Rear Brakes

[glen]

Well here I go again with the rear brake locking up (only in forward).
I got my `53 driving for a few miles and then the car just slammed to a stop.  I had the rear driver`s side looked at (it`s the only one that locks up). All the other wheels turn freely.
Putting in reverse is OK and then I can drive for a short distance until it slams to a halt agiain.
Does anyone have any advise?
Thanks
glenn

[joefrazer]

My 54 does the same thing. It's in the differential...something slipped loose when I used a puller on the drum to repair the brakes.

[kaiservagabond]

Hi Joefrazer.  I'm just curious.  What would fall out in the differential on a kaiser product that would  get caught in the teeth.   The rear axle is held in place by a retainer with, I believe, 5 bolts that hold the backing plate, the shims and the axle to the axle housing.  Some other cars do have a large, and I mean large, "C" type clip that holds the axle in place but it can't get out with the spider gears  in place.  Just wondering.

[Doc]

I had a similar problem with front brakes and it turned out to be one of those round retainer/adjuster pins had somehow gotten bent and allowed excessive travel in the brake shoes. The shoes were no longer retained. I replaced the bent pin and that fixed the problem. Little hazy on all the circumstances of this but I recall it would just lock up and a skid mark showed it to be left front. May be something entirely diffferent for the rear here.

[joefrazer]

I have not yet opened the rear end on the car to see what's wrong. It happened as a result of the work I was doing to get the car back on the road. I had installed a new engine and was getting it running when this problem occurred. Now, in addition to the issue with the rear end, I pulled the dipstick on the new engine, only to find the crankcase full of antifreeze. So, I've given up on the car for now...

[stroker70]

Been there and done that myself. Sorry to hear of your bad luck so far. I'm sure you know that you should drain the milkshake out of your engine so as not to cause further damage but Ill say it anyway as a reminder. Did you check your spark plugs to see if the coolant has made its way into the cylinders? Could be a leaking head gasket

[Doc]

Well I have certainly been there TWICE.  But the latest on the '51 Frazer what with all the problems trying to keep the car running under a load, when I blew the head gasket back in December that was it. I just totally shut all restoration effort down on the car. Rear most plug had coolant on it. Just got burned out on it.