Rear Brake Seizing - Temporarily Disable?

D

denvermaxd

New member
Full disclosure: I'm an idiot.

This problem has been brewing for a long time, and I've been procrastinating the resolution (rear axle seal(s), rear drum brake replacement).

Now I'm up in the mountains on some icy roads, and I discovered the hard way that not only does my parking brake "seize up" if I leave it engaged overnight, but now my rear passenger brake locks up if I touch my brakes on ice. This puts the truck into a slide, with the rear end trying to pass me on the right. Not good.

Two questions:

Is it possibly safer to just pull off the wheel and disable the rear brake until I can hobble home and do the necessary repairs next week?

If yes, is there an easy way to temporarily disable the rear brake, beyond tearing it apart and removing the shoe?

Thanks for any words of wisdom.
 
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Not really a mod you’ll find in the service manual but it sounds like your situation is fairly dangerous so I would take a clamp or locking pliers or something and clamp the rear soft line, that will disable both rear brakes and allow you to limp home. Just be careful. I don’t think you could pull the shoes out because the pistons in the wheel cylinder may come out and shoot your brake fluid everywhere

I’d replace the rear soft line after doing that once you get it home
 
Thanks [MENTION=318903]RandyBobandy[/MENTION].

So vice grips maybe? Up by the master cylinder for the brakes? Err... no, that would disable all the brakes. Where is the soft line for the rear brakes?
 
You could make sure the brakes bells arent sticking.

Toyota drum brakes are notorious for freezing in the winter without gear grease coated brake shoes.

Make sure the bells are against their bolt stops and the emergency brakes cable is not sticking either.

I advise against removing the shoes as worst case could use the e brake for the rear axle to stop.


If you can get the drums off. I would spin the adjusters back so the back brakes barely work. Granted you pedal going to get alot softer.

You can turn back the adjusters without pulling the drums if you have brake tools.

Absolute worst case I pinch the rear brake line at the wheel cylinder lines as those lines are short and easy to replace.

Pinching it at the union or by rubber line would have you replacing the line behind the tank. Or if late model both lines going behind the tank.

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brillo_76 said:
.

Absolute worst case I pinch the rear brake line at the wheel cylinder lines as those lines are short and easy to replace.

Pinching it at the union or by rubber line would have you replacing the line behind the tank. Or if late model both lines going behind the tank.

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It’s solid steel line all the way to the wheel cylinders along the axle.

And no; the short rubber line drops from the crossmember to the axle; the rubber line would be all that’s needed to replace.

Otherwise; you’d have to replace a whole brake line for extended rubber lines.
 
Yes. I just didnt know if it was single or dual lines back.

If your pinching , pinch next to the wheel cylinder as those line goto a union and our along the axle and easy to replace.


The front line to the center union and the ba k line to the above the crossmember that connects to the rubber are both pains to replace.



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True you could pinch off the rubber line that be one and easy to fix.

[ 2001 and 2002 ] have two lines going back and 2 rubber lines.

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Great guidance. Thanks everyone.

I will crawl under the truck in the morning, find the correct soft line, and pinch it off to get us home.

Already scheduled the mechanic for the necessary service.
 
well, 1) I think even the owners manual says to be careful using emergency/parking brake in freezing weather. I don tuse them in any of our vehicles in winter here.
2) makes me nervous to think of eliminating rear brakes on a drive...but I guess whatever it takes to get home. Please be careful
3) vice grips to a 20+ year old brake line, I would really add to replacement and repair list. Actually any major brake job on rigs this old, I just assume to replace hose too.
 
Probably to late, but you can remove the oval rubber on the centre of backing plate directly above the axle tube, and with a small screw driver release the lock finger, and with a larger screw driver turn the gear on the rear drum adjuster and roll the adjuster gear back reducing its braking effort, you can determine the direction to roll it because it locks in one direction tightening the rear shoes to drum clearance, or look at the round plug and measure clearance properly. Those bell cranks do seize up being metal to aluminum aswell, and need some love every 4 years or so. You mentioned an axle seal leak, if you tried to salvage the oil saturated shoes they seem to keep swelling or gripping more than normal and cause that same lock up on one effected wheel on ice.
 
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Stop. Don't do ghetto shit with your brakes. Pull the drum, slap a new set of shoes on it. Clean everything as much as possible before you put it back together. That will leave stopping power intact and buy you a considerable amount of time. Way more than you need.


If you get in an accident with compromised brakes, brother, it's gonna be a real bad day. Pinching a line on a trail? Hell yeah. Pinch a line for street duty? Dumb.
 
Cree said:
Stop. Don't do ghetto shit with your brakes. Pull the drum, slap a new set of shoes on it. Clean everything as much as possible before you put it back together. That will leave stopping power intact and buy you a considerable amount of time. Way more than you need.





If you get in an accident with compromised brakes, brother, it's gonna be a real bad day. Pinching a line on a trail? Hell yeah. Pinch a line for street duty? Dumb.
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I thought the OP is in the mountains most likely with limited access to tools along with everything else?

I can understand the situation he is in with locking rear axle. So this is why I suggested crimping the rear line as last resort.

Being the 90% of your vehicles breaking stopping power is on the front axle. If its remote mountains he could be many miles in and dosent have a choice in the situation as flat beds wont leave the paved roads.



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brillo_76 said:
I thought the OP is in the mountains most likely with limited access to tools along with everything else?

I can understand the situation he is in with locking rear axle. So this is why I suggested crimping the rear line as last resort.

Being the 90% of your vehicles breaking stopping power is on the front axle. If its remote mountains he could be many miles in and dosent have a choice in the situation as flat beds wont leave the paved roads.



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If that's the case backing off the adjuster is the best move. He makes it sound like he can at least pull it apart to work on where he is. I'm betting he's skiing. I'm just saying, limp it to pavement like that all you want, but if he does have to disable it, get it towed once you hit pavement.
 
I was definitely not in a position to swap the brakes. No tools. No replacement parts. I ended up dialing back the clock gear. Used 4L to get from ice packed remote location to clear highway. (I was skiing, but not the kind with lifts and tourists.) Now am home safe and sound. Although I have a replacement kit for the drum brakes here, when I got under the truck to adjust the drum it was clear there was axle seal failure creating the situation, so I’m going to take her in to a good local mechanic and pay $$ to have it done for me.

Thanks to everyone for the fast and informed guidance. I actually concocted a clamp to pinch the brake line out of a few bolts and miscellaneous metal parts but decided to try the drum adjustment first.

The rear wheel was still locking but was easier to break free in 4h by popping the clutch (manual tranny) after the drum was loosened to the max. I figured if it got locked and I was sliding I could break it loose in time to recover. Probably false bravado, but I made it home alive without having to test my stunt driver skills. [emoji15]
 
I know this story came to a happy end but here's my take on this. Why risk your life and other people's lives that are on the roadways with you? In my opinion, you should have just had the rig towed to a shop, bit the bullet and rented a vehicle until you could get your rig out of the shop. This way you don't risk crashing your rig endangering your life and other people's lives.

You also learned a valuable lesson about procrastinating on dealing with the rear axle seals. This could have all been avoided if you just dealt with the issue in a more timely manner.
 
Tim. Granted you have an excellent point.




However, I have friends that were miles in the wilderness and had to get themselves out. No tow truck was coming for them. They were on their own. Plus if they did come get you expect 3 to 4k tow bill. Most folks cant afford that.

Heck in my area if your more then 100ft off the roads you better have good friends with winches etc because nobody coming for your rig. Not even if you paid them well.

I guess it depends in your area and state. We have lots of wilderness in this state and the off roader learned along time ago to fend for themselves here.

I see the OP opted to spin his adjusters back thus still having brakes and no emergency pinches to get him out of the situation he was in.

So what was the harm in that? Heck I bet a pile of people are running around with back brakes badly out of adjustment


I mean I just looked out my window and saw a side by side going down the state road. Talk about having a vehicle that's not supposed to be in the road as it's not inspected nor tires that are dot approved.

So I totally disagree that he was endangering himself and others and I am sure he learned from his mistake and that's matters. :)

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brillo_76 said:
Tim. Granted you have an excellent point.




However, I have friends that were miles in the wilderness and had to get themselves out. No tow truck was coming for them. They were on their own. Plus if they did come get you expect 3 to 4k tow bill. Most folks cant afford that.

Heck in my area if your more then 100ft off the roads you better have good friends with winches etc because nobody coming for your rig. Not even if you paid them well.

I guess it depends in your area and state. We have lots of wilderness in this state and the off roader learned along time ago to fend for themselves here.

I see the OP opted to spin his adjusters back thus still having brakes and no emergency pinches to get him out of the situation he was in.

So what was the harm in that? Heck I bet a pile of people are running around with back brakes badly out of adjustment


I mean I just looked out my window and saw a side by side going down the state road. Talk about having a vehicle that's not supposed to be in the road as it's not inspected nor tires that are dot approved.

So I totally disagree that he was endangering himself and others and I am sure he learned from his mistake and that's matters. :)

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Ok, get it to the highway and then call a tow truck. What's your life worth? What's somebody else's life worth? The rear brakes only do around 25% of the braking but it could have make a difference especially in a panic stopping situation. But, I'm guessing the OP drove like Granda McGillicuddy on the way home though. When you're on the trails, you can take more chances. When you're on the roadways, you're not just gambling with your life but the lives of others. Who gives a shit that there's other irresponsible people on the roadways. That doesn't make it ok for you to be an irresponsible as well. You don't have control over them. You have control over yourself and your vehicle. It's called Personal Responsibility, and as time goes on, this seems to be a lost notion for people. If people were responsible for themselves and the people they bring into this world, we would have a much better world to live in.

So, I definitely disagree with you that he wasn't endangering anyone. He knew the risks and he rolled the dice and got away with it. It's the same thing when you get behind the wheel after a couple drinks. You're not majorly impaired but you're impaired and you drive anyway. Was it the responsible thing to do? Absolutely not. Some get away with it and others pile into a family of 4 in a head on collision and kill everyone.
 
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I am going to agree to disagree as this is now gone silly. Happy New Year Tim. I understand your position I do. I simply disagree and that's alright...:)

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