Hi all, When i bought my truck a few months ago, i noticed the back left drum brake was leaking brake fluid, not good so i bought a new master piston for inside and wheay it worked, after being bled of course, but after about a week of smooth running the right had side is now also leaking oil im not very confident that these brakes are ever going to stop me in a n emergancy, if both back brakes have failed then should i be worried about the front ?

ps its a 1993 hilux sr5

thanks

 

Maybe its time for a rear disc swap?

 

I don't see much reason for concern. I would just replace the right hand side (piston or cylinder assembly, whatever you want to do) and then inspect the front calipers. As long as they look to be in good condition, and don't stick, they should be fine. Calipers can fail in pairs, while the rear cylinders are fine. I imagine the same can happen in reverse.

One thing I would do, is flush the brake lines with fresh fluid.

 

yeah those cylinders (wheel cylinders they're called, btw) tend to do out in pairs

it's good practice to replace them both as a pair when one goes bad and starts leaking

 

Thanks for the quick relpys guys
and yeah well now ive learnt. . And the front calipers are in good Nik so hopefully be ok like you said
Cheers guys.

 

I fought drum brakes for years, always gunking with mud and debri, warped drums, uneven wear ont he shoes, new brakehardware, stuck adjusters, I replaced a wheel cylinder and the new one was faulty new hardware, new drums, shoes... then within weeks my drums were warped again... lets just skip to the end of a long frustrating cuss filled story.

I swapped to disc. Best money ever spent, even over the SAS and eveyr other dime i dropped into the pit! hehe

Drum brakes should only be put on vehicles that actually REQUIRE the extra braking power, not a light truck. What the hell Toyota?

 

yeah, swaping to disc does sound tempting but i dont really have the money to do that, plus this is just my first truck so i dont really minds its little perks, im going to sell it and buy a much bigger engine version anyway this is just my toy
i was just worried that my toy might never stop in an emergancy and my toy would either kill me or whome ever i hit :S but you guys are very helpful so thank you and ill keep my brakes in tip top condition

 

Brake fluid absorbs moisture over time, and the moisture reacts to form acids that corrode all of the cylinders. So yayfortrees' suggestion to flush the fluid is a good one. It should be done every few years. Use a good DOT 4 fluid - it's fully compatible with DOT 3 but beats the specs - higher temp and less absorption of water.

 

i think i may have found the cause, it turns out the cylinder i had replaced has failed, the stock one is still going, but i think it may have over extened, as my back pads are running pretty low, so could this be a problem ? because i know i have correctly installed the cylinder so could it just be it overextending ?
thanks

 

Deffinately could have been your problems. When those wheel cylinders over extend they can allow air into the system.

I know how you are feeling. I just did the V6 front brake upgrade on my 85 runner, and I am on the third set of reman calipers. They have all done the same thing. Work great for about a week then start leaking were the two half's meet. It does not take much for your pedal to get real soft.

Good luck

 

On update. Its not the brake that's leaking so thats good news. The bad news is that the leak is comming from the rear axle. so I'm going to have to take her to a garage and get a new axle seal

 

I just pulled my rear axle off my 84 4Runner.....93Hilux those axle shafts come out real easy after you take 4 bolts and unbolt the brake line. They just simply slide out. Then the axle seal is easy to get to. I thought of taking mine to a shop until i realized how easy it was to get to it, and i'm fairly mechanicly inclined.

 

Axle seal is like $10, taking the axle shaft out is a what, 10 minute job? So in about half an hour you could have it done for $10.

 

oooo thanks for the info guys that may have just saved me 500 buks.
so how easy is it to actually get the axles out ? what kind of special tools do i need?
And also i need to replace the bearing aswell, so how would i go about getting it out ? casue im guessing its going to be pretty well jammed in ? :S
cheers guys

 

It's four bolts that attach the axle housing to the axle-shaft drum backing plate, once those are off the shaft should slide right out. Don't forget to detach the brake line from where it goes into the wheel cylinder before pulling the shaft out! Once it's out, use a towel and a small pry-bar on the old seal, and then pop the new one in. Make sure to not damage the new seal when putting it in! Once that's done, just slide the axle shaft back in (make sure it doesn't rest on the seal until it's fully inserted or you could bend the seal and be back at square one), bolt things back up, re-attach brake line, and that should be that. Well, assuming it's the easier to get to of the two seals, which seems to usually be the case. If it's the other seal, prepare to take the brake apart and find a buddy with a press.

 

Thankyou for the info, I'm going to have a go at it all this afternoon.
Thanks guys !

 

Don't forget to drain the gear oil, or at least some of it!