Drum Brake Help

The best way I have found to adjust the rear breaks are spin and click basically
#1 Assemble everything
#2 Remove the small dust cover from the back of the backing plate.
#3 (Flash light and flat head) Locate the ring with the teeth on it better known as the adjustment screw.
#4 Spin the drum and let spin while ratcheting the adjuster upward it only turn in one direction, inside the drum the shoes are moving ever so closer to the the drum itself.
#5 Once u are reaching the end of the adjustment, when u free spin the drum for the last time it should only free spin for maybe half a resolution or a 180 degrees should be about right. repeat other side.
 
TheDurk said:
What shoes are you using? Some have found that the only way to solve this problem is to install OEM shoes. Some aftermarket shoes don't fit correctly and thus do not adjust.
Click to expand...

I got the shoes at oreilly auto parts, whatever their house brand is. It's really weird because it's mainly the passenger side that is over adjusting and that's the side that was leaking axle lube. I think the previous owner burned up the bearing and then pulled the adjusters out and sold the truck.

I'm throwing the white flag on this one. Can't risk burning up my two week old bearings and seals that I put in. Just dropped the truck off at the dealership :/
 
They said there wasn't anything wrong with it. The tech Took it apart and put it back together. But I swear the passenger side is already tighter than the driver side and starting to drag. This is nutty.
 
TheDurk said:
What shoes are you using? Some have found that the only way to solve this problem is to install OEM shoes. Some aftermarket shoes don't fit correctly and thus do not adjust.
Click to expand...

I guess what im having the most trouble understanding is why does the problem present itself in the passenger side? I have gone through everything 3 times and paid a toyota tech $115 to do it a 4th time today and still i get the exact same outcome.

One theory is the shoes need to be oem, i understand that and i tried to get some shoes but they didnt have any in stock. One major concern though is that its on the passenger side every time. What if its something else? Id hate to throw $100 set of shoes at it only to still have the same problem ya, know?

Edit: what condition would have to exist to prevent auto adjustment? Example: Instead of having the 0.016in. Gap adjustment on the bellcrank, what if i turn that screw in a few extra times? Under normal conditions would that prevent the auto adjuster from adjusting or would that create even more overadjustment?
 
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rcrick said:
I guess what im having the most trouble understanding is why does the problem present itself in the passenger side? I have gone through everything 3 times and paid a toyota tech $115 to do it a 4th time today and still i get the exact same outcome.

One theory is the shoes need to be oem, i understand that and i tried to get some shoes but they didnt have any in stock. One major concern though is that its on the passenger side every time. What if its something else? Id hate to throw $100 set of shoes at it only to still have the same problem ya, know?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know.

There are no guarantees. For all I know, the backing plate may be slightly deformed on that side perhaps from the worh that was done or who knows what? You could always go to the junkyard and buy a whole new backing plate with shoes, cylinder, mechanism and all. That would probably do it.

Drum brakes are a pain.
 
TheDurk said:
Yeah, I know.

There are no guarantees. For all I know, the backing plate may be slightly deformed on that side perhaps from the worh that was done or who knows what? You could always go to the junkyard and buy a whole new backing plate with shoes, cylinder, mechanism and all. That would probably do it.

Drum brakes are a pain.
Click to expand...

Does the backing plate come off without pulling the axle out?
 
I spent about a week on this because my brakes were dragging. I had some wagner pads and if you put them in the drum, the ends are about 1/32nd away from the drum. They will stop the car but u can't adjust the e-brake to work and not have them drag. They just fit too poorly. They flex too much because they are not made the correct shape.

i bought toyota pads and I cut the plastic off of the little cable link thing. I had to massively adjust the bell crank adjuster and now it works fine. I set mine by jacking up a wheel and trying the brake. Then make sure they don't get really hot after you drive.

Work the adjuster bolt until you cannot get two clicks before you put the drum on.
 
rcrick said:
Does the backing plate come off without pulling the axle out?
Click to expand...

To get the backing plate off, the axle needs to be pulled and all the components that get removed when replacing the bearing - retainers, ABS ring, snap ring and bearing - need to be removed. Then you knock out the 4 studs that hold the hub to the axle housing and your backing plate is then free. Probably not your problem. You would see any deformity and if it were deformed there would be obvious gaps between the plate and drum or it would be hitting the drum.
 
JRZEE2000TR4LTD said:
To get the backing plate off, the axle needs to be pulled and all the components that get removed when replacing the bearing - retainers, ABS ring, snap ring and bearing - need to be removed. Then you knock out the 4 studs that hold the hub to the axle housing and your backing plate is then free. Probably not your problem. You would see any deformity and if it were deformed there would be obvious gaps between the plate and drum or it would be hitting the drum.
Click to expand...

Yeah, having just replaced all of those things two weeks ago, that's not even an option of being the problem right now. Haha.

I guess I'm going to try to get some toyota shoes and then run the gambit on bellcrank adjustment scenarios until it stops over adjusting.
 
Make sure you use OEM shoes; I tried Wagner and Raybestos and failed using both.

How are the cylinders? If dirt has gotten into them, it may cause binding. Similar to a sticking caliper.

The backing plate is a PITA to get off.
 
rcrick said:
I guess what im having the most trouble understanding is why does the problem present itself in the passenger side? I have gone through everything 3 times and paid a toyota tech $115 to do it a 4th time today and still i get the exact same outcome.

One theory is the shoes need to be oem, i understand that and i tried to get some shoes but they didnt have any in stock. One major concern though is that its on the passenger side every time. What if its something else? Id hate to throw $100 set of shoes at it only to still have the same problem ya, know?

Edit: what condition would have to exist to prevent auto adjustment? Example: Instead of having the 0.016in. Gap adjustment on the bellcrank, what if i turn that screw in a few extra times? Under normal conditions would that prevent the auto adjuster from adjusting or would that create even more overadjustment?
Click to expand...

It's a bit of work, but try swapping the shoes from driver to passenger side. If the shoes are causing the trouble, it'll follow them.
 
rcrick said:
Yeah, having just replaced all of those things two weeks ago, that's not even an option of being the problem right now. Haha.

I guess I'm going to try to get some toyota shoes and then run the gambit on bellcrank adjustment scenarios until it stops over adjusting.
Click to expand...

Can you shoot some pics of your bell cranks and the parking brake cable and it's mounting points on the axle housing. I'll compare it to mine.
 
Having trouble uploading more than one image at a time :/
 

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Passenger side support

Also, I did find a set of shoes at another dealership and picked them up this morning. I'm currently swapping out my radiator and then I'm going to fix a valve cover leak. After that I'm going to throw on the oem shoes. I had to take a break from the brakes. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the help on this. This forum is tremendous resource.
 

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Well bros, I'm trying to not be foolishly optimistic but preliminarily I'm going to say that the OEM pads seem to have made an improvement.

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and monitor it for a week or so. If the oem pads cured the problem then I'll be the newest member on the "only buy oem everything" train.
 
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