Trouble with brakes dragging? Trouble engaging clutch!
I have a 96 Ranger XLT with 4.0 L 6-Cylinder engine with a 5-speed Manual Transmission. It's not a 4x4 (I'll never make that mistake again)! It is a great truck though and I have had it for almost 10 years now (It has about 130,000 miles)
Last year I had a new clutch kit put in with new slave cylinder and the whole deal. I don't know if this is just coincidence, but shortly after that I started having a lot of trouble starting in first gear from a stop. I have driven standard my whole life so I'm certain it is not operator error. No matter how hard I try, there is always a small shake just like if you weren't giving it enough gas while releasing the clutch. I took it back to the place where I had the clutch redone and they said there was nothing wrong with it. I have always taken my cars here and I think I trust them, but am not sure about this one.
A couple things I have noticed about it:
1. It is usually not as bad when I first start driving. If I have been in traffic for a while though (especially stop and go traffic) it gets really bad to the point where I feel like I am really harming the clutch.
2. When I am having problems with it, it feels just like it would if you would accidentally leave the E-brake on. Not exactly the same, but if I had to describe it somehow, I would describe it like that.
3. A couple months ago I was doing some work on my rear drum brakes (a spring had broken) and noticed that my emergency brake wasn't returning properly. Turned out to be a bad E-brake cable so I replaced that and thought that would solve my problems. I also adjusted my brakes way in so there was no chance of them dragging on the rear drums and it was like driving a new truck!! However, I couldn't leave the brakes adjusted that far in, so I adjusted them back to a normal place and slowly, the problems of getting started in first came back.
I'm guessing that this is a brake problem, but I am wondering if anyone else has had issues with this! It's driving me crazy because it doesn't drive nice at all.
What sort of things should I check on my brakes? (i'm pretty sure it is in my rear drum brakes)
I don't have the money to be taking it in asking them to just check things out so I'd kind of like to figure it out on my own.
Any advice is much appreciated!!! Thanks!!!!
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