My son bought a 96 tacoma 2.7L 4x4 5-speed manual with 238,000 mi. It seems to run and shift good, but as we tackled the rear brakes to fix the e-brake all sh_t broke loose. Drums were really really rusted and even after turning back the star tension adjuster to loosen the pads it would not budge. Did the 2 screws in the drum trick...cracked the drum....still frozen. Beat....heat...beat....heat.....nothin. Noticed the e-brake caliper on the back side was completely rusted and would not budge. Bolts are all rusted so you can't get a wrench on anything. It is the same on both sides. The threads on the right side drum to do the 2 screw trick we found to be stripped. My guess is it has been a long long time since any work has been done to these rear brakes. I'm at the point where I think I need to just pull the axles and replace with a complete used servicable assembly. I finally got the drum on the left side off, and everything inside is a mess and completely rusted.

I would appreciate the forum's advice and any approximate estimates for parts.

Sorry for the long post...thanks for the response in advance.

 

hmmm, you could be helping a lot of future problems by replacing the whole axle.... dep on what you want to spend i guess

 

Ok...I've been looking around for axles and I need some help.....Can anyone help validate some of this information.
Thanks for the help here.