Stuck rear passenger drum brake - 1995 Subaru Legacy

On drum brakes there are two reasons for the drum sticking....
the first is excessive dust buildup. This can be loosened by tapping on the edge of the drum with a hammer or mallet. Not too hard though. The other issue is that over time the inside of the drum will get a wear ridge on the outer edge of the drum and this catches on the brake shoes. Sometimes aggressive pulling can remove it. Otherwise, look at the backing plate of the brake assembly. There is usually a slot near the top (or bottom, depending upon where the self-adjuster screw is). You can insert a screwdriver in here and manually back the adjuster screw off to loosen the brake shoes inside the drum. This will allow removal. Remember though, that after inspection, when you replace the drum, you will need to readjust the self-adjuster back out to where it is close to where it was before. Otherwise, you will have uneven rear braking until the self-adjuster compensates, and that can take a while.

To remove the drum, you simply remove the hub nut in the center of the drum. The bearing will come out with it. I am not positive but if you are working on the passenger side the hub nut may have left hand threads.

Try disconnecting the brake line to the rear pass side wheel cylinder the brake lines might be clogged or the cylinders are going bad

Pull the brake drum off to see what's binding-brakes won't retract, emergency brake is stuck, a brake shoe return spring may be broken. Raise the rear and take both drums off to compare left and right side brakes and all the parts therein.

They wouldn't and couldn't, or the rear drum would not turn and the car would not move. You need a special fork tool to go behind the drum and adjust the star fitting in order to release the drum and then you will be able to check the linings and cable.

Hi!

The brake shoe might be stuck closed because of the weather. But pull the wheel of and also the drum and see whats happening inside. Good luck

Do you have drum or disc rear brakes? If drum, the wheel cylinder probably needs to be replaced. If the wheel has overheated at any time, you should also replace the hardware (springs, etc) as they can lose their ability to retract the shoes if overheated. If disc brakes on rear, then the caliper is probably to blame. Has the brake fluid ever been changed? Fluid absorbs moisture (never use brake fluid from an open or not tightly sealed container). After rebuilding or replacing the caliper or wheel cyl. bleed all 4 wheels to flush out old fluid, otherwise you may have other wheels w/ brakes dragging/not releasing. Let me know if this doesn't fix it, I'll help further.

no, but the drums are often stuck on a ridge ffrom where the brakes wear into the drum. Go to your ford dealer and have him check to see if your car is included in 00S31 recall to replace wheel bearings. Free.

stuck drum brakes,stuck wheel cylinder, stuck caliper

It's probably the emergency brake cable that is stuck. Check that first. When I get a drum brake that is totally frozen up (like been sitting for 40 yrs) I often use 2 or 3 pry bars, WD40 and short handle sledge hammer to pry a little on both sides, liberally keep penetrating oil squirted on the shoes and tap on all sides. Eventually drum will come off, but sometimes it takes like maybe 1/2 hour. Shoes will have to be replaced, but they are probably shot anyway. The drums for the caravans are cheap, so I would not only get them, but the spring kit from the parts house as well.