big let down car will not move now

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22dog22

22dog22

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Was all set to take car out for a short drive down the street [for the 1st time] on Thursday before Christmas, just installed 17 wheel tire comb. made sure has clearance all the way around on all 4 wheels. got in car fired up engine let it run for a few minutes to the engine come up to temp. put car into reverse [auto trans. 904]to back out of the garage, could feel the trans. go into gear , gave the car some gas to back out and the car would not move, thought ok did I forget to release the parking brake, checked and it was off, tried again put into reverse still would not move gave it some more gas still would not moved then put into drive o see if the car would go forward in to gear gave it some gas and the car move a very little amount then just stopped, the best I could get was to rock the car forward and rearward. was able to jack up car and back off some more on the parking brake cable just in case it was not fully released [ have moved car in and out of garage at least 10 times before with no problem till now], still would not move, this is a 69 cuda has front brake disc, none factory aftermarket kit[the right stuff detailing package], drum rear brakes, all brake parts from front to rear are new, ran out of time to look more into the problem, I will jack front of car up soon to see if the front wheels turn I think at this time it may be some thing to do with the rear brakes locked up, the brake pedal seemed to work/feel like normal any thoughts ??
 
You need to determine whether this is

1....some weird mechanical problem like a broken rear axle

2...Wheel interferance

3...Brakes locked up

4...Transmission problem

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A....Jack up front wheels. Make sure they turn freely. If not, remove wheel, determine if wheel(s) are binding on caliper(s)

If not is front brakes locked? If so, this is likely a master cylinder problem

B....Jack up rear axle. With both rear wheels off ground, trans in neutral, and parking brake released, can you turn either wheel? If not remove wheels. Wheels may have a problem hitting / bending etc

Can you "wiggle" the wheels that is do they seem free but taking up play in the rear axle? Look at the driveshaft and work the wheels one way / the other. Any movement in the drive shaft?

C....Transmission.....Does it "feel" like it's going into gear, IE can you hear the engine lug down? Give it gas, does it feel like the torque converter is loading?

CHECK THE TRANSMISSION fluid. In neutral.

D....If all else fails, take a pan / rag and briefly crack each tube coming out of the master cylinder. See if there is pressure there.
 
thanks for your ideas, I had 15 steel wheels on car with no problems as far front dis calipers, now have 17 wheels I did check for all clearances on the front disc, calipers all looked ok , I will start at the front and jack up to see if wheel rotate then move the rear I am thinking some where the brakes are holding pressure and not releasing the rear brake linings. will up date as I look into it more thanks again.
 
What offset on the front as 17's should clear everything by a mile accept the outer tie rods if the offset is to big.

Like 67 said, check everything else too.
 
dano said:
What offset on the front as 17's should clear everything by a mile accept the outer tie rods if the offset is to big.

Like 67 said, check everything else too.
Click to expand...

if you hadn`t changed the wheels, I`D SAY CONVERTOR !
 
Put the other wheels back on if you still have them. Test the car for drivability. If all is well with the drive train and the brakes function properly, it is time to put the other wheels back on. Start with just the front and see what happens. If all is well, time to take a close look at the rears. If everything is new in back then I think you should check to see that the lugs are not bottoming out. I say this because if the new wheels are of a heavier gauge and they are tightened up, the lugs may not bottom out. This means the lugs will hold the wheel tighter to the drum, forcing it into a conflict with the frame of the shoe or the backing plate or both. If the old wheels turn fine, put three washers on the studs, replace the wheel and tighten. The washers will take up the clearance if there is any and you may find the wheel will not turn. If this is so and you have been driving the car it probably means that the lugs may have been tight, but the wheels not so much. This happened to me with after market Chinese drums, but it was the drums that were wrong. They can't quite convert the inches to metric it seems.
 
My guess is low transfluid. Had this happen the first day I owned my old 74 charger, check the fluids, drove it to town, came back and tried to back it into the garage and nothing moved....I checked the fluids, no trans fluid, I had split a trans line, fixed it, topped it off and it drove normally again
 
Up date jacked up front of car, was able to rotate both front wheels freely, no problem there, jacked up rear of car put on jack stands, could not rotate either rear wheel, was sure the rear brake shoes where locked up took off both rear wheels was sure I would not be able to pull off the rear brake drums, but to my surprise both can off with out a problem brake lining was ok wheel cylinders where not stuck out, took notice that there where deep grind marks in the out side of both rear wheel cylinder they where fresh with metal fillings there , finally found out that as I was tighting the lug nuts acorn type on to the too long wheel studs that where not the press in type but the threaded type since they where to long as I tighted the lug nuts the studs would back out into the wheel cylinders on no both side and when I tried to move the car the the head of the stud would hit the wheel cylinders and caused the deep gourge to them and stop /block car from moving ! now I will need to replace both wheel cylinders and either see if I can install shorter wheel studs or use a cut off wheel and trim them down to the correct length !!! surprise surprise
 

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Those aren't wheel studs that I've ever seen....WOW :scratch:

Good to see you found the problem....
 
Man, I would have bet a donut that it was the fluid level, ie. let the car idle in N for about 30 seconds before R. Thats an old Gil Younger trick (tranny guru) he has a kit that stops the convertor from draining back called the 'no yo-yo" kit. Its just a different spool valve that prevents convertor drainback in P. Good catch.
I always heard using open ended nuts on longer studs anyway. NHRA does too.
 
that is why it is good to give as much info as possible, we did not know U had long screw in wheel studs with closed end lug nuts
 
Happy to hear you found it. This might be a good lesson. Sometimes, you just have to use your head, think, dig in, and start checking "whut?"

Just think tho, if these had bee "just barely." You might have been going down the road with those things digging away at the wheel cylinder / brake hardware.......
 
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