After I got my truck back from the dealer I searched another forum for problems with rear brakes and found an entire thread listing problems similar to mine. Most were either newer trucks like mine or older Super Duty's that had calipers replaced several times over the lifespan of the truck.

All reported rust/corrosion on either the piston or slide pins which caused the piston to not fully release or the pins which caused the caliper to center over the rotor. Both obviously produced drag on the truck.

What I find interesting is that for as many folks over there that had issues, nobody here did. May be because I was initially convinced that the problem was with the e-brake although the problem seemed to cease when I did not use the parking brake.

Would the problem be connected to geographical driving conditions? I have an '05, with 65,000 miles, live in the midwest, and have not experienced the problem you described.

I meant to say, geographical winter driving conditions. The use of corrosive deicing chemicals could add to the cause...

Or where you park at night.

When I park my Ranger over grass I experience more rust issues with the brakes than when it's parked on asphalt.

suprdtydvr said:

All reported rust/corrosion on either the piston or slide pins which caused the piston to not fully release or the pins which caused the caliper to center over the rotor. Both obviously produced drag on the truck.

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If the piston is corroding, it is usually caused by not changing the brake fluid every couple of years. Brake fluid absorbs water and this results in corrosion of brake components. The more humid the climate the more rapidly water absorbtion occurs. The slide pins on any disk brake setup are prone to corrosion from external elements, and as Brad mentioned it is worse in winter states with all the chemicals put on the roads. Also the more you off road in wet/muddy conditions and then not clean off the mess the higher the incidence of corrosion. Slide pins are supposed to be replaced at each brake pad replacement, but many mechanics/people do not. Also if the rubber weather boots at the slide pins gets damaged the corrosion happens quicker.

Blue Goose said:

I meant to say, geographical winter driving conditions. The use of corrosive deicing chemicals could add to the cause...

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Yeah I kind of thought that as well. They use quite a bit of salt up here but I do think that it is compounded by the design of the caliper since others(chevy, GMC etc) do not have the same issue

My truck is an '07 and I have never had it "offroad" but the salt use is fairly extensive here. I am probably due to flush the system now but this was due to external corrosion not internal. I think it is most likely something that I will have to deal with by some sort of periodic inspection.