handbrake 406 exec

According to my Haynes manual the pads are not operated by the handbrake. There should be a small drum brake on each back wheel as well. Presumably it is that which is sticking and this would not be affected by fiddling with the pads.

Hi

The foot brake works the pads, The handbrake is worked by a drum built into the middle of each rear disc.

Never ever apply the handbrake when the car is moving ( Unless its an emergency ) because the brake shoes will shear off & spin around inside the drum & you end up with no handbrake.

If the pads are free then you are looking at the handbrake being at fault.

The esteemed ggplus observed:

You're other respondents are correct. I owned a 406 turbo for four years and can confirm that the h/brake operates a small drum inside the rear wheels. I would suggest that's the problem. You either need to check the operation of the drum or the cable. It can't be the discs as they are entirely independent of the h/brake.

But the original poster said the rear brakes are sticking, not specifying handbrake. In my experience, the main cause of that is the caliper slides. You need to remove the pads, then see how much effort is required to slide the caliper from side to side. Should be fairly free. If not then remove the fixing bolts and the caliper, take out the slides (you may have to "persuade" them out if they are tight). Then clean them up and where they fit, and reassemble with grease or copaslip. Clean up where the pads contact the caliper too. After that go for the handbrake.