TacoLimited-99

first time poster...
99 tacoma limited , 3.4L manual 5spd ,4x4 ..155k miles...
this Truck has been an absolute rock... never failed me ...
put gas in it ,, turn the key and go...
with the usual basic maintenance..oil changes .tires .changed timing belt and associated parts a couple months ago..
front and rear pad/shoes a month ago for the first time...
i have owened since 03 and it had 90k at that time..

when i pulled drums off..
on passenger side, axle seal was leaking so i had to pull axle and replace seal.. no biggie..
to my surprice, there was still a fair amount lining left on shoes..
hardware cleaned up perfect, almost like new..
had no wear or corrosion..
lubed threads on starwheel adjuster..
put it all back together with new shoes...

two days later truck didn't feel right
got on the freeway started to get a lot of vibrations and resistance , pulled over and could feel brakes dragging..

pass side drum really hot.. let it cool off..
only being about a mile from my house i drove it home...

got out brake spoon and skinny screwdriver then proceded to back off starwheel..
pulled drum off and everything looks fine...

two days later same thing..
ordered new adjuster hardware and installed..
two days later WTF***%$##$%^& same thing again..

as long as i don't use e-brake they dont adjust any thighter....

i live in San Francisco ca
and there's a lot of hills and sometimes have to use e-brake when getting started in heavy traffic to keep from rolling back into car behind you...

i'm at my wits end with these brakes...

does anyone here have a solution to fix of this problem....

thanks....

TacoLimited-99

just wanted to add ..
theres a adjustment screw on the bellcrank lever ... i did not touch that...
maybe that will have an effect..??? but cant find any info on particular bell crank adjustment...

did a lot of google searching ..
but could not find anything specific to my situation ...
only how to adjust ...some good info and some totally wrong info....

TacoLimited-99

just found this on rear brakes..

http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/rege...aking-service/

mdh

The bell crank adjustment bolt needs to be adjusted so there is 0.4-0.8mm gap between the bolt and the backing plate when you pull the bell crank arm away from the plate.
Too much gap and the brakes will over adjust.

Something like that. The exact procedure is in the repair manual.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Another thing if it is weak or you forget to install the spring that holds the arm against the adjuster it can advance more then one click for each parking brake use

TacoLimited-99

thank you for replying mdh ...
yeah thats pretty much what link was saying , that i put up in previous post yesterday ... for some reason now link shows something totally different..????
did find exactly what you was referring to for adjustment procedure
in the sticky thread "shop manual's online " drum installation
http://www.tacoma.site40.net/4Runner...r/rdb/inst.pdf

its very wet and stormy here today,
so in the next day or two when rain stops I'm gonna adjust bell crank to specified gap.. hopefully that should take care of my issue.....

TacoLimited-99

thx.. good point ...
i have all new hardware and springs.. soo i should be all good there...

TacoLimited-99

well ...
gave it another shot today....
still over adjusting...
backed brakes off...turned bell crank screw a few more turns... pulled e-brake 5-6 times..
brake dragging real hard... went true same procedure a few more times.... at this point adjuster screw on bell crank has been turned all the way in.
and still brake keeps over adjusting... this is driving me nut's..... what to do next????

Flash319

Is it not the more the bell crank bolt is screwed in the less travel of the arm you will have thus less adjustment movement?

TacoLimited-99

yes , thats what i was thinking as well...
but in this case it does not seem to make any difference.....
this is just happening on passenger side
i have done a many drum brakes over the years... (not Toyota) but this one has me stomped ...
according to these instructions..
you basically just removing slack between bellcrank on inside lever and steel cable that attaches to e-brake lever on shoe...
http://www.tacoma.site40.net/4Runner...r/rdb/inst.pdf
1. ADJUST BELLCRANK
(a) Lightly pull the bellcrank in direction ”A” until there is no
slack at part ”B”.
(b) In this condition, turn the adjusting bolt so that dimension
”C” will be 0.4 - 0.8 mm (0.016 - 0.031 in.).
(c) Lock the adjusting bolt with the lock nut.
(d) Connect the parking brake cable to the parking brake bellcrank
and install the clip.
(e) Install the 2 tension springs.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

The pivot on the rear cable mounted on the axle is moving free ??

Is this day it is quite possible even with new hardware you might have just got a bad spring .

If adjusting the bell cranks did not help it can only be something inside either the adjuster or the locking lever.

I must say in all the seized Bell cranks I fixed I never touched those adjustments in fact in most the adjuster bolts are missing I never had any over adjusting problems

The adjuster is moving more then it should

TacoLimited-99

its a little frustrating...
where i live the truck don't really get exposed to any harsh elements muddy terrain ,snow .ice. road salt etc...
very little corrosion if any.. no binding in bellcrank ..etc..
in fact this is what it looked like when i pulled drum off for the first time ,after 155k miles and 16 years...




and like i said before.. i had to replace axle seal..
all hardware cleaned up to almost new condition. no wear on starwheel..
lubed adjuster tread and slide pads on backing plate..
put it all back together with new shoes.. one side at the time.. (no mix up of left / right side parts)
all moving parts move freely including cable..

i decided to search goggle ( toyota bellcrank adjustment ) instead
and came up with way more direct results pertaining to my situation...

leading me to believe that the shoes might be the culprit...
shoes i installed ,i got from o'reilly auto parts and they where premium BrakeBest shoes..
a quick side by side comparison they looked correct...
i throw the old ones in garbage and by the time i realized there was a problem
the trash had already been picked up..
i think next thing im gonna do is to replace shoes again with toyota Oem shoes...

here a interesting thread i found..
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-ge...too-tight.html

and a pdf on bellcrank repair..

Toyota Truck Park Brake Bellcrank Repair - toyota - Toyota 4Runner ...

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

while you Can`t go wrong with Toyota parts

I have had good luck with the Napa Ultra Premium line .

Then when I do brakes every thing is new.

Good luck please let us know if this fixes your issue

TacoLimited-99

i don't have a Napa close to me but a Oreilly and a toyota service center about 1.5 mile from my house...
i got the toyota shoes, also i wanted make a exact comparison to the OEM shoes..
this is what i came up with..
even though they over all look the same.....They are Not...
1. theres about 3/4" more brake lining on each shoe
2. the pressed in anchor pin/stud that e-brake lever pivots on is positioned slightly higher on OEM shoe
3. the pressed in anchor pin/stud slightly lose on BestBrakes shoe...




installed the Oem shoes and all original hardware...
adjusted bellcrank to oem specs...
pushed and released bellcrank until self adjusters stopped clicking..
put the wheels back on ...
pulled and released e-brake handle 10-15 times with foot brake on and off..
went for a long test drive... hitting both foot and hand brake pretty good...
once back,. lifted wheels off ground , the spun freely with out dragging or scraping...

so i think problems solved....
I'll know for sure in a couple days..
I'll report back if it becomes a problem again...
hopefully this thread will help someone else in the future.......

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Glad that fixed the problem.

Comes down to getting the wrong shoes either pulled wrong boxed wrong or there quality control is really bad.

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

Great info, thanks for following up and sharing your solution.

I've typically had OK luck with decent aftermarket brands like Raybestos for shoes and pads. But over the last few years I have spoken to some professional mechanics who swear by OEM hardware for reasons just like yours.