and do a preemptive removal of the e-brake hardware.
Anyway, I hope this NEVER happens to anyone else!
Notice anything funny about the bolts in the picture below?
The Parking Brake Assembly actually cracked! UH OH. Got it jacked up, pulled the wheel. Had to use some severe beating with a 2x4 block and 3lb.hammer to get the rotor off. When it came off, the remnants of the e-brake internals and shredded metal just poured out of it. The adjuster was split in two and had been "grooved" almost in half, length-wise. Good times! How the rear wheel speed sensor survived is simply a miracle..
Anyway, long story short, I cleaned it all up and simply removed all of e-brake parts. Some minor scarring to the inside of the drum. I was planning on replacing both rear rotors in the next few months, this just moved up the timetable. Unfortunately, I don't have a backup vehicle at this time, so upon further inspection, I realized you can run just fine minus the parking brake. I'm NOT recommending this, but in a pinch, it can be done. I've probably engaged the parking brake less than 10 times in the 10 years I've owned the truck, so..
Looks like replacement will involve pulling the axle. I'm half-tempted to pull the passenger side rotor and do a preemptive removal of the e-brake hardware.
Anyway, I hope this NEVER happens to anyone else!
Notice anything funny about the bolts in the picture below?