Jumping a vehicle brings to the table numerous items that you would normally rule out.

 

Update, no squeak from front when jacked up and spinning the tires. I’m gonna check runout probably tomorrow, ran out of time today.

 

Okay finally had a little time to work on the horunner. Runout on the flange measured is .006” so within spec according to fsm. Wheel bearing has .020” in/out play so it may be a little less or a little more than .006” but that’s about what it was consistently reading on the dial indicator.

the noise has gotten quieter but it’s still there. I did have some really bad shoe drag squeaking the other morning that went away after reversing 6 clicks on the adjusters in the drum. They seem to be auto adjusting themselves too much, my parking brake went from 20 clicks to 9 in two days. Maybe when I replaced the cable a few years ago I did something wrong? Dunno.

But back to the original noise, I think I’m going to make a little metal rectangle box to keep the drum slave cylinders compressed and drive it around the block without any drum or shoes, to completely eliminate that as a possibility of the sound.

 

Also just loosened parking brake at the pivot arm by the fuel tank to where it was so loose it doesn’t work anymore. Still getting the creaking. Maybe my wheel cylinders are bad and holding pressure or something??

 

You said it doesn't have a drive shaft center bearing, but undercarriage pics I see shows one and RockAuto lists one for sale.
I ask because the noise repeats itself faster than the wheels rotate once. That sounds like drive shaft as it turns faster.
This what mine looked like after 404,000 miles. I had no noise though, but your my be worn more through to the metal housing.

 

I’m absolutely sure my driveshaft does not require a center bearing, maybe the 2wd ones have it because they have a longer driveshaft cause no TC but I absolutely don’t. It’s a two piece with the splined slip yoke. It’s an RN130L-GKLSEA build, as far as I can see in a parts diagram there’s no center bearing. I’ve only ever seen those in 2wd yotas and extra cab 4wd. I believe the 4Runners are built on the single cab chassis. I don’t remember my wheel base right now but I remember it being shorter than my buddies extra cab.

 

When rear drums off, if someone pulls up on the parking brake in the cab, can you see the brake shoe adjuster turn? Obviously you'll have to tighten the cables up at the bell crank near the gas tank first.

 

yes, and it will turn a and click against the keeper.

 

I’m going to replace my wheel slave cylinders cause I noticed ones leaking. Is it possible to have warped drums and not feel it in the pedal? When I was setting drag with the click wheel I noticed there’s a real tight spot. Given I am spinning both wheels (truetrac diff) and the driveshaft when I rotate the wheel, I notice it more on the driver side (side with noise).

 

If you are doing new cylinders might as well put on new drums, they are relatively cheap.
I did a whole brake rebuild and used Centrix rotors and drums- no issues.
They make Stoptech components.

 

You can get oem Toyota wheel cylinders at a very fair price online.
I wouldn't start replacing any other parts right now unless you determine something is truly bad.

while a warped rotor can be usually be felt through the brake pedal, the drums, not so much. If you’re on a road with no traffic you can gently pull on the parking brake and feel for that same sensation. Don’t pull to hard, it’s easier to feel when it’s lightly engaging. Safer, too. Rear parking brake shoes don’t tend to grab equally from side to side.

If you swap drums from side to side does the noise jump to the other side?

 

I would in a heart beat. I'd replace all the brake components with all new before I wasted any more time jacking, pulling wheels, swapping drums, and test driving..etc. Especially since the cylinders are shot and they have to be replaced. It seems the brakes are the focus of the problem, so get rid of them all and start with a clean slate. The cost is very minimal and easy to do while you are doing the cylinders. If the noise goes away you win and can stop spending more weeks hunting it or if the noise is still present you can move away from brakes as they are not the cause. Plus having new set of brakes good for 100K miles is in itself peace of mind.

 

Hey guys sorry for not responding for a while, been real busy lately. I put new aisin wheel cylinders and sanded the drums real well and the noise went away for a while, came back Friday night. Haven’t had the time to pull anything apart and see, but I might order some drums off rockauto. The inside of the drums were real shiny before I sanded them so I’m guessing they got very hot somehow, which is surprising cause they’ve never worked all that well since I’ve owned the truck and I’ve never left my parking brake on. Are the acdelco drums good? I don’t know anywhere around here that turns drums or else I’d go that route. There’s still plenty of life left in these but I think the drums are the cause of the squeak now. It still sounds like the brakes are dragging in the rear.

 

Could the LSPV arm going to the rear diff be bent or damaged?

 

Not that I’m aware of, for testing I currently have it safety wired up to the frame. Not all the way at the end of its travel, but near it. I have lift springs in the rear so if it’s mounted to the track bar I have no rear brakes at all. It was mounted to the track bar when this started.

 

If you have unbolted the LSPV arm from the lower mount that went on the diff and raised it up that would increase the braking sent to the rear brakes.

 

Yes, the higher the arm to more it leans to 50/50 brake bias. That cabal be should not make the wheel cylinders retain pressure though, right?

 

No, shouldn’t hold pressure when brake isn’t applied