I have an 89 Jeep Wrangler. I was wondering if there is a easy way to release the E-brakes off. I manually pushed all the way down on the cable at the foot pedal to no avail. The cable moves easily and I think the culprit is the connection on a small bracket just before it drops down to the split on the axle. The brake seems to be stuck on the drivers side wheel only, the other side does not seem to be getting hot. There is a lot of rust on the drum and I thought twice before pulling the wheel off. I would not mind if a quick fix eliminates the E-brakes altogether. Thanks.
If the parking brake cable is frozen from rust, the quickest way to release the rear brakes is to cut the parking brake cables at the backing plates for the rear drum brakes. Then if you want, you can install a new parking brake cable assembly.
Tester
It is possible the internal hardware has failed. The levers and springs in the drum should be checked. The cable itself could be problem on that side and could be lubricated. Don’t use any lube on or around shoes. The equalizer shouldn’t be a problem unless damaged. The wheel cylinder could have gone past it’s limit and bind the shoes against the drum also. Pull it off and take a peek.
Get the drum off and see what is stuck. There are too many possible causes for dragging brakes to guess.