Caliper's locking up, Just need to bleed? Options

[senick]

So as the title goes, I had my car on a lift, engine on and in neutral, and the front passenger wheel was encountering a decent amount of resistance when spinning. I can only guess it's the caliper. Interestingly, the passenger rear is experiencing the same problem, only its the shoes against the drum. A guy I worked with suggested it's a bad caliper, which is also causing uneven pressure distribution in the back locking it up as well. I'm just thinking if the caliper itself is bad, or I just need to bleed the brakes and see if there's stuff in there. What do you guys think? And is the procedure for bleeding pretty easy with these cars? The old horse is pretty weather worn, so I'm worried I might snap something off the release valve when I try and bleed it.

[Galcobar]

Seized calipers generally are an issue with the sliding bushings, or (much more rarely) the piston.

You can replace the caliper, but it can be just as easy to disassemble and lubricate the various moving parts. Even the piston seal should have a touch of glycol soap-based lubricant on it when the piston is installed. Testing is simple -- can you slide the caliper on its bushings by hand? If not, disassemble, clean, inspect, and if the parts are still nice and smooth, lubricate and reassemble. If the bushings are corroded, replacement's a good idea. If you cannot disassemble it by hand (hand tools included), replace the caliper. Rebuilding a caliper which requires a press to disassemble is more work than its worth for the individual car owner.