Before adjusting the nut that is on the handle I'm pretty sure pulling the parking brake didn't even actuate the brakes at all. After tightening it as much as I could it now at least works when I pull it up as high as it will physically go in the slot, something like 13 clicks. There's gotta be some other, better way to adjust it, right? I've done the things I've read in other threads, like reversing and pulling it up a bunch but it barely made a difference.
Parking brake still taking too many clicks after adjusting
- Thread starter Dragon_EX
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Is it the bolt on the bell crank that barely touches the drum? I had to adjust those after tightening the nut on the handle. I don't know if it could be the adjustment of the shoes because they got replaced several months ago, not by me but my dad took it to a shop. I definitely don't want to get into taking the wheels off until I exhaust all other options.
19963.4lsr5
New member
There is a procedure to adjust the bell cranks.
The gist of it is to remove the springs and pull the arm until it stops. Then adjust the bolt so there is a round a 1/16” gap between the bolt head and the backing plate. Then put the springs back on.
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The gist of it is to remove the springs and pull the arm until it stops. Then adjust the bolt so there is a round a 1/16” gap between the bolt head and the backing plate. Then put the springs back on.
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Yes.
With the way the system works, adjusting the shoes is the first thing that should be done. You're kind of doing it backwards. You should adjust the shoes, the bell cranks, then finally the handle.
If you don't want to do the work of taking the wheels off, take it back to the shop and tell them your parking brake isn't work right since they replaced the shoes and maybe they'll adjust it for you. For the record, you could adjust the shoes without taking the wheels off, but you do need to get them off the ground. There are lots of posts about this on the forum.
19963.4lsr5
New member
No. All is does is spread the shoes out until they touch the drum.
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Just tried this and was able to get the parking brake to 7 clicks which is perfect. But in the end I think it's the brake shoes that need to be adjusted, because the bell crank bolt sticks pretty far, which to be fair I don't know if that's normal. Also an older issue of mine came back which is the brake pedal needs to pushed in pretty far for it to actually work. I also tried the reversing and pulling the parking brake a bunch and it only helped a little. So I'll probably get together with a friend and adjust the shoes manually.
turbodudey2
New member
Yes.
If there is enough play in the shoes to advance the adjuster nut, each time you pull the lever it should move one click.
Usually it's easier and more effective to pop out the rubber inspection hole cover on the drum backing plate and manually turn the adjuster nut with a screwdriver until the shoes just start to drag.
If you adjust it too tight, it's a little trickier (but still easy to accomplish) to use two screwdrivers through the inspection hole to disengage the ratchet arm and then loosen the adjust nut.
Kanoe
New member
No need to be moving for the 4runner to adjust brakes. It will adjust just the starwheel just sitting there pulling the handle (if you have everything working properly). If you are in a quiet place while doing this you can actually hear it snap in the drum each time it adjusts a notch. Eventually when things are where they should be the clicking in the drum will stop. Then you have properly adjusted rear brakes.
I just tried this and I wasn't hearing any clicking from the wheels. This was in my quiet garage with the car door open and me listening carefully, so I guess I can assume it's adjusted properly, which means my issue with the brake pedal must be something deeper now.
19963.4lsr5
New member
In my opinion when you hear the clicking it means the star wheel is tight and not moving. The noise is the adjuster advancing without moving the other side.
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ummmm.....isnt that "adjusted"...but true it wont fix the loose hand brake in some cases.
After reading a lot of other old threads, I think tomorrow I'm gonna try loosening the adjuster and do the self adjusting with the parking brake just to really make sure it's adjusted right. I talked to my dad about the brake work he had done to it before and he said the entire rear brakes were rebuilt, so it makes this problem especially weird to me. You think they'd be adjusted right especially since I use the parking brake every time I park. Also if the stuff with the brake pedal keeps happening after this I'll just start a new thread since my original issue of the parking brake not working well is kinda irrelevant now.
Exactly!
Above..
Drive, and every time you come to a complete stop pull the park brake all the way.
One thing to point out. If you remove the mechanism and got left and right side star-wheels mixed up, it will not auto adjust (threads inside the star wheel are in different directions). Happened to me and later fixed the issue and all good!
Above..
Drive, and every time you come to a complete stop pull the park brake all the way.
One thing to point out. If you remove the mechanism and got left and right side star-wheels mixed up, it will not auto adjust (threads inside the star wheel are in different directions). Happened to me and later fixed the issue and all good!
