I just bought a new-to-me '91 Ford Ranger XLT e wheel drive. In talking with the seller, and with my mechanic who checked it over later, both said "the emergency brake doesn't work". Now that I've gotten it home and after driving it around for awhile, everything works fine, so I thought I'd see if the emergency brake REALLY doesn't work. I parked on a hill, put it in neutral, started to roll and pushed the emergency brake pedal down AND IT STOPPED! Who said the emergency brake doesn't work??!! HA!

So I released the pedal and we still don't move.. it's stuck ON. As with most e-brakes, you can go in reverse better than forward. So my question... is this a cable brake to the rear wheels only that is getting hung up or rusted in a sleeve or something? Can I find the cable where it goes into the rear wheels and PULL or HAMMER on it to break it lose? My old '75 350 rusted this way and we just ended up cutting the cables.

So, what should I do?

Thanks for your help,

Jack
proud (but stupid) owner of another Ford truck

 

The cable is easy to find, just look on the outside of the frame on the driver's side. You can then follow it back to the left rear, then it goes across to the right rear.

My suggestion... pull the rear wheels off and try to pull the drums off. See if they are both stuck, or if it's just one. You can also try tapping the outside of the drum to see if you can knock it loose. Also, follow that cable and see if it seems to be kinked or rusted anywhere.

 

Its probably kinked somewhere I had a similar issue with my 91. I jiggled and wiggled and got it free. It needed tightening after that but works great now.

 

Thanks for the answers. Here's what I did: Yes, the cable is visable and reachable along the drivers side. Right before it reaches the left rear wheel, theres an area where the cable is outside the sleeve with the spring. I woggled it in this area and got it to pop free. Assuming there's rust and stuff inside the sleeve to kink it, I sprayed PB Blaster up the end of the tube. Whether it will eventually free it up permanently remains to be seen. I the meantime, I'll heed the mechanic's words... "the emergency brake doesn't work."

Thanks again,

Jack

 

You can buy replacement cables fairly inexpensively - about $20 for each of the 3 segments. I'd suggest that you find out which cable(s) sticks and replace it. I don't know about you, but I would hate to have my hydraulic brakes fail and not have a backup system.