# 2500 hd brakes stuck



## rooferdave

I have tried the search here and have been entertained by some of the threads, so I will say here and now unless I hear otherwise I am changing my flex hoses tomorrow!

To my problem, I was driving a few weeks ago and my brake pedal went hard almost like I did not have power brakes (dating myself here) then it seemed my brakes were dragging and they got tighter and tighter, I stopped for a bit to pick up some tools and when I restarted after an hour it was the same but 2 mins driving they freed up.

Today I get onto the truck and 2 km/miles the pedal goes hard and brakes apply harder and harder till after another 1/2 mile I am done for. Tried getting a hammer and tapping the calipers, master, proportioning valve to see if something was stuck...nope, tried turning truck off and on to reset something,,, nope, left it sit for an hour and it was ok, drove for 2 blocks stopping and starting, good for 1st 10 tries then as I am setting off the brakes seemed to apply themselves, I think it is only the fronts that are doing this, now one of the times I brakes the wheel pulled left slightly ans 2 secs later pulled right before stopping. I am going to let it sit for another hour and drive without applying brakes to see if they self apply or I did not notice they stuck as I applied them.

any ideas?

ps: the porportioning valve acted up abou a year ago leaking fluid but before I could find a replacement it stopped


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## dieselss

Sounds to me like caliper slides are frozen. Gunna have to ck everyone and see which one ain't moving. When your putting it all back together don't use antiseeze. Use caliper grease


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## jhenderson9196

Sounds to me like master or power booster. Calipers don't usually freeze in pairs. It should pull to one side upon brake release, or be smoking hot when you stop if it's a caliper problem.


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## dieselss

Not necessarly. If its the rears, and might not smoke. But I don't think he felt the rotors for excessive heat. 
I can go along with the power boost, or add a line collapsed off the p/s pump


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## rooferdave

the brakes apply and disengage fine when the problem is not occuring, when it happens the truck becomes completly unable to move within 1-2 mins I when it is not happening no smoking rotors or overly hot brakes


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## rooferdave

I am having a bit of an issue as the truck is at home so I do not have a jack here, just took it around the block and same thing it just gets tighter and tighter, felt the rims/ brakes and it would seem all four wheels are seizing, I also took the abs fuse out before this test but no difference. I am going to take the wifes car to the shop and get a floor jack and test each wheel to confirm this next time I try it


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## dieselss

Ok. Try and move the calipers by hand,,wiggle and see what kinda movement you have. Also,,,parking brakes. Did you just start using them?


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## bhmjwp

My vote is for 1 of the front flex hoses. Over the years I have replaced many on my 90's era Chevys. You are on the right track, jack the front, pump the brakes, truck running till the pedal give you the problem. Spin the wheels, once its found, open the bleeder on that wheel. If that frees up the caliper, replace hose. If not remove caliper and lube the slides with caliper lube.


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## MickiRig1

If it has the stainless slides on it check under the slides. The bracket will rust under them and raise them. I put dielectric grease under them to keep the rust bubbling down. I have both front calipers freese on my f-250 at the same time.


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## woodchuck2

I had trouble with my left rear caliper seizing on my 06. I said screw it and drove it after doing the last brake job. I got about 12k miles out of the pads before it ruined the rotor so i said screw it and bought new ceramic pads, rotors and new semi-loaded calipers. The calipers came loaded besides the pads, new pins and brackets. Huge difference in brakes now. Pedal is back to the top, no stiffness, no drag, nice smooth brakes. Cost me $260 after taking the cores back, well worth it.


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## rooferdave

hey all just a quick update, I was to get this done Monday as my parts guys are closed weekends and I don't like paying retail! Anyhow I ended up in hospital with heart trouble but am out now so I am going to get into this and get back with progress this evening. Thanks for all the suggestions.


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## theholycow

bhmjwp;1630282 said:


> My vote is for 1 of the front flex hoses. Over the years I have replaced many on my 90's era Chevys. You are on the right track, jack the front, pump the brakes, truck running till the pedal give you the problem. Spin the wheels, once its found, open the bleeder on that wheel. If that frees up the caliper, replace hose. If not remove caliper and lube the slides with caliper lube.














rooferdave;1630757 said:


> hey all just a quick update, I was to get this done Monday as my parts guys are closed weekends and I don't like paying retail! Anyhow I ended up in hospital with heart trouble but am out now so I am going to get into this and get back with progress this evening. Thanks for all the suggestions.


Be sure to follow the doctor's orders about taking it easy...you don't need to have a sudden health problem while working on the truck (or on a roof!), and nobody on the road needs you to have a problem while struggling with a hard brake pedal.


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## rooferdave

took it out today till it started binding, jacked the truck up and all 4 wheels were stuck,

cracked the front nut on the master cylinder and all 4 wheels freed up, my thought was if it was hoses further down the system releasing pressure upstream would still leave the wheels with bad hoses stuck, have been trying for about 30 mins of braking to get them to jam up again but no luck. Going back out to try again.


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## theholycow

Yup, certainly sounds like it's in or near the master cylinder, brake booster, etc.


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## rooferdave

I am just flushing the booster, When I pulled the return line off
It spilled quite a bit of fluid so I was thinking maybe thus is the
Problem, anyhow on my 2nd liter/quart they gave locked up again with a free flowing return hose connected. (Sigh)
Will keep you all posted, my phone is on so if anyone gets any ideas i can see right away


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## dieselss

The hydro boost? That don't need flushing. Fluid constantly runs through that


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## rooferdave

Thought it was worth a try and it has not been done in a long time, it was burnt black smelly and horrible


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## dieselss

Well that's your p/s fluid.


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## rooferdave

Am I wrong then? I thought the hydro boost was run through the power steering pump and flushing it is said to help with brake performance,

Anyhow 2nd time it locked up I just cracked the bleeder on the drivers side caliper and the whole system came good again. I thought that brakes were 2 independant systems so as if a line goes you at least have some braking capabilities, so I am thinking what the heck can jam all 4 wheels and as long as I relieve pressure anywhere all 4 free wheel again, the only thing I can see is the master cylinder, or perhaps the piston off the brake pedal is the only one place that can jam the whole system.

So what I did next was suck all the brake fluid I could out of the masters reservoir and fill with fresh, the I went to the proportioning valve and flushed the system to that point, after about a litre of fluid had run through I tightened upthe lines going in and then ran fluid out the other side of the valve, so now I have fresh fluid from the master to the through the proportioning valve then I was out of time, I am hoping it was contamination in the fluid causing grief, let you all know how my road test does in the morning


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## rooferdave

think it is fixed at last, a friend of mine showed a thread on another site where a 2500 hd did the exact same thing, brakes tighten up till they lock all 4 wheels, (actually had to leave the truck on the road today and walk to the shop to get tools, I took them out to fix another truck today and forgot) the test is to loosen the master from the hydroboost, if it is the piston in the master binding this will release the brakes, I loosened the nuts on the master 2 turns and VOILA! brakes were freed up. Swapped out the master and it seems fine now, I will post pics later as the connection between the master and booster was pretty fugly with rust


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## MickiRig1

I hope this fixes it for you brother! I have never heard or run intro your problem.


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## rooferdave

thanks! I hope it is over too!


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## MickiRig1

I know THE FEELING, What the hell is it?


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