Guys, last week I drove 30 minutes to the airport, when I stopped to get my parking ticket I could smell burning brake pads. I parked, and noticed the rear driver side rim was scorching hot and the calliper is obviously frozen. I was catching a plane so it's just sat in the parking lot. I was doing some deep water crossing a day or two before so I bet some water rusted it up.

I'll be landing at 11:30 pm (of course) and will have to deal with this in the parking lot. I have tools in the truck, any advice for freeing it up short of taking it all apart? Hammer and some wd-40??

 

And has been suggested in earlier posts, buy a pair of those skinny long nose vise grips. Clamp down on the brake hose, open bleeder, and bang on the caliper. Once freed up, you won't have pressure to cause it to lock up again. Won't have brakes on that wheel either. Or towing.

 

If it is the guide pins it shouldn't be too bad to just get them moving with some channel locks or vice grips once you take the caliper off. You can also try putting the bolt back on and getting them moving. It helps to keep the carrier bolted to the truck so you can put some leverage on it. Once loose you can take the carrier off and clean off the pins and guides then reapply some SILICON grease (do NOT use regular grease, it just bakes and dries and seizes pins) assuming the pins aren't fried.

If your piston is seized well then call up AAA and order a new caliper because at this point even a rebuild is probably out of the question (though reman calipers are cheaper and require 0 labor compared to a tedious rebuild)

Edit: and as savannah buzz pointed out when he beat me to the post, some needle nose vice grips on the brake hoses are great, I'd put some fuel hose over the jaws to keep the teeth from eating apart the rubber hose though.

 

Great suggestion Savannah Buzz on getting it going.

Something to look at just incase are the metal brake lines leading up to the rubber brake line hoses if any of them got kinked or bent causing pressure build up with slow pressure return.

 

I can imagine that TSA and airport security will have a negative view on repairs in the parking lot... the life of a road warrior is guided by Murphy's Law...

 

give the guide pins a tap with the hammer first; a bad guide pin will **** the caliper and act just like a frozen one.