Front Brakes Locked Up

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LJS30

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Today while getting my 74 Dart out of storage and ready for towing tomorrow I noticed my front brakes are locked up. Any remedies for this before the tow comes over tomorrow? By the way I'm towing it to a friends shop so we can work on the brakes and put on my new intake/carb. I am very excited!!!!:grin:
 
slant6/4speed said:
Drums or disk? Manual? Power?
Click to expand...

Front discs, rear drums, power.........were already a major issue before this hence getting the car towed. I'm just concerned I'm going to mess something up getting it towed on and off a flatbed with locked up front brakes.
 
Try opening the brake line from the rear resovior to bleed off the pressure, just open the fitting a little and see if that helps. Other then that you could pull the front wheels and use a large screw driver to pry the pistons back into the calipers. I would not try this unless your very familiar with the way the caliper operates.
 
Might be grabbing just from sitting-have you tried to force the brake pads back with some screw drivers to get a little clearance from the disk? Remember to not touch the brake pedal after or you will have to do it again to get it to roll.
 
I would first try to loosen the nuts between the M/C and the booster 1/4" or so. See if it rolls then.........?
 
Robbie2734 said:
Try opening the brake line from the rear resovior to bleed off the pressure, just open the fitting a little and see if that helps. Other then that you could pull the front wheels and use a large screw driver to pry the pistons back into the calipers. I would not try this unless your very familiar with the way the caliper operates.
Click to expand...

I'll try opening the line from the rear of the reservoir early tomorrow morning and see if that works.
 
slant6/4speed said:
Might be grabbing just from sitting-have you tried to force the brake pads back with some screw drivers to get a little clearance from the disk? Remember to not touch the brake pedal after or you will have to do it again to get it to roll.
Click to expand...

I haven't tried that yet but it did enter my mind. I'll carefully try that if the line opening doesn't work.
 
Open the bleeder screws on the calipers. Stick a large screw driver between the caliper and rotor and pry out till you have some slack. pistons in calipers are probably stuck. Really simple.
 
Thanks guys the advice of just releasing the lines to the master cylinder worked just fine. My friend and I will be working on it tomorrow at his shop.
 
Check your bleed hole in the master cylinder for blockage. Look down to the bottom of the reservoir and you will see two holes next to each other-one lager than the other. Make sure the small one is clear of dirt and that fluid comes out when you take your foot off the pedal. If it is clear check that your pedal moves far enough to uncover the hole (shine a light down the small hole). Adjust the pedal free play as needed but you will have to take off the master cylinder from the booster to do it. Best to start a new thread at that time.
 
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