Sticking my foot out the door works better than my E-brake.

[TheDurk]

I'm going to disagree on this one. I just replaced my rear shoes and scratched my head a bit on the bellcrank adjustment and brake cable adjustment.

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After I loosened the bellcrank adjusters, the ebrake cable was too tight, so I had to loosen the cable adjuster (in cab) a number of turns to get it right. Now with the wheels in the air, they will spin freely until I pull the lever one click and the brakes begin to drag. The wheels can still be turned by hand at one click. Two clicks and I can no longer turn the wheels.

Interesting post. I keep mine adjusted so I was guessing as to what happens when the gaps are out based on looking at the mechanism. I really don't see how the brakes can adjust at all if the gaps are too narrow, but I haven't tried it as you describe. I'll play with it some more next time I have it apart.

You may have your e-brake cable too tight. The spec is for you to be able to pull the handle 7-9 clicks with a 40 lb-foot pull. Can you do that?

http://tacoma.site40.net/4Runner_96-02_Repair&Wiring/techinfo.toyota.com/ileaf/02toyrm/02toypdf/02rmsour/2002/024runne/br/pbl/ovi.pdf

 

[BTO]

In our case, not only wasn't the e-brake working but the rear brakes weren't hardly working. Once I got good shoes in the drums and everything cleaned, lubed and adjusted properly the rear brakes and e-brake work fine now. The shoes need "wedge in" to do their job. The friction of the pad pulls the shoe further into the drum.

 

[S Brake]

I took mine to a mechanic to have the e-brake looked at and they said it was missing a few bolts.:noidea:

 

[RC57]

You may have your e-brake cable too tight. The spec is for you to be able to pull the handle 7-9 clicks with a 40 lb-foot pull. Can you do that?

Yep, that's about right.

 

[jreask]

Interesting post. I keep mine adjusted so I was guessing as to what happens when the gaps are out based on looking at the mechanism. I really don't see how the brakes can adjust at all if the gaps are too narrow, but I haven't tried it as you describe. I'll play with it some more next time I have it apart.

You may have your e-brake cable too tight. The spec is for you to be able to pull the handle 7-9 clicks with a 40 lb-foot pull. Can you do that?

http://tacoma.site40.net/4Runner_96-02_Repair&Wiring/techinfo.toyota.com/ileaf/02toyrm/02toypdf/02rmsour/2002/024runne/br/pbl/ovi.pdf

In my opinion, these rears are the hardest to adjust of any vehicle I have owned. I just replaced the rear shoes and adjusted my bellcranks and cable. The FSM calls for a gap of .04MM between the bellcrank adjusting screw and the back plate. .04MM? Good luck with that. If you get the shoes too tight, they drag of course, and if too loose, the parking brake will click all the way up to the lid on the console. It doesn't take very many turns on the adjuster to over tighten or under adjust the shoes. It's a very fine line there. I also think that the brake system loses pressure about 30-45 seconds after you turn the truck off. I finally got it right, but it seems like the left set gets hotter than the right side. Perhaps the adjuster on the left is a little worn out.

 

[RC57]

[No message]

 

[TheDurk]

In my opinion, these rears are the hardest to adjust of any vehicle I have owned. I just replaced the rear shoes and adjusted my bellcranks and cable. The FSM calls for a gap of .04MM between the bellcrank adjusting screw and the back plate. .04MM? Good luck with that. If you get the shoes too tight, they drag of course, and if too loose, the parking brake will click all the way up to the lid on the console. It doesn't take very many turns on the adjuster to over tighten or under adjust the shoes. It's a very fine line there. I also think that the brake system loses pressure about 30-45 seconds after you turn the truck off. I finally got it right, but it seems like the left set gets hotter than the right side. Perhaps the adjuster on the left is a little worn out.

The bellcrank gap spec is:

0.4 - 0.8 mm (0.016 - 0.031 in.).

You slipped a decimal place.

 

[BlackCat914]

so you use your parking brake to help you slow down so the cops dont see your lights? it would be better for you to down shift. you have just worn down your rear brake pad on the parking brake side so its not touching the drum.

Wat? There is no rear brake pad, its a shoe. And there is no "parking brake side", when using the e-brake, you're using the rear drums the same way you would be when pushing the brake pedal. You're mistaking them for disc brakes, which typically have a small drum brake setup under the rotor hat which acts as the ebrake.

 

[shootmymime]

[No message]

 

[jreask]

[No message]

 

[RC57]

"The FSM calls for a gap of .04MM between the bellcrank adjusting screw and the back plate. .04MM? Good luck with that."

Like Durk says above, the gap is 0.4 - 0.8mm. That's easy. Tighten the adjuster until there's no gap and then back off the screw 1/2 turn. That's 0.5mm on a 1.0mm pitch screw.

First make sure the ebrake cable is disconnected from the bellcrank, and the two external springs are also disconnected. Also this is done with all the internal brake components assembled, including the short cable that runs from the bellcrank to the brake lever in the drum. Pull on the bellcrank _lightly_ (the same direction the ebrake cable would if it was still connected), otherwise the brake lever stop will lift off the brake shoe, giving an erroneously large gap.

After adjusting, reattach the springs and ebrake cable, making sure the ebrake cable is loose enough that it doesn't lift the bellcrank adjuster away from the backing plate.

 

[mcaz5]

I recently disassembled my right bellcrank and found that it was seized. I took everything apart and cleaned it up. I'm still having the same problem as before. My right rear brake will lock up and drag on slippery surfaces (mud, gravel, wet road) It's quite dangerous and very annoying. I know it's because the drum is overtightened, but when I was re-assembling the bellcranks, I backed off the star gear until there was no rubbing on the drums. Everything was great for a few days, and then it's like it gradually started getting tighter and tighter. It's not quite as bad as it was before but it'll still grab occasionally. Anyone have any ideas? I'm thinking I should start by loosening up the e-brake cable inside the cabin, sound like a good place to start? Thanks!