Hi all,

I wanted to repair my parking brake. It has never worked properly (tight enough), so, after replacing my drum brakes (shoes/cylinders), I thought I'd look into it.

With my wife activating the parking brake, I observed the movement of the driver and passenger side parking brake cables. Pulling the parking brake handle pulls the passenger side cable tight (therefore locking on the rear brake), but it LOOSENS the driver's side cable! When releasing the parking brake handle, the reverse happens.....the passenger side cable slackens (releasing that brake), but tightens (although not greatly) the driver's side cable!!!

Any ideas what is going on?



Thanks,
Julian

 

I think the mechanism is corroded/stuck. I compared it to the mechanism on my other 86 Toyota, with minimal original miles, and I think it needs disassembling/cleaning. I'll report back once I do that, but I want to put it on the lift for ease of working on it!

Thanks,
Julian

 

I removed the cables (front and 2 rear) from the adjustment mechanism. I then removed the mechanism, and, using much heat, separated the 2 parts which were indeed corroded and stuck. I cleaned everything up, greased everything, readjusted the cables, and the brake works perfectly!!