Brake balance adjustment?

[aTALLasian]

I’ve had my 2002 2WD SR5 for about a year now and ever since I bought it it’s had this tendency to slow down in separate phases when hitting the brakes. It’s not a physical feeling in the pedal, but when applying the brakes it’ll start it’s initial deceleration then a moment later will rapidly slow. It’s a very distinct feeling.

I’ve taken off the front wheels and checked the caliper pistons to see if they’re sticking and took the time to clean everything up. I took an abrasive pad to the rotors and pads and re-bedded them in, but that didn’t fix anything. The rotors and pads were recently replaced before I bought the truck and there’s plenty of life left on both.

Now I’m wondering if there’s a balance problem and maybe the rears are engaging a moment before the fronts. I lifted the rear and checked the drums for excessive drag, but didn’t notice anything off, but I didn’t take anything apart back there. The parking brake engages smoothly and securely.

I read in a different thread that there’s a proportioning valve somewhere. Maybe that needs to be adjusted? Does anyone have info on how that works, where it is and how to correctly adjust it?

Is there anything else I might be overlooking?

 

[Makitso]

Try braking with the transmission in neutral and see it this changes the way it feels. It could be the transmission downshifting that you're feeling.

 

[phattyduck]

There is no adjustability in the brake proportioning valve. It is fixed from the factory.

I would suspect your rear brakes are out of adjustment. When working correctly, shoe wear is adjusted by regularly using the parking brake. If not used, that can cause problems. Also, parts can wear, stick, rust, etc. with age. Start with the rear brakes and go from there.

-Charlie

 

[IndigoPlateau]

would suspect your rear brakes are out of adjustment.

-Charlie

Came here to say this. If you are a DIY-er and have never done drum brakes, don't let them scare you . Please update us if you fix!

 

[gamefreakgc]

3rd vote for checking the rears. After 200k my rear drums were extremely pitted and did not contact well with the rear brake shoes. The shoes *should* adjust as the material wears down but they usually don't and will wear very unevenly.

 

[nissanh]

^^^ yes!
The park brake will automatically adjust the rear shoes. I never adjust the rear brakes after initial position of shoes into the dust shield. Several applications of park brake will perfectly brings the shoes to proper limit. This only applies to toyota rear drum brakes.
Every time you park the truck, apply park brake.

If the brake hardware inside is frozen, then forget automatic adjustment.