Front brake locking up when cold

M

Mudeprived

New member
I started noticing my brakes instantly locking up when I first start driving and come to a slow stop. It would stop suddenly and fling me forward towards the steering wheel. It feels like the front cuz the truck nose dives but I could be wrong. I do have gear oil soaked passenger rear shoes that I am replacing this week but not sure if that is the issue. They brake fine when warmed up but sometimes shudder when they get hot.

I am not sure if it is the rear soaked shoes causing this or something up front?

Front rotors are Toyota and pads are Akebono, both installed last year. Rear brakes are factory. All four corners bled last year.

1999 Limited
167k miles
 
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Fix the rear first, including a new breather on the rear axle. Then see how the caliper pistons look as well as the front hoses.

I take it the pedal isn't firm first thing in the morning when cold?
 
jack up the wheels and you can determine if it is the front or the back. the leak in the rear in my guess causing your rear brakes to stick.
 
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Pretty sure it's your rears that are the problem, you just said they are gear oil soaked. This is 100% a symptom of the rear pads being soaked in gear oil.
 
Mudeprived said:
Pedal is fine.
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Fix the obvious stuff first. You may need rear axle seals if replacing the breather doesn't help. Strange though that it happens when you 1st start driving the truck as usually the soaked rear brake pads lock up when they got hot from expansion.

Jack the front up and spin the wheels. They should move with little resistance, not freely, mind you, but you should be able to get a revolution or two if you spin it and let go. Apply the brakes and make sure the brakes back off by spinning it again. Do the same in the rear. You'll have more resistance because of the rear differential though.

I've had a few frozen calipers on these trucks and I rebuilt the calipers and replaced the pistons and all was well again. Oh and I flushed the brake fluid too.
 
JRZEE2000TR4LTD said:
Fix the obvious stuff first. You may need rear axle seals if replacing the breather doesn't help. Strange though that it happens when you 1st start driving the truck as usually the soaked rear brake pads lock up when they got hot from expansion.

Jack the front up and spin the wheels. They should move with little resistance, not freely, mind you, but you should be able to get a revolution or two if you spin it and let go. Apply the brakes and make sure the brakes back off by spinning it again. Do the same in the rear. You'll have more resistance because of the rear differential though.

I've had a few frozen calipers on these trucks and I rebuilt the calipers and replaced the pistons and all was well again. Oh and I flushed the brake fluid too.
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Thanks for the tips. I will do the spin test. I suspected the rear shoes but like you said that usually happens when they get hot so I thought maybe something else was going on. The brakes are fine and work normal after I drive for a while and that is what puzzles me.

I already replaced the drivers side seal and I noticed a little drop coming out of the passenger side outer seal so that one is next. I cleaned out the breather last fall.

Hopefully it is just the marinated shoes.
 
Ok so today I started to leave my work's parking lot and I applied the brake a little. It locked up instantly. I reversed into my spot again and repeated the same braking while watching the rear tire. It locked and hopped a bit. So it appears the soaked rear shoes are indeed causing my issue.

I would think the hardware and drums are ok to reuse but I will inspect them beforehand. I hear Toyota drums last a billion miles lol.
 
I know the drums look fine and it may be but, you take the chance of contaminating your new shoes using the old drums. The longer the gear oil sat on the drums (heat cycled), the great chance the drums has oil in it's micro pores.
 
I definitely have this same issue and it SUCKS! You look like such a fool in the parking lot when you're first taking off if you don't pay serious attention when you're coming to a stop. I have also been looking for a fix for this for a long time. I actually replaced my master cylinder, everything up front and I have bled the brakes repeatedly. I also think I have an issue with my rears. I have adjusted the parking brake/rear brakes. Still no better. I'm at the point of replacing the wheel cylinders and see if that helps.
 
Vansnxtweek said:
I definitely have this same issue and it SUCKS! You look like such a fool in the parking lot when you're first taking off if you don't pay serious attention when you're coming to a stop. I have also been looking for a fix for this for a long time. I actually replaced my master cylinder, everything up front and I have bled the brakes repeatedly. I also think I have an issue with my rears. I have adjusted the parking brake/rear brakes. Still no better. I'm at the point of replacing the wheel cylinders and see if that helps.
Click to expand...

Have you had any wheel seal leaks back there or is it happening now? The 3rd gen rear seals are famous leakers.
 
When I adjusted the rear brakes last time they were quite out of adjustment but it's almost as if they won't stay in adjustment. When I go to slow down it feels like it is all front brakes. The front end dives quite hard. If I ease onto the parking brake as I slow down it feels as if the brakes are balanced and it slows down as it should.

OP I would definitely check your rear adjustment if you haven't done that yet. The parking brake should have only about 5-7 clicks when you pull up if I remember correctly.
 
When I did the rear axle bearings/seals to fix the '01 that I briefly owned, I had to have the drums hot tanked at a machine shop before doing a clean up cut on the brake lathe. Even though they looked clean from using brake spray, as soon as the cutter hit the metal oil would ooze out. That gear oil gets deep into the pores of the friction surface, it takes a harsh chemical cleaning to get them clean again.
 
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