Help! Truck won't move forward, stuck brakes or drive train issue?

I have noticed this intermittently but today I stopped the truck put it in neutral with the ebrake on and when I got in and put it in gear, hand brake off it wouldn't budge. Tried reverse and it would move switched back to 1st, 2nd and 3rd nothing. Repeated gear changes and same thing couldn't go forward. The truck was trying but wouldn't budge. I ended up backing way down the street and when trying first again it worked with no problems.
Are the brakes some how locking up but why would it only be when trying to go forward and intermittently? Or is it something else going on? One of these days I won't have room to back up far enough.

 

Is it below freezing where your are? My guess is the ebrake had some water on it and it froze (either in the cable or the brake drum).

 

Drum brakes are sticking. Don’t use the e brake when it’s wet out or icy. When you reverse something in the drums frees up. I don’t know what.

 

Rear drum brakes hung up. Drum brakes are more efficient stopping going forward than reverse due to a difference in the length of lining material on the leading and trailing shoes.

I had a friend of mine call in a panic when his truck did the exact same thing. I was pretty sure it was his rear brakes hanging up, so I brought a 3 lb. sledge and a 1 foot long fat drift punch. I clobbered each drum through the wheel openings and presto, freed up brakes. He went straight to a shop for a brake job.

 

When you park. Leave the truck in 1st or Rev gear.

Stop using the E-brake.

Water or snow can enter the drum or cable sheath, then freeze thereby "locking" the drum brakes.

Otherwise, make sure the E-brake cable is adjusted correctly.

 

First or reverse are not enough to hold a truck on anything more than a moderate grade.

 

Then use a higher gear......maybe 10th or 14th........or wheel chocks

Define "moderate grade". 4/12, 10%, 1%.....

 

I think if they were that stuck, he wouldn’t be able to drive backwards too.

 

I’ve had them freeze on my 1st Gen. But this was after being in deep water.
Reverse usually broke it free easier than first. I don’t know why?

Here is what the owners manual says. FOR WINTER DRIVING - NOT SUMMER OR ABOVE FREEZING.

 

With a manual transmission 1st or reverse should hold the vehicle in place on all but the steepest inclines. I've driven manuals and automatics since the 1970's and have never had to set the parking brake with a manual to prevent it from rolling on pavement. I've been stopped on some pretty steep inclines off road where it wouldn't hold. But instead of relying on the parking brake I found low range, 1st gear worked even better.

Using a higher gear is the exact opposite of what you want to do. In higher gears the truck will roll while the drivetrain turns the engine over. You want to use the lowest gear available, which is 1st gear on most modern trucks. But it could be reverse, check your specs.

 

My '08 MT used to do the same thing, occasionally. I carried a small diameter pipe and a hammer, and would hit the drum on driver side ( find the sweet spot) through the holes in rim. It was the the one sticking when it did.
Keep drivers door open, not be on incline, or turned off in lower gear, and you'd see it release. Never got around to fixing it, this worked fine for me.

 

Just out of curiosity, where does one find 10th or 14th gear in a Tacoma? I wasn't aware we could order a Roadranger manual transmission.

 

Its a mod I did a couple years ago. I get great fuel mileage in high gear. I've towed a 150 car locomotive in 1st gear. Used a hellish tow strap.

 

You put Tacoma badges on your F150 didn’t you?
Only Ford has towed a train at over 1 MILLION lbs.

Not knockin’ Ford. I’d own one. I have owned one.
Just don’t need or want to pay for another one.
My Tacoma is fulfilling my need as of now.

 

Typical hung up parking brake yes they will backup the rear brakes are "self energizing" that is why they have a leading and trailing shoe. The normal cause is lack of use. Most people don't use them because they have an automatic then one day they apply them and it's all over. I drive a 6 speed I even use the parking brake on the flat floor of my garage every time I stop the truck and leave the trans in neutral. Bottom line it works when I need it to.

 

I always set the parking brake. I have also never had an issue with it or any other vehicle I've owned.

 

Living in the salty Northeast, I learned to always use the parking brake. If you neglect it for any length of time, she will seize up. If I'm parked in a flat parking area, I just put it in 1st gear, but at home in my driveway or anywhere else there's an incline, I use it. My e brake is used every day. YMMV

 

Go have a look at the ebrake cables where they enter the drum. They like to break right there.

 

REAR DRUMS LOCKING UP!
Hello I have a issue with my 05 Tacoma. If I drive down the street let’s say 10mph and pull my e brake half way it will roll another 10 feet or so then the rear drums will lock up!! Then you have to push the brake pedal to release the stuck drums. Then another scenario is when I back down my driveway that’s on a slight grade and stop with the brakes on then pull the e brake, let off the brakes then release the e brake the drums stick until I tap the brakes then it will release. I’m afraid to pull the E break in a emergency if I’m going fast down the road.

 

I had an issue where every time I would wash my truck they would get stuck. So stuck that I had to have it towed 2 times to dealership. They finally took it apart and said it was really dirty and was getting stuck. I don't know how since it was still under warranty and I hadn't done any off roading. They said it looked like a truck that did a lot of ocean boat launches.

So from now on, I never pull my e brake after a wash. I'll leave it in gear and chock the wheels.