My Clunk Solved!

[UTEP]

Howdy,

This is a common issue and seems to have a myriad of solutions. In my case the final piece of the puzzle was the rear brakes. I had previously been lubing the drive shaft and this may have been part of it.

But the brakes were certainly ailing. The front shoe on both sides had worn unevenly with the lower part being all but worn out <1/16" tapering up to ~1/4" on the top part [ see image ] I imagine this allowed the top part to rotate forward as with the taper the shoe was no longer properly centered.

$15 for lifetime shoes at Autozone…nice cheap fix, took about 2 hours with adjustment and bleeding brakes. I used this tutorial to start:
How to change brake shoes / drum brakes | Mike's Tech Blog

Hope your problems are so simply solved.

UTEP

 

[nissanh]

The reason why it wear's out unevenly is because the bottom-end is used for parkbrake and stays close to the drum all the time.

Now, why did you bleed the brakes, when you replace shoes?

Personally, I prefer OEM toyota brakes (which you replace every 5-7 years and less than $80) over any kind. All aftermarket brakes have material with less friction and requires extra force at the brake paddle.

 

[UTEP]

Now, why did you bleed the brakes, when you replace shoes?

I was trying to solve this last week by quickly bleeding the brakes with a one man bleeder. After the change they felt more spongy and sure enough one side had a few bubbles that took a few tries to evacuate. Odd because there were no leaks; wheel cylinder and lines all sound and no level loss at master cylinder. I must have quit too soon or used the bleeder tool improperly last week. But you're correct a brake shoe or pad replacement with no other issues should not require a bleed.

BTW I used the Motion Pro 08-0143 Hydraulic Brake Bleeder from Amazon ~$15. Best one man bleeder I ever used. I misused it last week as I forgot how my favorite mechanic ALWAYS bled brakes: gravity bleed. While that method never seems to work for me 100% I let the fluid gravity bleed out a good 1/2 cup before attempting the bleed purging all the air from the bleeder tube this time and it's rock solid.

UTEP

 

[white_n_slow]

Thanks for the tip on the bleeder. I get 5% chash back on Amazon purchases, so I think I'll go ahead and get one for future use.

 

[afg10000]

damn. Glad you got your problem solved but your brakes don't look like mine nor do they look like the link from Mike's DIY. I just started a rear brake thread and used Mike's as comparison. Coincidence?

 

[mmml4]

The reason why it wear's out unevenly is because the bottom-end is used for parkbrake and stays close to the drum all the time.

Say what.

 

[UTEP]

damn. Glad you got your problem solved but your brakes don't look like mine nor do they look like the link from Mike's DIY. I just started a rear brake thread and used Mike's as comparison. Coincidence?

Hmmm.

Well mine is a 2000 LTD. I saw that thread before I started but was only replacing shoes not hardware so did not read in depth.

I guess they can differ….. weird...

Utep