A while back, I stumbled on a 1985 regular cab longbed 4x4 that was pristine. The truck has no mods except some custom wheels and 31" tires, and I like it that way. I'm getting hung up on the rear brakes though. In wet/cold weather, the rear brakes want to grab and skid for the first stop or two. I have noticed that if I deliberately grind the brakes while driving for a bit, it's not quite as bad. I just know that one of these days I'm going to forget to grind my brakes and rear-end someone, or worse. I've had the fluid flushed, had the calipers cleaned an lubed, adjusted the parking brake to no avail. I want to keep the truck but if I can't figure this out I will just have to sell it I guess. I thought about just trying different pads, but everyone I talk to seems to think that would do no good. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Calipers have nothing to do with drum brakes.

Front or rear? Or both? Which are we talking about?

Go to a reliable mechanic. Brakes are straight forward.

:wabbit2:

 

I mentioned rear a couple of times. You get the idea that I cleaned the brake hardware on the rear brakes with no benefit. Can you suggest what the parts are called if not calipers? I've been to a few mechanics and gotten answers like "IDK" and "put some weight in the back." Sounds like malarkey to me, that's why I thought I'd try here because it's a specialized community for a really old truck.

 

You have a load sensing proportioning valve. It senses a load in the bed,and adjusts hydraulic pressure. May need adjustment.

 

Read here for part pictures and names
www.ncttora.com/fsm

:wabbit2:

 

Drum brakes have shoes that are pushed outward against drums. Those are what stops the truck in the back.
Calipers push pads inwards against a rotor and that is what stops the truck in the front.

Might be your lspv, or the friction material of the shoes could take a while to warm up before they work optimally.

 

But what pushes the shoes out? Wheel cylinders I say! Yes, wheel cylinders it is...

 

Then you could say its the pistons for the front

 

It turns out that this is a common problem, not just with Yota trucks ( https://www.google.com/search?q=drum...hrome&ie=UTF-8 ). I don't see any good solutions out there.

 

Learn to drive it like this!!

I swear they are making the driver just a steering wheel holder.

In the olden days just after the dinosaurs one expected a empty pick up to act like this .
Replace your LSPV or install a manual valve.

I have no idea what you mean by grinding your brakes??

 

I apply my brakes and give some gas while I'm in 1st or 2nd gear, that way the rust gets rubbed off before I have to make an unexpected stop.

 

Seems like a small problem to want to get rid of the truck. I agree with Wabbit. Brakes are very simple. Any mechanic should be able to figure it out.

 

Something is out of adjustment. Could be the proportioning valve, could be the drums need to be turned. Could be the wheel cylinders are sticking or leaking.

 

This thread actually helped a little. I think I will try LSPV next. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...easily-259931/

 

Some follow up, I solved this issue by keeping my rear brake calipers clean and lubricated. The trouble started with the e-brake actuators which had seized. When the calipers were actuated, they were also sticking in the "engaged" position and not retracting. It turns out that a little periodic cleaning and lubricating did the trick.

 

Once again, there are no calipers in the rear on these trucks. It makes it really hard to follow what you're saying if you don't know what the parts are called.