Well im an idiot... drove with parking brake on

[zlasterhazzard]

Hey guys so Im sure this question has been asked and answered before... unfortunately now its my turn. The other day I forgot to take my parking brake off and didn't realize it until i got onto the freeway and got to about 45-50 MPH and heard a thunk thunk thunk noise and couldn't really get her to go faster and realized yea Im pushing harder on the gas than usual. Since then I haven't noticed anything unusual when driving but I wanted to make sure there isn't something I could have messed up that i might not notice immediately. And is there anyway I can adjust it to be tight again... and to have full disclosure i have done this before but noticed it within like 20 feet so my parking brake has already softened up some. TIA

 

[A10MileHusker]

Hey guys so Im sure this question has been asked and answered before... unfortunately now its my turn. The other day I forgot to take my parking brake off and didn't realize it until i got onto the freeway and got to about 45-50 MPH and heard a thunk thunk thunk noise and couldn't really get her to go faster and realized yea Im pushing harder on the gas than usual. Since then I haven't noticed anything unusual when driving but I wanted to make sure there isn't something I could have messed up that i might not notice immediately. And is there anyway I can adjust it to be tight again... and to have full disclosure i have done this before but noticed it within like 20 feet so my parking brake has already softened up some. TIA

Should have called it the "Make your car smell funny lever" RIP Mitch Hedberg

But honestly, I can't really give you a real answer but I can say Ive driven with my emergency brake on and never had any wrong come from it. But then I have never had a "thump, thump" sound.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

[ryanbt]

Did it not beep like crazy? If I drive with my parking brake on my '08 T4R beeps like my '07 Tundra's "sonar" sensor beep when you get too close to something.

 

[midnight runner]

Parking brake shoes are a wear item, just like shoes would be in a drum brake setup. You likely wore it down a fair amount. You might be able to adjust it, but I'm not sure how.

It's probably not too bad. These parts are designed to slow the vehicle down in case the brakes completely fail.

 

[dwulffusa]

I have done that a few times, mostly in a the early days of ownership, because there is so little resistance to moving forward, its odd. O5's dont have a warning beeper. Never had anything come of it, but I expect they would adjust during services.

 

[RickC]

There is no adjustment for disc brakes, only drum brakes, and they are self adjusting by driving in reverse and tapping the brake pedal. This should not cause any damage, except it has worn your brake pads down some. I don't understand the thumping noise however. I would probably take it and have the pads looked at unless you know how to do that yourself.

 

[TechWrench]

There is no adjustment for disc brakes, only drum brakes, and they are self adjusting by driving in reverse and tapping the brake pedal. This should not cause any damage, except it has worn your brake pads down some. I don't understand the thumping noise however. I would probably take it and have the pads looked at unless you know how to do that yourself.

The 4th gen runners have small drum brakes inside the center of the rear disc brake rotors for the parking brake system. They do not self adjust, like earlier regular drum brake systems. However, they can be manually adjusted. You have to remove the rear wheels, and then you can access an adjustment wheel inside the rear disc from the outside using a small hole in the rotor. This has been discussed several times in earlier threads, and there may be a write-up on it.

 

[Maritimer]

I drove in the parking lot until I noticed the light before. It's either a good advertisement for the engine's power or a knock against the parking brake.

 

[Mark86]

Did it a few times and 5.5 years later, no problems. Don't worry about it!

 

[Shanesteeze]

thumping noise

when i first took test drive on my 06 t4r i left the parking brake on. My sales man had the exact same model and could tell he wasnt full of bs. The thumping noise came on as well. And he mentioned that the brake was still on by hearing that thumping i had no idea. was traveling prob 40+. Since then driven 6k milles w no prob. Dont know if it matters but my girl left her brake on for hour plus in her prius. toyota's r solid.

 

[Maritimer]

Dont know if it matters but my girl left her brake on for hour plus in her prius. toyota's r solid.

Does that charge the battery, or just the regular brakes? LOL.

 

[Shanesteeze]

Does that charge the battery, or just the regular brakes? LOL.

lol quality.

 

[patricksheehy]

I've done it too and I feel like there might have been some thumping involved before i noticed it. Never have had any issues and that was over a year ago. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[TechWrench]

I drove in the parking lot until I noticed the light before. It's either a good advertisement for the engine's power or a knock against the parking brake.

The engine is great, but the unfortunate truth is that the parking brake system on the 4th gen is marginal at best. Because the brake shoes used are quite small, with a much reduced swept area compared to earlier models with rear drum brakes, they barely work as parking brakes, and are not to be expected to work as an emergency braking system.

 

[Autbond]

My 06 does not beep what-so-ever when the parking brake is left on, it really kind of makes me mad that there is no warning besides a light blinking on the rpm gauge. Dumb. But other than that yes you can tighten it up, I am pretty sure it is just a wing nut type thing. (I don't know for sure, that is what my 06 Mustang GT had though cause I had to tighten it a couple times

 

[RickC]

The 4th gen runners have small drum brakes inside the center of the rear disc brake rotors for the parking brake system. They do not self adjust, like earlier regular drum brake systems. However, they can be manually adjusted. You have to remove the rear wheels, and then you can access an adjustment wheel inside the rear disc from the outside using a small hole in the rotor. This has been discussed several times in earlier threads, and there may be a write-up on it.

I did not know this. Learn something new every day. Thanks for the info!!!

 

[gm350reratliff]

One would think that if you left the e-brake on long enough the heat generated from that could warp the rotor and/or take out the axleshaft bearing.

 

[bigwave]

Old thread but I'm a new owner. I bought a 2005 V8 4Runner for my 17 YO to drive. 138k miles and in good shape. He drove it a few days back 4-5 miles with the E-brake on. Said it started making funny noises and pulled off the road. I told him the *$%^ brake was on, didn't you see the light??? Anyway, took the E-Brake off and went down the road and all seems fine. The darn E-brake even still works pretty well; What did everyone else do? Any ill effects, I worried it could actually hurt the tranny from over heating. Should I pull anything apart and check out or ??

 

[MacRendar]

Old thread but I'm a new owner. I bought a 2005 V8 4Runner for my 17 YO to drive. 138k miles and in good shape. He drove it a few days back 4-5 miles with the E-brake on. Said it started making funny noises and pulled off the road. I told him the *$%^ brake was on, didn't you see the light??? Anyway, took the E-Brake off and went down the road and all seems fine. The darn E-brake even still works pretty well; What did everyone else do? Any ill effects, I worried it could actually hurt the tranny from over heating. Should I pull anything apart and check out or ??

If everything is functioning, why tear into anything? As previously discussed in this thread, the parking brake on these trucks doesn't do much, hence why it's so easy to ignore. One of the heaviest duty transmissions out there (with an external cooler to boot, which is standard on the v8) is not going to overheat because of a parking brake.

 

[AuSeeker]

Old thread but I'm a new owner. I bought a 2005 V8 4Runner for my 17 YO to drive. 138k miles and in good shape. He drove it a few days back 4-5 miles with the E-brake on. Said it started making funny noises and pulled off the road. I told him the *$%^ brake was on, didn't you see the light??? Anyway, took the E-Brake off and went down the road and all seems fine. The darn E-brake even still works pretty well; What did everyone else do? Any ill effects, I worried it could actually hurt the tranny from over heating. Should I pull anything apart and check out or ??

I wouldn't worry about anything.....except maybe a little adjusting of the parking brake shoes to compensate for the wear that driving it may have done....that is IF you need the parking brake where you live for hills etc., I very seldom use mine because it very flat where I live.