Sticking (dragging) left front brake (9" drum)

[1966DartConvertible]

Lately I noticed that the left front brake is sticking (dragging), even as I was pulling out of the driveway (feel as if the hand brake is not release properly although this is only on the front left). Steering pulls to the left too when driving.

To make matters worst, once on the move, the left front brake is almost not there. Even when I brake from 30mph, the car pulls violently to the right as if only the right front brake is working.

I have the standard 9" brakes all around with single master cylinder. The brakes were overhauled and working fine before. All shoes, return springs etc. are less than 6 months old.

Any advice? thanks.

Syed
Malaysia

 

[wjajr]

Syed,
Pull brake drum off, and see if there are any leaks or stuck wheel cylinder, broken or disconnected hardware. Also examine wheel bearing for damage. One other cause of brake sticking is a collapsed flexible brake line that acts like a foot valve disallowing fluid flow back to master cylinder.

 

[memike]

Yes what wjajr said for sure, and if it is dragging the brake it is getting hot,thus no brake compared to the right cool brake :sad4:
I had a break line on my dodge truck do what wjajr is talking about, if I hit the brakes then drove away the brake hose swelled up and would keep pressure on my disk brakes, I am sure this is true with drums also

 

[PST]

x2

 

[crvtec90]

Are the shoes installed correctly? If theyre leading /trailing style then the forward shoe is different than the rearward shoe and you dont wanna install them backwards. Been a while since I looked at them and I dont recall.

 

[cudajim]

The hand brake affects the rears only. It sounds like the left front has something not quite right with it. Either the shoes are installed wrong or the backing plate is really worn or they're too tight. Check your return springs too. It should be something fairly obvious.

Check your front strut bushings too. If they're worn on the inside it's pull, stop funny and do all kinds of bad things.