lfhoward wrote:
Hi Shaffer,
It sounds like you might have sticking brake calipers or an e-brake that is not releasing or is adjusted too tight.
Some folks may have referenced the hill start assist, which is the safety feature that keeps the brakes on until you hit the gas when you are stopped on a hill. It should not re-engage unless you are at a full stop on an angled surface, so it doesn't sound like your issue.
If either a caliper or an e-brake is sticking and dragging, you will be able to tell by driving around a bit, then feeling your brake rotors with your finger (carefully). If one of the rotors is much hotter than the others, then something is dragging while you are driving. (E-brakes are only on the rear wheels.)
I replaced my rear brake pads last fall and found that both rear calipers stuck afterwards. The rotors got super hot and even smoked after a mile of driving. The Jeep slowed down really quickly and I needed a lot more gas to get up to speed with the brakes dragging. At first I thought this was the e-brake, so I loosened the star wheels inside the rear hubs so that the e-brake could not engage at all. When the problem persisted, I knew it must be the calipers. Remanufactured calipers from Napa eventually fixed my issue.
Hope this helps. First thing to do is to see if any of your rotors are getting hot when they shouldn't. Report back and we'll help you diagnose.
well i have done the spit test on all rotors. i just replaced the driver rear caliper because it was locked up and did the exact same thing as you said. i had to keep pulling over on the way to my buddies shop and sit and wait while throwing snow on the rotor to cool it some. i guess im going to replace the other caliper on the rear as well. the rotors get hot as expected but they dont get super heated. just normal. so maybe take all the rear stuff back off and adjust the ebrake? i know that my ebrake sucks completely. barely works at all. the shoes looked good on it however so maybe it isnt the ebrake. im not sure. thanks for the response i will def look into it more.