'59 Plymouth Forum

Well, I finally have a major issue on my hands. I was trying to take my car out on Sunday and was able to back out of the spot the car was parked in at home, but as soon as shifted into drive (I have a torqueflite), the front wheels seemed to locked up and the rear wheels just spun in the driveway. Has anybody heard of this issue? The parking brake was pushed all the way in, so I'm wondering if the cable is stuck? I just had a master cylinder installed last year and the car had always stopped great since then- so I'm thinking either the cable is stuck or something is wrong with the front brakes? Any thoughts or help is greatly appreciated! I just hope I'm not out of commission for the rest of the season if it's major. Luckily, I was able to back into another spot so it's not in the way.

Steve, on '59's the parking brake operates with a drum on the tailstock of the transmission. If your rear wheels are spinning, the parking brake is *NOT* implicated. It's not uncommon for wheels on Forward Look MoPars to turn in one direction, but lock up in the other. You've got front brake issues - perhaps springs installed improperly (or, loose), or a shoe hanging up somehow.

I'd jack up the front, each wheel at a time, and see if you observe the same behavior when you turn the wheel in reverse, or forward. But I'm guessing you're going to have to pull the drums to see what's really going on. Good luck.

Thank you, Faulkner- I appreciate the help as to what it could be! I'll keep you posted on what I find out when I get a chance to investigate further!