Lately I've noticed that my rear brakes began to squeal. I can feel the car dragging. I pulled my emergency brake and released it. That solved the problem for alittle while, but it began again. Could my calipers be sticking or could it be the emergency brake pads.

 

On my '88 the e-brake uses the std pads; on earlier Vettes there were separate brake shoes for the e-brake.

I would test the pads to see if they have backed off enough to feel free or are they tight against the rotor.

You could disable the e-brake for a while to test if the problem is in there. Do you regularly set the e-brake after parking the car??

 

It seems that after my vette cooled down it rooled freely. After 15mins of driving you could feel it starting to drag. I definately smell brakes.

 

Have you checked to see if the pads move freely in the caliper bracket?

Is it possible that the calipers are sticking after you apply the brakes and then loosen after she cools?

If you drive for a while w/o touching the brakes does your instentaneous mileage increase?

 

Its possible that the sliders on your rear calipers are seized you can solve this by pulling the rear caliper off and inspecting the sliders
(clean as nessecary) and grease them before re-installing.

 

Follow all the good advice in the other posts. And consider the following.
A wobbly rotor or sticking caliper or bad flexible brake hose can cause brake drag. A wobbly rotor could be warp or mis-mount or bad bearing or bent hub. As little as .008" or .010" wobble can cause the brake to heat up while rolling and the drag will increase as the temp goes up.
Try the easy stuff first;
Make sure that the lug nuts were tightened correctly (criss cross).
Check for play in the bearing by 3/9 and 12/6 o'clock pushing/pulling. Check again with the wheel safely off the ground.
If the rotor has been off, make sure the contact surfaces with the hub are clean of rust, etc.
With the wheel safely off the ground, apply then release the regular brake and make sure the wheel turns freely right away. If not, open the bleeder and check for free rotation. If rotation frees up after opening the bleeder, the hose is bad (acting like a check valve). Sounds crazy but I've had several GM autos with the problem.
Take the wheel off then secure the rotor with the lug nuts on backwards and check the rotor run-out with a mic. A good reading is under .002" at the outer perimeter of the rotor.
If the rotor run-out is near 0.010, turn the rotor on the hub about 180 degrees (2 of 5 lugs) and see if the run-out follows the rotor or hub.
Hope this windy description helps.
Good luck

 

That would be my vote as well. Make sure you use the proper grease. It's high-temp stuff specifically for brake applications, not normal axle grease.

 

What year? The brake calipers changed in 88, and maybe again after that.

FWIW, One of the calipers on my 87 got sticky last year. The glides were fine, but the piston was not retracting. I did not notice any dragging, but there was a vibration. The guilty corner displayed more brake dust than the others, and the wheel was hotter than the others after a ride.