Brakes, tires problem

[rhkcommander]

Hello all, hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

My rear tires like to lock up in the rainy season, things get fishy when that happens. Today i had to stop quickly, rear locked and front pulled hard right so i corrected, still had to slow down, and i did a 180 as it pulled harder the second time. Stopped in time, No one was injured, no accidents. Some rim damage to rear tire...

Can i adjust the drums, what should I do? Brake cylinder issues maybe?

My tires are getting low on tread, never loved them, mickey thompson mtz i think. 16" rim, 34 or 35", i will get the size in the morning. They were on the truck when i bought it, they never had much tread so i could easily get stuck in wet grass... i rarely offroad, when i do its more rocky than muddy. I would appreciate some suggestions on great road tires that wont leave me stranded offroad too much. Maybe a high ply so rocks wont puncture so easily. If i had to do any wet offroading i could chain up or something?

 

[franklin2]

I would pull the rear drums and look at the shoes. Make sure you do not have any sign of leakage, old or new. Or did you ever have a leak, tried to clean the shoes off with brake cleaner, and are still using them?

90% of the time, brakes that lock up like that are from contaminated shoe linings. If they are soaking wet with rear axle oil or brake fluid, they will not lock up. But if it's a very slow minor leak, or they leaked and it has now stopped, or you repaired the leak and tried to clean up and re-use the old shoes, that is when they lock up. As they dry out they get sticky, and will lock up very easily.

When you go in there, the whole brake area should be brown and dusty. If the area is fairly clean and the shoes look black, I bet they are contaminated.

 

[snicklas]

It also sounds like your RABS isn't working either...... because this situation is EXACTLY why Ford put it ion the trucks.

As for a good tire, I have recommend, and will continue to recommend Firestone Transforce A/T tires. They have good traction, and a long wear life. In 10+ years of having this tire, my truck has only been hung up twice. Both times were in extremely soupy grass covered areas. The first time I wasn't with the truck, the wife had taken the kids to the Fair, and got hung up in the grass, and didn't want to break anything, I may have gotten it out, but she wouldn't push it as had as I would. Second time, I had a bad lockout and didn't know it, so just dug holes with the rear end.

Dad and I have bought 5 sets, and @FORDF250HDXLT bought a set and is very happy with them also.

I will go out later and take a fresh picture of my set and the mileage on them, and post a couple pictures

 

[Macrobb]

Y'know, I noticed the same thing. My trucks were fine all summer, but literally as soon as it started raining, the rear tires want to just "grab", especially when cold.
With the truck warmed up from some driving, it's not a problem, but cold, it really wants to just lock up on "softer" terrain like gravel or snow-covered pavement.

In my case, as both my fronts are grabbing equally, it's not an issue of spinning... just an annoyance, one that I should fix sooner or later.

 

[79jasper]

But the Rabs II On these things isn't exactly known to work. Lol
I typically adjust mine a little too tight, so mine end up locking up under heavy braking.
I've gone sideways a few times.
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[Macrobb]

I typically adjust mine a little too tight, so mine end up locking up under heavy braking.

At least for me, this is more like "give it just a little bit of pedal" and it locks up. While the fronts are barely starting to engage.
Normally, under heavy braking everything is fine... but *both* my 92 and 93 started doing this as soon as it turned wet after working just fine for months... so I'm thinking this is probably the same as the OP's problem.

 

[79jasper]

Could be. I don't know if I've ever had my fronts lock up on this truck.

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[Macrobb]

Could be. I don't know if I've ever had my fronts lock up on this truck.

Not while driving, that's for sure. I think I might have been able to do it once on my '88 with hydroboost assist, which explains a lot about how hard it is to do.
'Course, that's on pavement. Not hard to lock things up on gravel or snow.

 

[OLDBULL8]

How is your load equalizer valve on the rear axle adjusted ?

 

[79jasper]

Who?
Mine doesn't have one.

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[Macrobb]

How is your load equalizer valve on the rear axle adjusted ?

I thought that only applied to non-rabs trucks; I know mine doesn't have it, and am unsure about the OP's 87. By 88, I know they don't.

 

[rhkcommander]

I would pull the rear drums and look at the shoes. Make sure you do not have any sign of leakage, old or new. Or did you ever have a leak, tried to clean the shoes off with brake cleaner, and are still using them?

When you go in there, the whole brake area should be brown and dusty. If the area is fairly clean and the shoes look black, I bet they are contaminated.

No leaks ever that I'm aware of, I will have to take a look. So far, the only thing that hasn't leaked on this truck is the rear...

It also sounds like your RABS isn't working either...... because this situation is EXACTLY why Ford put it ion the trucks.

As for a good tire, I have recommend, and will continue to recommend Firestone Transforce A/T tires.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will take a look at them!

How is your load equalizer valve on the rear axle adjusted ?

Not sure if I have one of those... This might sound dumb but I'm not sure what rear axle I even have. Where is the identifier on these axles and I will come back with what I have.

Thanks guys!

 

[rhkcommander]

At least for me, this is more like "give it just a little bit of pedal" and it locks up. While the fronts are barely starting to engage.
Normally, under heavy braking everything is fine... but *both* my 92 and 93 started doing this as soon as it turned wet after working just fine for months... so I'm thinking this is probably the same as the OP's problem.

Yep that sounds right on the money. I was fine all summer long. When this happened I wasn't slamming the brakes, I would say light the first pull to moderate the second. They had locked up easily a few times before on that day so I was leaving more room for stopping.

 

[pelky350]

Mine did that on my bronco, as soon as I changed out my rear brakes no more locking up. Only doing it while cold and moist outside. Now my f350 is doing it recently now the seasons changed will be changing and rebuilding all rear brake parts, cheap and easy. It solved my broncos issues. Hopefully will solve my truck too sounds like this is a common problem with these trucks apparently. also in about 10 obs or older style trucks I've rode in or drove non had functioning rear antilock lol actually this current f350 I have has rear anti light on and idk why it's the only one I've seen on

 

[OLDBULL8]

Might help with rebuild.

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