Hello. I own a 1996 Blazer 4dr 4x4 with 260000kms on it. There is a major brake problem with the truck. When braking around (60kph and slower) the rear brakes will lock up and the truck will slide across the pavement. This is on dry pavement btw and it gets extremely dangerous in wet or snowy weather. The wierdest part of this issue is it is intermitent, sometimes the truck will brake perfectly for a couple of days before it happens. When i bought the truck i put in a different rear end, a posi from a 97 jimmy. All the brake parts are less than a year old aswell, and i have had the brakes bled and serviced twice since this problem started.

Please help me! I have talked to 4 mechanics and each one has told me its a different problem.

 

My son put Advance Auto Parts brake shoes on the rear of our 95 S Blazer. After a few weeks he heard squeeling noises and put new front pads on it. The squeeling noise didn't go away. He bought a couple different kinds of stuff that is supposed to stop disc brakes from squeeling and they didn't work. Then the left rear brake started locking up the first two or three time you used the brakes after it had been sitting overnight.

He was pulling his hair out and grumbling, etc. We went out and pulled the rear drums off and the material on the shoes was cracked and some chunks has fallen out and the pads were all glazed/shiny looking where they'd swelled up, rubbed, etc. We replaced them with a new set of rear shoes and all the problems went away.

Have you pulled the drums to inspect the shoes? You never know, even new stuff is "bad" sometimes, or goes bad quickly.

 

Thanks for the reply. My next step was to try new shoes, and check that the drums aren't out of round. If that doesn't fix the problem I might get all new rear brake parts and brake lines. I want to get the problem fixed before the snow flys.

 

When was the last time you had your drums turned?

Definitely have a shop turn the drums when you replace the brake pads. I think most autozone stores can even do that now.

Did you lube the star adjuster mechanism with the proper grease? Is it set too tight?

"All the parts are 1 year old" ??? Which parts, exactly...?

"bled and serviced twice" ???? Exactly what did they do besides bleeding?

 

I ended up putting all new brake parts on the back. Wheel cylinders, shoes, spring kit, and drums, also took apart and cleaned up parking brake assembly. It looked to me like the wheel cylinders may have been drawing in air due to old seals, so i'd start with those. Hope this helps. All parts cost me about 300 bucks, but at least it brakes normal now.