Asked this in another 4Runner forum but it really has me puzzled so I thought I'd throw it up here as well. I put on new pads & rotors last weekend and except for rusty caliper pins in front it went pretty smooth. Done lots of brakes in my lifetime this was just another one. Once I got it put all back together I noticed a faint "scrape, scrape" sound at the left-rear wheel when going forward that faded as I went faster and a definitive "CLUNK" when I backed up almost like something was binding.

So today I raise the the rear end and compare rear wheels. Driver's side clunks when the tire is turned and passenger side does not. I pull the rear driver's side wheel & caliper and it seems like the sound was coming from the E-brake. The E-brake shoes in here looked ok, no excessive wear or scoring on the new rotor. Pulled the rotor and backed off the star-adjuster and put it back on thinking this might be it and still getting a clunking sound from the rear hub assembly when turning the wheel in what would be reverse, even without the caliper & pads!! That old rotor came off easy and I doubt I damaged the wheel bearing in the process but I'm stumped!

Oh and I'm pretty sure it's not the infamous driveline clunk because I keel everything greased up real good and this is right at the rear wheel, only on the driver's side.

Any ideas?

 

What year 4Runner do you have?

 

Oh sorry, it's a 2008 SR5 with the 4.0 in it.

 

So it turns out it was the parking brake on the driver's side. It needed adjustment and after I backed it all the way off thinking it might be the problem it was waaaay off. It was so loose it would catch and bind when I was backing up. With the rotor off I kept expanding the parking brake shoes until the rotor was super tight then backed it off a few notches, put it all back together and it's perfect. Has to be the strangest problem I've worked on in a long time.

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Glad to see you fixed it. I am not familiar with the newer 4runners. Good to see another member from the WNY area (unless it's Buffalo, Somewhere else).

 

Thanks. No, it's Buffalo NY! Good to see another Buffaloian here too.