Brake issues

[CO_FlyFisher]

Better pics to be had over at the Ih8Mud forum HERE. Different vehicle, but same drum brakes. Look at post #13 by "Spike Strip".

You can see where the e-brake cable connects to the bellcrank, and how the adjuster rides on that. It should lift the adjuster when you set the e-brake, but I don't know if it's going to be enough to disengage it.

 

[Jave]

Better pics to be had over at the Ih8Mud forum HERE. Different vehicle, but same drum brakes. Look at post #13 by "Spike Strip".

You can see where the e-brake cable connects to the bellcrank, and how the adjuster rides on that. It should lift the adjuster when you set the e-brake, but I don't know if it's going to be enough to disengage it.

Thanks for your help! Based on those pics I was able to push the lever off (note to anyone else doing this, don't bother trying to lift the lever up as it's nearly impossible. Just push on it with a screwdriver and it comes off the star wheel) and I got my drums off to inspect the rear brakes.

They seem perfectly fine. No axle seal leaks or any contamination on the shoes/drum. I sprayed it all down with brake cleaner anyway, put it back together and adjusted the rears properly.

However, the truck still dips a bit too much forward than I'd like but at this point I think it's just my shocks that are worn rather than a brake problem.

Anyway, the pedal is still way too soft. I notice that I can get it hard while driving if I pump the brakes and it will stay hard if I keep on the brakes. Doesn't this rule out a broken seal in the master cylinder since it would otherwise not stay hard? It seems to me that I just have air in there somewhere still, no?

I also tried to bed the brakes and although I'm not sure I did it correctly, there's no difference in the pedal feel.

 

[BTO]

Do yourself a favor and clean out the differential vent with PB Blaster. This will keep the axle seals from leaking.

 

[Nelsonmd]

So maybe I missed this, but did you bleed the ABS?

Even in the city, there is somewhere you can break the tires loose to activate the ABS, a slightly gravely street, one with some road damage, making it rough, anything to make you lose a little grip. You seem to be doing alot of work when it could be as simple as air in the ABS.

 

[CO_FlyFisher]

Glad to hear you got the drums off! Did you try using the e-brake to lift the adjuster? I'm still curious myself if that works.

I agree it sounds like you still have some air in there somewhere, especially if the pedal stiffens up significantly when you pump it. I would also agree that you should try and find somewhere to break the tires loose enough to activate the ABS, and see if that helps. Maybe some dirt in a parking lot at a city park or something? I just went with a friend over the weekend to look at a 4runner he is considering purchasing, and we were able to get the ABS to activate by running through a little bit of gravel in a street gutter and mashing on the brakes.

Do yourself a favor and clean out the differential vent with PB Blaster. This will keep the axle seals from leaking.

Off topic, but FYI, that won't necessarily stop the problem. The seals will eventually wear out and leak even if the diff breather is fine. Mine did that, and I had an extended breather which was functioning perfectly fine. It will prevent the seals from leaking due to overpressure however.

 

[Jave]

Glad to hear you got the drums off! Did you try using the e-brake to lift the adjuster? I'm still curious myself if that works.

I agree it sounds like you still have some air in there somewhere, especially if the pedal stiffens up significantly when you pump it. I would also agree that you should try and find somewhere to break the tires loose enough to activate the ABS, and see if that helps. Maybe some dirt in a parking lot at a city park or something? I just went with a friend over the weekend to look at a 4runner he is considering purchasing, and we were able to get the ABS to activate by running through a little bit of gravel in a street gutter and mashing on the brakes.


Off topic, but FYI, that won't necessarily stop the problem. The seals will eventually wear out and leak even if the diff breather is fine. Mine did that, and I had an extended breather which was functioning perfectly fine. It will prevent the seals from leaking due to overpressure however.

I did try to use the e-brake to get the lever to lift off the adjuster but it did not Fortunately once I figured out how to push it off with a screwdriver, it was very easy to adjust the star wheel.

However, the mechanic I took it to called me today to say he fixed it. What he told me was the new rotors were thicker, causing the front brakes to apply before the rears could so they ended up "out of synch" and the rears simply needed to be adjusted. That's why when I pumped the brakes, the pedal got harder because the rears actually engaged at that point

I haven't picked it up yet to see for myself but I'm sceptical as I adjusted them myself several times, even to the point where I can barely spin the wheel with my hand which is already excessive as they shouldn't even be touching. I mentioned this to him and he said I probably didn't put the car in neutral while attempting to spin the wheel while adjusting them so it felt harder to spin than it really was, but I'm pretty sure I did put it in neutral.

Oh well, picking it up tonight so we'll see how it is.

 

[CO_FlyFisher]

However, the mechanic I took it to called me today to say he fixed it. What he told me was the new rotors were thicker, causing the front brakes to apply before the rears could so they ended up "out of synch" and the rears simply needed to be adjusted. That's why when I pumped the brakes, the pedal got harder because the rears actually engaged at that point

I haven't picked it up yet to see for myself but I'm sceptical as I adjusted them myself several times, even to the point where I can barely spin the wheel with my hand which is already excessive as they shouldn't even be touching.

I'm skeptical too. Hopefully you didn't waste your hard-earned money...

 

[Jave]

I'm skeptical too. Hopefully you didn't waste your hard-earned money...

Well, it's fixed, sort of. The pedal is a lot better but still not quite to the point where it was before the brake upgrade. I'm not going to mess with it anymore though... just can't figure out what I did wrong when I was adjusting them. If I didn't have it in neutral, I wouldn't have been able to spin the wheel at all.

 

[CO_FlyFisher]

That is good news. However, based on my reading, it should fell just as good if not better than it was before the Tundra brake mod. If I was you, I'd still try and find somewhere to excercise your ABS.

 

[Jave]

That is good news. However, based on my reading, it should fell just as good if not better than it was before the Tundra brake mod. If I was you, I'd still try and find somewhere to excercise your ABS.

It rained yesterday so I got the ABS to kick in real good but I haven't bled it since then and don't really have the time. I'll probably live with it like this for now and deal with it next time I have to do anything with the brakes.

Thanks for all your help!