e-brake adjustment
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Sac State
New member
At 55K miles, I've given up on the parking brake. From day one, the emergency brake has never been able to hold the vehicle on any incline. It has been adjusted so many times that I stopped asking.
I just had my front brakes replaced and the ebrake seems to be a little better, not much though.
I just had my front brakes replaced and the ebrake seems to be a little better, not much though.
TechWrench
Senior Member
Since all of the posts in this thread are from 4th Gen owners, I am guessing we all are having the same type of problem. IMHO, the e-brake system on the 4th Gen is just not adequate for what some are trying to use it for. Because we all have 4wheel disc brakes, the e-brake system uses a small set of drum type brake shoes inside the center hub of the rear disc. I'm not an engineer, but it seems logical to me that that the smaller the diameter of the drum, the less overall contact area you are going to have between the shoes and the drum. With the older rear drum brake vehicles, the e-brake system used the same shoes and drum that was used for normal braking. They probably have about twice the contact area of our system. And because the older system had a much larger diameter drum, the torque needed to overcome them was higher that the smaller drum in the 4th Gens. With this in mind, it is understandable to me, that the e-brake system in the 4th Gen may not be up to what some of us are asking of it. Personally, with the automatic trans, I very rarely use mine. I try to 'exercise' the system once a month or so, to keep the cables and mechanism loose and working, but thats about it.
I remember some early 4wheel disc systems that used a mechanical cam method to use the disk pads as the e-brake. They tended to work much better, but the extra seals and design requirments probably made it too expensive to build and maintain. I guess, I am willing to live with the shortcomings of our e-brake system to have the extra braking performance of the 4wheel disc system.
I remember some early 4wheel disc systems that used a mechanical cam method to use the disk pads as the e-brake. They tended to work much better, but the extra seals and design requirments probably made it too expensive to build and maintain. I guess, I am willing to live with the shortcomings of our e-brake system to have the extra braking performance of the 4wheel disc system.
MicaBlue03
Member
e-brake tradeoffs
In the 70s I had a car with 4 wheel disks and a cam-operated e-brake that acted on the rear wheels. The cam pushed a pin that went through the slave cylinder and actuated the rear disk pads.
It did indeed work well (and was light and simple), but the extra seals were a problem and it was common for them to sieze up and drag. Happened to me once.
The e-brake on the 4Runner is adequate for parking lots where it will hold you if the transmission's "park" function fails (or if you somehow leave it in gear or in neutral) but it doesn't seem good for much else.
In the 70s I had a car with 4 wheel disks and a cam-operated e-brake that acted on the rear wheels. The cam pushed a pin that went through the slave cylinder and actuated the rear disk pads.
It did indeed work well (and was light and simple), but the extra seals were a problem and it was common for them to sieze up and drag. Happened to me once.
The e-brake on the 4Runner is adequate for parking lots where it will hold you if the transmission's "park" function fails (or if you somehow leave it in gear or in neutral) but it doesn't seem good for much else.
I thought it was just me / mine. I've got 6k on mine and already had it adjusted once (didn't make much difference). I'm glad I'm not the only one. Misery loves company! Fortunately I haven't needed it often yet but I am gearing up for boat towing / launching season and I always use it on the ramp when I get out to connect or release the winch from the boat. This is critical. I would love to know if anyone has any REAL solution to this problem. It will be embarrassing to have to put a brick or block behind the wheel at the ramp of such an otherwise great car.
Scout Av8er
New member
q
how do you adjust the ebrake
how do you adjust the ebrake
TechWrench
Senior Member
Louie said:
I've looked at the factory manual, and the components drawings for the rear parking brake assy., don't appear to show any self adjusting components. There is a 'star' wheel adjuster assy for making the clearance adjustment, but no self adjusting lever to actuate it. It looks like the only way to adjust the parking brake is with a brake spoon or screwdriver through an adjusting hole in the backing plate. The books procedure is to expand the adjuster until you can't turn the disc, then back off 8 notches.
Without any self adjusting components, I don't think backing up while applying the parking brake is going to do anything to change the parking brake adjustment.
TechWrench
Senior Member
As fortunes, or mis-fortunes would have it, I had to do the rear brakes on my '03 today. Noticed a scraping noise the night before last which sounded like a brake pad backing grinding against a rotor. When I inspected the left rear, I found the inner pad down to metal against metal. I called Toyota, and they gave me an estimate of $600-1,000 depending on the condition of the calipers. I checked and found the rotors at Advance (this is an interesting side story) for $44.00 each and pads for $30.00. I liked the sound of $120 instead of the Toyota estimate, so I ordered the parts, and just finished the install. Brakes work like new, no pulse or noise.
As for the E-brake issue, I discovered that the parking brakes are adjusted through a set of holes in the disc/hub assy. from the front, not the back. After you pull the wheel, you will find two opposing sets of access holes, about 1/2" in diameter. The manual indicated that there is supposed to be a rubber hole plug to be removed, but I didn't find one on either side. You have to align one set at the six-o'clock position to be able to get to the star wheel adjuster. The adjuster is in about 1 1/2"s, so you will need a narrow screwdriver to reach it (a standard brake spoon will not work). You have to rotate the star wheel down to back off on the adjustment. Once that is done, the rear disc can be removed. After cleaning and lubricating the parking brake assy where needed, I installed the new rotors. You have to use the lug nuts with some spacers to tighten down the rotor against the hub when making the parking brake adjustment. You have to turn the star wheel adjuster up to expand the brake shoes until you can't turn the disc any more, then back off the adjuster until it turns freely. The book suggests 8 notches, but I found that about 6 seemed to work well. After all was back together, the parking brake applied at about 1/2 way down for the foot pedal. It will hold when the trans is put in gear, but will not hold when throttle is applied. Considering the size of the parking brake shoes, I'm not surprised they are only marginal in effectiveness .
As I said in my earlier message, there are no self adjusting components in the parking brake assy, so the only way to adjust the parking brakes is manually.
As for the E-brake issue, I discovered that the parking brakes are adjusted through a set of holes in the disc/hub assy. from the front, not the back. After you pull the wheel, you will find two opposing sets of access holes, about 1/2" in diameter. The manual indicated that there is supposed to be a rubber hole plug to be removed, but I didn't find one on either side. You have to align one set at the six-o'clock position to be able to get to the star wheel adjuster. The adjuster is in about 1 1/2"s, so you will need a narrow screwdriver to reach it (a standard brake spoon will not work). You have to rotate the star wheel down to back off on the adjustment. Once that is done, the rear disc can be removed. After cleaning and lubricating the parking brake assy where needed, I installed the new rotors. You have to use the lug nuts with some spacers to tighten down the rotor against the hub when making the parking brake adjustment. You have to turn the star wheel adjuster up to expand the brake shoes until you can't turn the disc any more, then back off the adjuster until it turns freely. The book suggests 8 notches, but I found that about 6 seemed to work well. After all was back together, the parking brake applied at about 1/2 way down for the foot pedal. It will hold when the trans is put in gear, but will not hold when throttle is applied. Considering the size of the parking brake shoes, I'm not surprised they are only marginal in effectiveness .
As I said in my earlier message, there are no self adjusting components in the parking brake assy, so the only way to adjust the parking brakes is manually.
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toybox
New member
Great info, thanks TechWrench.
How many miles are on your 4Runner? Just curious as I have about 36k on mine and I'm trying to gauge how long until I need to do the rears. I just did the front not too long ago. 4 piston calipers make it interesting trying to get them back in, I felt like I was playing that game "whack the gopher". you'd push one or two pistons in and the others would push out.
Also advance seems to have great prices. I just did the fronts on my Sienna and the pads were $16!!!! for lifetime warranty too, and the rotors were only $27!!
How many miles are on your 4Runner? Just curious as I have about 36k on mine and I'm trying to gauge how long until I need to do the rears. I just did the front not too long ago. 4 piston calipers make it interesting trying to get them back in, I felt like I was playing that game "whack the gopher". you'd push one or two pistons in and the others would push out.
Also advance seems to have great prices. I just did the fronts on my Sienna and the pads were $16!!!! for lifetime warranty too, and the rotors were only $27!!
TechWrench
Senior Member
toybox said:
I have just under 38k. My fronts are still about 50%, which kind of surprised me that the rears went first. But, when I took them apart, I found one of the stamped steel pad guides was bent/twisted out of shape on the pad that was worn out. This probably wouldn't allow the inside pad to relax when the pedal was released, which caused it to wear abnormally early. I had checked the pads at about 15k and didn't notice anything unusual at that time.
As for the Advance rotors, there was an interesting side note, as I mentioned earlier. They list three possible replacement rotors for the '03 rears. One is for the 2wd model, one is listed for 4 wheel disc models, and one is listed for 4WD models. Since all '03 and up 4Runners have 4 wheel disc (as far as I know), it seemed unusual the way they were listed. I ordered the ones listed for the 4WD model (which I have). But when I opened the box, they were non-vented and only 11" diameter and for a 5-lug wheel???. I took them back and tried the 4 wheel disc ones, they turned out to the what I needed. The counter person was as confused as I was.
TechWrench
Senior Member
toybox said:
There is a tool that works like a scissor lift. You put a set of old pads against both sets of pistons, and this tool goes in between them, spreads out and forces all four pistons back at the same time.
