Hey guys, short time lurker, first time poster.

Here's the situation. I just bought a 1990 with slightly over 100k on it (I know... no pics yet). The clutch was shot, so I put the truck up on jack stands to change the clutch. The clutch is now changed, and I'd love to finally be able to drive my new-to-me truck, but the freaking rear brakes won't let go. The truck can be in the air or on the ground and it just won't budge. I checked the e-brake and the cables on both sides are free to move and they seem to release properly. My spring (rod) for the LSPV broke right at the LSPV plunger, but the plunger seems to be ok as it move freely downwards (I have to pull on it with pliers, and it's sucked up as soon as I let it go).

I'm at the end of my rope and do not know where to look anymore. I think I recall reading a thread on some board (might not be this one) which described the same situation (truck on stands and rear wheels locked), but I can't find it anymore.

Can anyone could please help me figure this out?

Pull the drums off an inspect.
This may be hard to do since the brakes seem to be frozen "on".
Start with a little hammer persuasion on the drums to help free things up.
There are 2 threaded holes in the face of the drum. You can scew in 2 10mm (I think) bolts, a few turns on one, then the other, etc. to back the drum off.

See, that's a problem. My truck is a 1990 and I live in the area that Corrosion Doctors call Extremely Severe. It's been driven every single winter and well lets just say that rust is winning the battle. Those threaded holes don't have threads anymore. As a matter of fact, the passenger side drum doesn't have that ring that goes over the drum anymore.

I think what I need to do (after more reading) is to back off the star wheel, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that while only having access to the oblong hole.

Would anyone have a picture of the dealer special tool that I've read about? How about the lever that actuates the star wheel, which way do I have to push it so it's disengaged from the wheel?

Well thanks to the various bits of info I've found on this site, I've managed to get my drums off. I backed off the star wheel completely, banged on the drum, managed to get some bolts in the threaded holes in the drum (it's a 8mm x 1.25 btw) and got those suckers off.

What happened was that my brakes just seized. Banging on the drum and using the bolts, I heard when the pads would let go.

I suppose that normally, the power of the engine would be able to overcome this, but my clutch was worn (more like non-existant) so it would only slip. Now with the new clutch, I'm hoping this won't reoccur - this would be a ***** of a piece of work to do in the winter.

I don