Hey Guys,

I am currently working on an 88 Toyota Dually (2.4 EFI) and the parking/emergency brake has me tearing my hair out. Initially, I thought the non-engagement issue I was having with the e-brake was caused by a slack cable because the brake handle pulled out well past its 12 click limit. I went under the truck and tightened the cable and, even though the handle engages a lot sooner, I still get no bite at the back wheels. I know I need to adjust the parking brake shoes but where do I find those? Do I have to remove the wheels then the drums to adjust or can this been done externally without all the hassle of removing 4 wheels?

This is the only thing I have left to fix on the truck and, as I live on a hill, I kinda need to get it done. :p Any guidance I can get will be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

The rear brake shoes should self adjust when you drive in reverse, however you can adjust them without taking the whole rear apart. Jack up your rear and crawl under there, you should see a plate on the drum that has a rectangular hole in it, usually covered by a piece of rubber/plastic. This hole is the access for the adjuster screw. I'm not sure how you go about adjusting them this way off the top of my head but if you do some searches here you should find out how. Basically you have to lift up some lever inside the drum and turn the screw. I'm working on my rear parking brakes myself atm, but I can't get the two rear cables in because the brackets under the cab that they clip into are mangled on my truck and they hang low without being clipped in place.

 

Thanks! I am back under it today (replacing the oxygen sensor) so I will give it another try. Also going to try reversing it for a while because when I bought it ($900) the reverse tranny was toast, so it might stem from that.

 

Have you looked at the condition of the rear brake shoes yet? I would definately do that BEFORE adjusting the shoes out. Unadjusting the shoes to get the drum off is sometimes a pain in the posterior. If you do take off the drums make sure you have no grooves in them.