It has been my (limited) experience that a parking brake dragging can smell like hot brakes without creating enough heat to make the wheel hot, nor enough drag to be perceivable when driving.

If the service / disk brake is creating enough drag to smell hot, it will usually make the wheel hot, and create enough drag that putting the car in neutral at walking speed on level pavement will cause the car to come to a noticably faster stop than normal. The service brake is designed to dissipate much more energy/heat than the parking brake.

If the wheel is hot, I'm betting on a rusted/seized caliper or swollen hose. If not, parking brake (usually cable).

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I agree...
So, do the bleeder /wheel spin test before assuming anything.
My post is not a diagnosis, it is a procedure test to arrive at the proper diagnosis.

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A Dalton

Exactly! Not sure if I'm the center subject now but I will rule out the E-brake....as its the front right disk. I could also suspect the caliper mounting pivots *name*? As I know the two anchoring bolts should allow for side to side movement, I'll add that check to the list. Thanks again Arthur, and babymog!