My 99 2wd s-10 Blazer with 4 wheel disk brakes has an emergency brake that seems to be struck on. How do I back it off?

 

Did you apply the e-brake and it didn't release or did it just all of sudden start dragging?

 

Just started dragging

 

The cable running to the e-brakes runs along the frame rail on the drivers side, I would follow it and make sure it is pinched somewhere or stuck on something. Also do you have ae-brake indicator on?I would think that if you snapped the cable off somewhere they just wouldn't work since they are a c shaped shoe in the rear drum part of the disc. If the cable seems unrestricted I would check to make sure that it is in fact the e-brake and not a dragging caliper. If those check out to be fine then you might need to pull of the disc and see if the e-brake is ceased on(this will not be easy).

 

Yes I would be more inclined to think caliper grabbing.

 

One way to check if it is the caliper, sliders, or the parking brake shoe itself is to get things apart. Once you have the rear end in the air and supported safely, remove the rear wheels.

First, make sure that the caliper can float on the slider pins. If it does not, then you are looking at new pins/boots at a minimum. If the pins are frozen into the caliper brackets, don't bother trying to restore them. The brackets are only around $10 each and you will also be getting new pins/boots anyway. For more information on that, check out THIS THREAD.

So if the pins slide nice, check to make sure that the caliper piston is moving properly. If it is not, then a new caliper is in your future.

So both of those things check out, but the rotor doesn't want to spin with all of that stuff off... Your parking brake is hung up. Now if this is the case, you are probably in for a VERY tough removal process. The parking brake is a pain on these rear ends. The internal drum has a tendancy to build up a ridge behind the parking brake shoe, causing all sorts of greef during the removal process. And the parking brake shoes are $$$$! All I have to lend on the removal of the rear rotors if they are hung up on the parking brake shoe is good luck! I did a LOT of prying, hammering, etc to get mine off.

 

In the event you do need the parking brake shoes rockauto has them for like half of what ive seen everywhere else.