I was talking a left hand turn while hitting the brakes in my truck, and it made a very weird noise, like a moan from the rear of the truck (97 f150 4x4) and lately while in dirt or gravel when i come to a stop my rear tires are locking up....do i need to adjust my shoes back there or do i need new ones? (they are drums) I think maybe i might have some axle seal leakage going on as well

 

It does sound like its time for you to go through your drums and do some needed maintenance. As far as the axle seal leaking, this does not suprise me, I had to replace on on my old truck around 80K. Its not a hard or expensive fix. The most costly thing will be replacing the oil in the rearend. If you have LS diff that may be the sound of your moan while turning, esp if you are low on fluid. You can remove the fill plug and top it off in the interim until you get around to fixing the seal.

 

thanks for the good reply mdhawkin, are there any write ups on doing the axle seals or drum brakes?

 

Dont remember about drums, almost sure there is one on axle seal. Use the search tool in the how to section.
I dont have much time right now so I have to run, but if I slow down later I will see if I cant help you find those post.

 

sounds to me like maybe your proportioning valves have failed... this could potentially put full pressure to the rears and cause them to lock up before the fronts.

 

If you do have differential grease leaking and getting on the brake linings, that is probably what is causing the rear tires to lock up easier as on dirt or gravel IMO.

 

mkosu04 what are the porportioning valves? Yea i thought the same thing masseyman about the brakes sticking due to the leaking of the seals, i mean it doesnt do it bad and often, just like slow stops pulling into my parking spot(which is dirt) and it has only made the noise once, i havent had anytime to do anything, im working 2 jobs, taking care of my sister and trying to get ready to leave for the army in AUG so im not trying to be one of those people who dont search, i have tryed some internet searchs and found a 04+ axle seals change but nothing for 97-03

 

Here is the write up on the site (it is for 04+):
https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...lots-pics.html

However I did it on my 03 (except I had rear disk) and this is the basic steps:
1. Remove rear tire on side of the leak.
2. Since you have drum (this is a gray area for me). I believe if you pull the outside of your drum off it will allow your axle to slide out (NEXT STEP).
3. Remove rear differential cover.
4. Rotate the axle to expose the C clip in the rear end (keeps axles locked in), remove the C clip.
5. You should now be able to pull the axle out.
6. The seal will be located on the outer most portion of the axle housing.
7. Use a screw driving, being careful not to damage the axle housing and pry out the old seal.
8. Replace old seal with new seal. If you have a large socket you can put that over the new seal and tap in with hammer.
9. Place axle back in, put C clamp back in.
10. Scrape away old gasket sealent on diff cover, replace with some liquid gasket and put diff cover back on.
11. Refill with oil (see manual for type and qty).
12. Put drum back together, put tire back on.

I KNOW THIS IS VAGUE, but its the basic steps. Its not hard. If you buy a haynes manul it shows you step by step procedures with pics.

 

How is grease going to increase the friction on the rear brakes??????

Last time I checked grease was used to reduce friction. So if the grease got onto the rear shoes it would reduce the likelyhood of locking up the rear brakes.

check out this thread... Jbrew has some pictures and they talk about the prop valve.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/wh...-pressure.html

Thats probably the easiest way to show you...

as for what they do... they reduce the brake pressure to the rear brakes since the rears (usually) have less weight on them. Sometimes older trucks used load-sensing proportioning valves located near the rear axle. I'm not sure what your truck has - you might need to consult a dealer.

Newer trucks just rely on ABS / traction control to perform this function. Which is probably why newer trucks wear the rears at about the same speed as the fronts... the rears are doing more braking then back in the days of prop valves.

 

Getting brake fluid or rear end oil on the shoes will cause the brake shoe linings to swell. This causes the shoes have a very grabby or sticky feeling when applying the brakes. I have seen it dozens of time.

 

man i really appreciate all that info mdhawkin, that will come in handy! nice lab by the way looks just like mine

 

No problem, glad I could help.