I went to do a rear brake job on my 98' because it has been making a terrible grinding/squeeking noise all week. Well, the rotor on the driver side seems to be seized to the ebrake drum. I tried breaking it lose with the 12mm bolts that pass through the rotor, but it seamed like It was gonna rip the ebrake apart. Suggestions on how to handle this?
I beat on it pretty decently with a regular hammer (cause that's always worked before) and it didnt want to pop.
once the caliper is off I can wiggle the rotor about 1/8" out and spin it all the way around, but then when I thread the 12mm bolts in and try to pull it out it comes out as far as the bolts will push it but then it wont wiggle/ spin anymore.
If you can go to the backside you should have a rubber plug that can be removed so you can access the star wheel adjuster. Pop that out and use the adjuster to suck your drums in.
^^this^^ probably a little wear on the drum, creating a lip that is catching the shoe when you try to pull it off.
+17 The shoes are not likely seized to the rotor, but the ebrake mechanism is not releasing properly. There's an access hole just for that purpose. The adjusters can be seen in the lower right corner of this picture: I'm not sure which way they have to spin, off the top of my head, so that might be an experiment, but you'll get it.