BajaRunner

I replaced my rear axle seal yesterday, as well as my brake shoes which had soaked up all the diff oil.

I cleaned the crap out of my drum, and sanded the inside down to create an adhesive contact with the new shoes.

The other side was inspected and the shoes were still looking brand new as they were just changed last year.

Anyways, I was driving and could smell the brakes after 30 minutes of city driving. (I have a good sense of smell). After checking the drum with the new shoes, it was too hot to touch, and the other one was just warm, and not steaming.

What is causing this?
1) Shoes are just not making good contact and creating friction under braking?
2) Shoes are new and constantly being rubbed against drum?
3) Left over grease making them spin? (I cleaned everything very well!)

Hell, is this just normal? I never noticed it before.

bflooks

did you adjust them properly? is your ebrake stuck?

BajaRunner

Yeah, I did the whole pull up the ebrake thing. I felt it get tighter and tighter..

The ebrake and the pedal feels absolutely awesome!

Tanto

Have you tried driving in reverse and then yanking the e-brake to adjust it?

And no, that is not normal.

BajaRunner

Yeah, I did that.

Im thinking about just going into the plug behind and turning the adjusting gear... but, Im not at home and wont be for another week... :/ Gotta go buy some cheapo screwdrivers.

mastacox

Is there a lot of drag if you jack up the rear end and try to spin the wheel?

BajaRunner

Nope, not at all...

BajaRunner

So are the brakes not sticking and creating friction, or are they just sitting on the drum?

Will they just wear down after a few miles or what.

SLC97SR5

Mine did that same thing after I replaced them. It did it again after I adjusted them a year later. I always use my e-brake to help keep them adjusted but they were a bit loose. I was wooried as well, so I jacked up the rear axle and I could spin the tire almost a full revolution by hand before it stopped. I say chech how much you can rotate them by hand, if they go nearly a full revolution I'd call it good and drive for a 20 miles or so. Mine went away after 50 miles.

X-AWDriver

I had the same problem but mine was error on the parts place and gave me pads for a '99 Pathfinder which were identical but just a tad thicker and fit too tight when the drum was placed on. The fix was simply get the right pads so do check some parts numbers.

BajaRunner

Grrrrrr!!

So I downloaded the Toyota FSM and it said to back off the adjusting screw. Okay, that makes perfect sense. I did the direction they told me to, and realized...wait, this thing is getting tighter. So I tightened both of the drums all the way down. :/ Now they are both hot after driving around the block.

I decided to try and do the reverse thing... seems like the hand brake got looser, but, the brakes are still hot.

Then tried to back the adjusting screw back off, but, I cant get the other lever off the teeth correctly. If I had my tools Id be fine, but, Im not going to be able to use them for at least a month or two. (moving back home, but left them with my friend since I cant move them all)>

BajaRunner

OKay I finally figured it out. Posting this for anyone else who runs into this problem:

I had to turn the adjustment screw the opposite way and hold the lever off at the same time.

Here it is in the FSM:

http://www.deserted1.com/FSM/Repair_...4wdpr/remo.pdf

Arron

Thanks for posting your find... I have the exact same problem after changing my rear seals and pads.... Is it possible it tightened to much? Should i just drive it some more to brake it in? My rear left got VERY hot, as in searing hot, i splased some water on it and boy did it ever steam and boiled the water right off..... Will the pads just brake in, or did i do something wrong with the new pad instalation (followed book ) and why would it tighten so much? The passenger side seems fine?

And when i jack her up the wheel is very very hard to turn, vs the nice free turning she did with the new bearing and seals? And could this ruin any seals??? OMG that would suck!

marko3xl3

Sorry to hi-jack (kind of OK since the thread is over ).

I was just wondering if you are not gonna come back to Santa Cruz. I drove through there once and saw your truck and always wanted to say hi, but never got around to it.

BajaRunner

Aaron: From what I experienced, I drove a good 200 miles and the brakes did not "wear" in at all. I needed to manually BACK off the adjusting screws. You have to use two screwdrivers. One to hold back the arm, and one to turn the toothed peice.

Marko: I lived there for 5 years and just moved last month. Did you see my truck parked out in front of 20th street? Thats my old house there. Im actullay going to be going back twice a month. If you see my truck again come by and ask for Ian. I usually wear no underpants and have a pink too-too.

00Runner

I had this too and it went away with time. Backing of the adjusting screw may or may not help as using the e-brake with tighten it up again. This is by design as using the ebrake will automatically adjust the brakes as they wear.

For reference, the proper procedure when changing brake shoes:

- Remove old shoes.
- Put on new old shoes.
- Back off adjusting screws all the way.
- Put drums and wheels back on.
- Adjust the brakes by repeatedly pulling up and releasing the e-brake until you no longer hear a clicking comming from the rear brakes.

If you don't do this last part you could be operating without full brake function.

Arron

Thanks for the input. When i jacked her up the wheel was locked with the brakes, so I backed off the adjusting screw on the hot drum ( i mean searing hot! ) took the drum off and ensured all was ok ( looked ok, aside from some searing from the heat on the drum ). Now when i drive it still heats up a LOT, after 45 mins around town the drum is searing again. When i jack her up the wheel does turn, but there is drag.... Any ideas on what im doing wrong? The other side seems to be ok. The shoes were changed due to a leaky seal, they were only 6 months old, so I used the "old" springs and didnt have the drum turned because it still looked mint, could this cause some problems?

Why is my drum still so damn hot??? Please help!