I've got a problem when in reverse while in 4wd. It's a 97 4runner limited, 3.4l, auto. The first time I was at the dunes. When I was in 4wd backing up it felt like the rear brakes were dragging and making a squealing noise. I had to give it a lot of gas to get it to move. I pulled forward, went in reverse again and the problem was gone. Last night I was in some muddy water in 4wd and the same thing happened. Does anyone know what the problem is? Is this normal in these conditons?

 

Are the brakes dragging? The rear brakes might be, did you inspect down there to see if all parts are moving freely? Jack the truck up and see if you can spin the shaft forward and reverse, does it make noise then?

 

I'm pretty sure that it's not normal. My 98 never had that problem before and I've reversed many times with it in 4wd.

Your problem is probably the rear brakes dragging, as stated above.

 

rear pads probably binding up and tightening....reverse handbrake is how you adjust
self-adjusting rear drums. sounds like that is happening, or rear ebrake pivots are jammed

 

So it is my rear brakes binding up. I was able to re-create the noise by lifting my handbrake and driving in reverse. How do I adjust the rear drums?

 

Lift your handbrake and drive in reverse a bunch. Also just lift and lower it a bunch of times. That is how the adjusters work. You might go back and make sure the place where the handbrake connects to the drums is free and moving. Mine seized up, and that meant the brakes couldn't adjust.

 

I just got done with a shoe and drum replacement. I had the same issue when I got down and dirty I had a parking brake bellcrank that was frozen. Some heat, Kroil, and a BFH solved that problem. If you need to adjust w/o using the parking brake you can get in through the backside of the drum...there is a rubber boot that pops out then you can stick a screwdriver in there and spin the gear that adjusts your shoes.