Rear Rotor removal - parking brake holding on
 

I'm trying to remove my rotors from the rear of my 2006 F150 XLT. I know they can rust and hold onto the center hole, but I've gotten them broke free of that. Now I can pull them ever so slightly off, but they pull themselves back on as soon as I let go. It seems like it has to be the pads for the parking brake. I know there is an adjustment for those and I can see it through the hole in the back of the dust shield, but it's rusted and when I try to turn it with a screwdriver, the screwdriver starts to bend and it doesn't budge.

I feel like I'm stuck. The parking brake cable has a little slack in it and when I apply it, that tightens up, but it doesn't seem like it is able to pull the actual mechanisms on the wheels. Probably because they are rusted. If that's the case, I don't understand how they can be binding, but they are :(

Rear Rotor removal - parking brake holding on
 

There are pins that hold the parking brake shoes on. You can see the head of the pins from the backside of the dust shield. If you cut those off, you may be able to force the rotor off. This will probably damage the shoes and springs, but it sounds like you need to replace all the hardware anyway.

After spraying the parking brake adjuster with PB Blaster from the small hole in the back of the dust cover, I was able to turn it. It took a lot of turning to get it to the point where I could get it off. The parking brake mechanism is very rusted and I know how to take it apart and clean it, but I'm just going to leave it somewhat loose because I never use it and it will just get rusted again shortly. What a bad design for a parking brake. Ugh.

How else would you make it work... a little preventive maintenance would help.

I took the scissor lever for mine off and beat it back into two pieces with a hammer, wire brushed it down, greased the hell out of it with caliper grease and put it back on. Now I use the P brake all the time when parked on an incline. Works beautifully once it's fixed...

Yes, I saw a youtube video on how to take the parts apart and clean them up. I may do this when I have more time and have access to a grinder with a wire wheel on it.

What I don't get is that my parking brake was off. The lever on the back of the wheels was back, so the parking brake was off in the wheels, but the parking brake pads were on so tight against the inside of the drum that I couldn't even pound it off with a hammer or pry it off. It was not stuck on the typical middle part of the wheel. I could pull it off 1/4" or so, but then it would pull back in. I guess they just needed to be adjusted to not be so tight, but I don't know how they got that way to begin with.

I should use the parking brake more often I guess and I will after I do get this all cleaned up and taken care of. Two metal plates that have to rub tightly against each other and are prone to rusting seems like a poor design though. Just my opinion. Thanks all for your help.

There's no real way to explain it other than "it just happens." I had mine for months before it just started hanging up and squealing and causing road vibration. That was two years ago when I fixed it and now I use it every day with zero issues. GL with it.

I see in your footer you say you were successful with changing your spark plugs. I was going to do that soon too. Did you follow the method posted on here that is popular? Did you use an impact or just a socket?

I used the method in the main tutorial on here, i.e. the shot of carb cleaner et al. I also SeaFoamed my engine the two previous oil changes and ran Kreen in the oil for the last OCI. When it finally came time to do it, I started on Thursday night of a four-day weekend and kept $2,000 in the bank in case something went wrong. Finally from plug 1 being cracked to plug 8 being fully removed, I took 12 hours. I had the Lisle tool (still have it) but never used it once or even took it out of the package. TAKE YOUR TIME! What breaks the plugs is side-to-side pressure, not just torque, so when you put torque on the ratchet, hold the extension to make sure it stays STRAIGHT with the plug so it's actual torque (rotational force applied around a point) and not side pressure.

I've heard many folks say to use your parking brake all the time or not at all. I think non use lets it rust together and then when you use it for the first time it either won't activate or locks up in the brake position and you're screwed. Don't know if that's totally true but I can see some logic in it.

I personally use mine every day since my driveway has a good slope to it. If I don't it's hard to pull the tranny out of park because there's so much pressure on the park pawl. So my typical routine is shift to N, hit the ebrake, let the truck settle, shift to park. That way there's zero tension on it when I shift out of park.