I have a 2000 GMC Canyon 4x4 truck with 200,000 miles it has disc brakes and one of the front wheels will not spin when in reverse.
at first I thought it was the automatic trans but after jacking up the front of the truck I discovered one wheels will not spin backwards but will forward. It’s like the brakes are on.
what would cause this? This same wheel had been making a grinding sound when applying the brakes.
Could be a worn out brake caliper, worn brake pads or wheel bearing.
I pulled on the wheel at 10 and 2 no movement. If i where to take out the brake pads and that fixed it would it be safe to drive to a close shop.
You can't drive it without brake pads installed. The moment you hit the brake the piston(s) will shoot out of the caliper and get ground up by the rotor.
safe without brakes? I think not.
That brake caliper may be bad. I know the parking brake mechanism in a drum brake will better resist forward rotation when it's stuck as opposed to reverse rotation. I noticed the parking brake in my 1999 Ranger wouldn't grab very well if the truck was facing uphill, but it would grab going downhill. The shoes and cable mechanism were shot. Try to carefully squeeze the pistons back into the housing as if you are doing a brake job. If they don't go back, the caliper needs to be replaced.
If i take the wheel off and look at the brake caliper will it be obvious if it's broken?
Not necessarily. It depends on what is wrong. Start by looking at the pads after the wheel is off. If they're thinner than a dime, replace them. If there are groves in the face of the rotor, they need replaced as well. If the piston inside won't retract, or the caliper won't slide on the guide pins, depending on the design, it's bad. Start simple and go from there.
First step would be take off the caliper and pads and see if that fixes it…. If it does just put a new caliper on it… it’s a 20 minute job at most even on the ground you may just need a friend to help with bleeding it afterwards but total repair if a caliper shouldn’t cost more than 100 bucks at most
I guess i don't understand why it would let the wheel spin forward but not backwards.
I don't think it has anything to do with your brakes. It sounds like one of the two front wheel bearings (rollers) has disintegrated and will only allow the wheel to move forward, while jamming up going backwards. Check the bearings.
