Brake shoes "Locking up" to Drums
Hello to all, this is my first post here, I've been following this forum for a while now.
4Runner, 1999, 4x4, SR-5, V6, 3.4L .
Man.. I'll try to make a long story short, but, I fear that not telling the whole story will hurt the diagnostics.
1. Mechanic let me know that my shoes and (rear) wheel cylinders need to be replaced, drums are alright. Gave him the Okay to go on.
2.After the job being done, I complained that: the hand break handle is too loose - it can be moved around an inch or two to each side when it's not pulled up, and while pulling it up or down, it's just gives very little resistance as compared to before the job. Also, the break pedal felt a bit (more) mushy then it used to be. I was told "bring the car in, we'll adjust it".
3. They adjusted "it", using the star adjuster on the back plate. Pedal felt less mushy and hand break handle was nice and firm. Asking them to adjust, might have been a very big mistake.
Driving home that evening, and as soon as I hit the highway, at about 55MPH, I felt strong vibrations, my best guess is they came from the rear side of the car, they did not ease as I slowed down, and I had to come to a full stop in order to stop them. Accelerating back to ~55MPH caused the same vibrations. Drove home on ~40MPH, with less, but still vibrating car.
4. Mechanic said "Bring her in, we'll adjust a bit back", so they did, break pedal got as mushy, hand break a bit loose, but pulled firm, but - still vibrations - all through the car. Same highway, same speeds.
5. Mechanic said "bring her in, we'll balance the rear wheels", so they did, vibrations did not start at 55MPH, now they switched to ~60MPH, but, still very strong and felt throughout the car.
6. I offered to rotate the balanced tires to the front, during the weekend, to see if that would cause a difference (not..but i was playing to their tune), so I did, it helped none. But, it helped me find that: the rear left wheel is completely stuck, will not turn. I was sort of shocked. the rear-right was turning fine. Asked the mechanic if that could be the culprit, he said "not likely".
7. kept on doing things myself, the drums would not come off of either wheel, bought some 8x.1.25 bolts, that did the trick. Noticed that the rear left break assembly, can either be engaged to apply sufficient emergency break power, or turn, but not both. If the adjuster was loose enough to let the wheel spin, then there was not much hand break application. That implied, to me, and also per mechanic, a warped drum.
8. Bought new drums, and installed myself. All was peachy, the vibrations were gone, the car accelerated so much better.. i felt terrible knowing that I drove 300+ miles with a practically stuck wheel, but it was all behind me.. I drove a few hundred miles with barely any vibrations, the tiny ones that I had were nothing like before, and could have been due to various reasons, the car has 248K miles, and has it's quirks. until....
9. Got to the highway today, to about 55MPH, and .. those vibrations I recall just too well, they were back. got to my destination, sniffed the rear wheels, the rear left smelled like break drums, to about 3 feet away.
10. Came back home, via side roads... raised the rear and.. alas... both wheels will not turn , stuck (hand break is released and car is not gear). Looks like I have a fun day tomorrow...
If you read it all this far, A. thank you. B. your input is most appreciated, both myself (and apparently my mechanic) , are in need of some input on what could be causing the break pads and drum to stick to one another, until the wheel cannot be turned by power of two hands, only by the engine / power-train, with considerable vibrations and a noticeable drag when accelerating.
Thank you.
Hello to all, this is my first post here, I've been following this forum for a while now.
4Runner, 1999, 4x4, SR-5, V6, 3.4L .
Man.. I'll try to make a long story short, but, I fear that not telling the whole story will hurt the diagnostics.
1. Mechanic let me know that my shoes and (rear) wheel cylinders need to be replaced, drums are alright. Gave him the Okay to go on.
2.After the job being done, I complained that: the hand break handle is too loose - it can be moved around an inch or two to each side when it's not pulled up, and while pulling it up or down, it's just gives very little resistance as compared to before the job. Also, the break pedal felt a bit (more) mushy then it used to be. I was told "bring the car in, we'll adjust it".
3. They adjusted "it", using the star adjuster on the back plate. Pedal felt less mushy and hand break handle was nice and firm. Asking them to adjust, might have been a very big mistake.
Driving home that evening, and as soon as I hit the highway, at about 55MPH, I felt strong vibrations, my best guess is they came from the rear side of the car, they did not ease as I slowed down, and I had to come to a full stop in order to stop them. Accelerating back to ~55MPH caused the same vibrations. Drove home on ~40MPH, with less, but still vibrating car.
4. Mechanic said "Bring her in, we'll adjust a bit back", so they did, break pedal got as mushy, hand break a bit loose, but pulled firm, but - still vibrations - all through the car. Same highway, same speeds.
5. Mechanic said "bring her in, we'll balance the rear wheels", so they did, vibrations did not start at 55MPH, now they switched to ~60MPH, but, still very strong and felt throughout the car.
6. I offered to rotate the balanced tires to the front, during the weekend, to see if that would cause a difference (not..but i was playing to their tune), so I did, it helped none. But, it helped me find that: the rear left wheel is completely stuck, will not turn. I was sort of shocked. the rear-right was turning fine. Asked the mechanic if that could be the culprit, he said "not likely".
7. kept on doing things myself, the drums would not come off of either wheel, bought some 8x.1.25 bolts, that did the trick. Noticed that the rear left break assembly, can either be engaged to apply sufficient emergency break power, or turn, but not both. If the adjuster was loose enough to let the wheel spin, then there was not much hand break application. That implied, to me, and also per mechanic, a warped drum.
8. Bought new drums, and installed myself. All was peachy, the vibrations were gone, the car accelerated so much better.. i felt terrible knowing that I drove 300+ miles with a practically stuck wheel, but it was all behind me.. I drove a few hundred miles with barely any vibrations, the tiny ones that I had were nothing like before, and could have been due to various reasons, the car has 248K miles, and has it's quirks. until....
9. Got to the highway today, to about 55MPH, and .. those vibrations I recall just too well, they were back. got to my destination, sniffed the rear wheels, the rear left smelled like break drums, to about 3 feet away.
10. Came back home, via side roads... raised the rear and.. alas... both wheels will not turn , stuck (hand break is released and car is not gear). Looks like I have a fun day tomorrow...
If you read it all this far, A. thank you. B. your input is most appreciated, both myself (and apparently my mechanic) , are in need of some input on what could be causing the break pads and drum to stick to one another, until the wheel cannot be turned by power of two hands, only by the engine / power-train, with considerable vibrations and a noticeable drag when accelerating.
Thank you.
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