Hi everybody. I did a search but couldn't find anything really related to my question. Anyway, my son borrowed my 99 4wd this week and said he smelled "hot metal" when he got it home. I took it out for a ride later and sure enough. after about 5 miles I stopped and the rear wheels had smoke pouring out of them and they were very hot. I changed all 4 disc brake pads about a month ago and all seamed fine till now. I didn't have time to tear it apart and investigate so I thought I would ask for help before I did it. Any ideas/suggestions?

 

Did you service your E-brake and check your axles seals while you were in there?

 

10 to 1 your calipers are seized

I figured I would elaborate on this, I had the same issues with my truck, thought it could be anything other than the calipers because the piston compressed without issue.

Wound up replacing everything else, ultimately the only thing that fixed the issue was replacing the calipers.

You can get both from advance auto for less than $100

 

A month ago when you did your brakes did you take the slide pins out and clean and lubricate them well? They can be seized and cause that, also I would agree that if it is not that, seized caliper would most likely be the next culprit...

 

Aside from what has already been mentioned, a few other thing comes to mind from my time here and working on s-series trucks;

Are the calipers on the proper sides? There is a Left & Right caliper. Most noticeable difference is the location of the bleeder valve. It should be pointing up, not down.

Also, did you replace the rubber flex lines when you did the calipers? As the lines age, they can swell inside which will act as a check valve, holding pressure in the caliper. There are three flex lines on the back of the disc brake trucks.

 

The calipers are definitly on the right sides. I forgot to mention that this is happening on both sides. Both rear wheels were very hot to the touch. I wouldn't think that both rear calipers would seeze up at the same time.

 

The most likely cause then is the flex line from the frame to the axle.

 

Could still be the caliper pistons seized up. My rears had the same problem back in the summer, but they were already seized when I switched out brake pads and rotors. It would be unusual for them to seize up at the same time a month after the replacement. Also, you would have definitely noticed a difference in driving; the vehicle would have felt noticeably sluggish due to constant friction.

I also had to lubricate the slide pins; they were also seized.

When/if you need new calipers, you might have to file down the grooves where the brake pad sits in. The new calipers I got were too fat, and the pad would not fit. I had to use a basic file and chip away a thin layer to get them to properly fit. So stupidly annoying to have to do that.

 

the left side on my blazer does this. If i go from home to work, and thats it, no problems, but if i got to work,home,store ect i can feel it getting real sluggish. Also it smells really bad, and smokes depending on how much a drive it. I shall replace the calipers.

 

my front passenger side tire was smoking and smelt nasty and was super to the touch and the blazer was acting sluggish. I had a froze caliper. I checked everything out and the piston was stiff at first but thought I fixed it. Took it for a joy ride and then the pedal went to the floor. That caliper boot exploded. Installed new caliper and everything is fine. Hope this helps. Did you make sure all air was out of the lines?