Rear Brake issue?

G

ghs215

New member
I hear a horrible noise coming from the right rear break when moving (oscillating) . It is like the brake pad it not retracting properly and is scraping. I removed the wheel and checked the pads and they looked about 50% and nothing out of the ordinary. Grabbed the floating part of the caliper and moved it back and fourth a bit so it seemed ok. Sprayed some brake cleaner and put the wheel back on... It sound went away for a day and now its back. What do you think it is?

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UPDATE
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Wrong wrong and all wrong :) :)

After tearing it apart the second time, I checked the caliper piston, it moved ok, not frozen. So greased the float pins up really well and put it back together....UGH...same sounds....Third time is the charm right? So pulled the caliper bracket off and took the disc off...Uh-oh! Sh$t, parts fell to the ground....the rear keeper pin was missing and the spring and keeper clips were ground to a pulp and the inside of the e brake drum was all gouged up from the parts and e brake shoes hitting the drum...so off to the parts store...after $100 got new shoes, disc and e-brake parts kit...put it all back together (that took an hour! fat fingers make it difficult) and oh the silence!

anyone ever have this problem?
 
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Frozen caliper x 2. Honestly, I had frozen fronts and one frozen back. I bought some OEM NAPA replacements with lifetime warranty. It's not a matter of if they will freeze again, but when. Fortunate for some owners, they may not own the car long enough for it to freeze, but it's inevitable with the design that it will happen.
 
The exact same thing happened to me this week, it's even the same corner on my '03, and it turned out to be a frozen caliper on mine. I guess the 20 degree weather this week finally locked it up!
 
M1911 said:
How did you manage that? I've replaced the fronts at least 3 times and the rears at least twice.
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I really don't know why I haven't had these issues. I just replaced my rear brakes a week ago. Maybe you're too easy on it, I drive my truck hard. Seriously, it beats me but it's not even something I think about.
 
CXS said:
I'm not so sure, I'm at 180K with the original calipers.
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I was at 150 with the originals. Like I mentioned, it may never happen while you own the car. It doesn't mean the design isn't prone to freezing. There are plenty of documented cases of this happening. It's not a random issue, it's a repeat issue with the same symptoms that affects a number of owners. Unless your calipers were made in a different fashion, they should be prone to the same problem at some point. I've only owned my 4th gen for about a year, so I'm not sure how it was maintained before hand.
 
Just some thoughts on this topic:

Since brake fluid absorbs water, it may be that older brake fluid may contain some water, that, in turn, causes some corrosion around the caliper pistons, making it stick.

Personally, with 130K on mine, so far, no issues. Original calipers on all 4 corners...and I live in an area where there is extreme fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and lots of rain and snow. Just lucky so far, I guess.
 
While I haven't had this specific thing happen, I can tell you this: I spent plenty of time this week taking apart and attempting to rebuild my parking brake assembly to the point where I feel confident critiquing its design flaws. Based on the condition of the parts you mentioned in my truck, I wouldnt be surprised to see one of those pins had snapped at some point.

In my case, having spent it's first 10 years and 100k miles in Pennsylvania winters, those pins were extremely corroded. Mine currently has 110k and is in Maryland.

What I'm saying is, if they have been exposed to humidity that long (especially if you have more mileage on your truck) and somebody did what I did even once and tried pulling that rotor without fully releasing the parking brake shoes, and stretched those pins, I can see one snapping off easily. Especially if they have ever been submerged off-road or otherwise exposed to lots of water.

I didn't realize I stretched mine until I put it all back together and then rotated the hub to check it - only to hear the exact sound you described. As it turned out, the rear one was stretched and the spring retainer was scraping the back face of the hub. I almost didn't notice, and I'm sure normal driving and regular use of the parking brake would have been the end of those parts very quickly. Especially if the part of the hub where the hole is for adjusting everything caught those parts while rotating.

Has your truck ever had any rear brake work before this that might have involved removal of the rotor? If you aren't the original owner or if the answer to that is yes - I'd guess that something went wrong at some point.
 
Also, you mentioned that you rebuilt yours and got it all back together. Where did you buy your hardware? I spent a few hours fumbling with mine before giving up and removing the parking brakes altogether. :mad:

My hardware is from Napa. It looks like I'll be giving it another go in the spring next time I have it apart. I was considering buying the hardware kit from Toyota as I noticed a few design differences that weren't helping.
 
I got my hardware at Autozone. My dad helped me with putting it back together, since he had done a lot of drum brakes before. Getting the keeper pins and springs together was the PITA, it took both of us about 10 min on each one to get them secured. 3 flat blade screwdrivers and 1 needle nose pliers. Is there a special tool for this? There is literally no room for fingers to hold on to anything. This was our conversation the whole time :argue:

I live in Phoenix and the parts had little to no rust on them. I am the second owner and the e-brake parts looked original.

I also used the old adjuster, the new one looked different...And if it looks different...do not use lol
 
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I bought some OEM NAPA replacements with lifetime warranty.
11i.jpg
AVe201
 
ghs215 said:
*************************
UPDATE
*************************
Wrong wrong and all wrong :) :)

After tearing it apart the second time, I checked the caliper piston, it moved ok, not frozen. So greased the float pins up really well and put it back together....UGH...same sounds....Third time is the charm right? So pulled the caliper bracket off and took the disc off...Uh-oh! Sh$t, parts fell to the ground....the rear keeper pin was missing and the spring and keeper clips were ground to a pulp and the inside of the e brake drum was all gouged up from the parts and e brake shoes hitting the drum...so off to the parts store...after $100 got new shoes, disc and e-brake parts kit...put it all back together (that took an hour! fat fingers make it difficult) and oh the silence!

anyone ever have this problem?
Click to expand...

I had a problem with my rear parking/e-brake assembly when I changed the rear rotors this summer. Even with the e-brake cable completely loosened, the "star" adjuster turned all the way down, and all the parts working, the shoes were completely stuck to the inside of the new rotors. Couldn't even turn the wheel hubs with a breaker bar...and that is with the semi-worn brake shoes. Oh, and it's a PITA to get the rotors off once they're stuck. It wasn't until I installed the "rebuild kit" with the new set of springs that everything worked.

So, the lesson there would be, if your brakes are old enough to replace the rear rotors, you might as well spend the few extra bucks and at least replace the springs on the e-brake while you have it apart.
 
ghs215 said:
I got my hardware at Autozone. My dad helped me with putting it back together, since he had done a lot of drum brakes before. Getting the keeper pins and springs together was the PITA, it took both of us about 10 min on each one to get them secured. 3 flat blade screwdrivers and 1 needle nose pliers. Is there a special tool for this? There is literally no room for fingers to hold on to anything. This was our conversation the whole time :argue:

I live in Phoenix and the parts had little to no rust on them. I am the second owner and the e-brake parts looked original.

I also used the old adjuster, the new one looked different...And if it looks different...do not use lol
Click to expand...

I actually think there is a special tool for this. I tried all sorts of needle nose pliers and screwdrivers and I just couldn't get it, but I didn't have an extra set of hands to help me. A friend of mine is a tech and he told me there is a tool that he uses for this that works pretty well. Next time I stop by his shop I'll see if I can get info on that. I'll post it here in the forums for everyone! ;)

As for the generic hardware - I know exactly what you mean. The adjusters in my Napa kit were tiny compared to the originals, and looked like they would fall out. I just cleaned and regreased the old ones and reused them during my attempted rebuild. I will probably just get the kit from Toyota, I doubt it is that expensive.
 
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