Parking brakes on 4th gen 4Runners

[Mike_Mo]

I recently bought a used 2005 4Runner and discovered that the parking (emergency) brake doesn't work when parked uphill at roughly a 20% grade. A mechanic friend of mine told me that the rear drum mechanism for the emergency brake is really small and it only works in a forward direction because of the internal mechanism. Does anyone know if the drum and rear rotor work in combination with each other or if it's just that drum? Anyone else notice that the vehicle will roll backwards even with the parking brake on while parked uphill?

 

[CJ3Flyr]

You're mechanic friend is correct. Get it adjusted and that will help some but overall it doesn't hold that well, especially backwards.

This type of setup, in spite of this weakness, is considered a good way to do it and :iagree: Vehicles that pinch and hold the rotors tend to warp rear rotors with great regularity.

:cheers:

 

[Mike_Mo]

Thanks for the help. I was trying to figure out if the cable needed to be adjusted or something along that line. I do notice that the rear disc groans a lot if you slowly start to let the brake off, especially when going from reverse to drive.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Thanks for the help. I was trying to figure out if the cable needed to be adjusted or something along that line. I do notice that the rear disc groans a lot if you slowly start to let the brake off, especially when going from reverse to drive.

The rear brakes do groan a bit sometimes...

Before you do a cable adjustment adjust the p-brakes just as you would old school drum brakes. Pull the rubber plug and spin the geared wheel. The results seem to be better doing it this way. Why? I'm not quite sure why but it seems better...


:cheers:

 

[4boer]

Great. This thread will be in my head next Summer at the boat launch. Most ramps are about 15 degrees I think. P brake holds when winching the boat on the trailer, but the 4R knows it's getting loaded up. Happy to say "pull out" is a non-event.

 

[JB.]

Anyone else notice that the vehicle will roll backwards even with the parking brake on while parked uphill?

Yeah, it will if the grade is steep enough and it doesn't take a whole lot. I've gotten in the habit of setting the P-brake before I shift out of drive then going to neutral and releasing brake pedal pressure to let the P-brake "set" as much as it's going to, then shift to Park. That way I'm at least letting the P-brake take some pressure of the tranny.

 

[Mike_Mo]

In my case, I put the tranny in neutral (while stepping on the brake pedal of course), pushed in on the parking brake, released the brake pedal and the whole vehicle started rolling backwards with very minimal resistance. Don't know if the cable needs to be adjusted.