96 Es300 Rear Wheels Freeze

[chrisa7712]

I have a 1996 ES300 and sometimes, without warning (twice today) the rear wheels will just freeze up. They alternate sometimes back left and sometimes back right. When they freeze the car gets stuck or drags unmoving tires along. The car will reverse perfectly fine though. Also, after some time the tires will just unfreeze and go back to normal driving conditions. Anyone who knows why, or how to fix it please let me know.

[capnfred]

without looking at the car, my first thought is hand brake cable is somehow beeing pulled from under the car....... especially when you mentioned that there was no problem backing up...by design hand brakes generally don't work very well in reverse...keep us informed.....

capn

[chrisa7712]

I would agree except only one tire will lock at a time, never both that i have seen.

[SKperformance]

if one doesn't release fully then heats up it will seize.

Take it to a shop .

[chrisa7712]

Alright, I guess I'll have it brought in, I just didn't want to go through the trouble of getting it towed if it was avoidable.

[eatingupblacktop]

Alright, I guess I'll have it brought in, I just didn't want to go through the trouble of getting it towed if it was avoidable.

Are you using the P brake and is it releasing completely? Jack up one side and spin the wheel. How difficult is it to turn the wheel and do you hear any rubbing or grinding?

[zockslexus]

I would put my money on bad calipers....something in your braking system...likely not the parking brake because it happens on both sides.

[eatingupblacktop]

I would put my money on bad calipers....something in your braking system...likely not the parking brake because it happens on both sides.

Not necessarily, adjustment can be off for one wheel more than the other and cables can stick independant of each other. But siezing caliper pistons is a good bet.

[zockslexus]

I would put my money on bad calipers....something in your braking system...likely not the parking brake because it happens on both sides.

Not necessarily, adjustment can be off for one wheel more than the other and cables can stick independant of each other. But siezing caliper pistons is a good bet.

your right. i would go with the calipers

[chrisa7712]

So, I drove the car down my driveway a ways, and suddenly the rear wheels unlocked. Now they make a sort of squeaking sound every once in a while. Other than that everything seems fine. Also, the squeaking is not from the brake pads because they were just replaced.

[George_Jetson]

If you are not using the emergency brakes, The problem is either the calipers, or the rubber brake lines. The next time it locks up you can crack open the bleeder valve (and then close it). If brake fluid squirts out under pressure, and the wheel start to spin freely it would indicate that the rubber line is breaking down internally and should be replaced.

[chrisa7712]

Thanks everyone for the help

[capnfred]

something that everyone is forgetting is that these are ABS Cars...could be a malfunction with the

abs system, it could for some reason be commanding a lockup on one cylinder......... food for thought,

Capn