2005 Tacoma. Brake issues

Hello,
Been a while for me here.
2005 Tacoma. Mushy brakes. Too much free play. Been to the Toyota garage. They installed a new brake booster. No change. They played with it for weeks and called it good or gave up. Still too much free play and mushy. Took it home to a local reputable garage. They installed an ABS module and also played around with it... Still no change. At a loss.
Have a notion to trade it in on another..

 

did you check wheel bearing?

I had my brakes go mushy due to my bearing taking a crap.

 

Nope.
Ok that's one option. Thank you.
Any other ideas. I open to everything.
PJ

 

Is this a newly purchased truck or have you had it a while and it just started doing this? If it's a newly purchased truck I would suggest checking the length of the booster pushrod. If it's too short you'll have to push the brake pedal quite a bit before it does anything. And of course if it's too long it'll engage the brakes all the time. If you've had it a while and the brakes have just deteriorated check the adjustment of the rear drums and make sure you have fresh and good quality brake fluid in it. it absorbs water and causes all kinds of issues eventually. Change it every couple years.

 

Check and see if the rear brakes are properly adjusted out of adjustment rear drums will cause a low or soft pedal

 

Bought this truck new. Been a problem for a while. Was told by the Toyota serviceman he double checked the Pushrod length when he installed the new Booster. The problems existed before the booster was installed. They thought that was the problem. I ended up taking it to another Toyota dealership this morning. I will keep u updated on their findings and suggest everyone's possible fixes here. thanks!

 

If the front wheel bearings are OK, then they need to make sure the rear shoes are adjusted correctly, don't have bent shoe webs, and are assembled correctly. Provided there are no external fluid leaks, then the master cylinder is the next possible culprit in line.

 

I have a 2005 taco and just fixed your exact same issue yesterday. When i bought the truck, pedal was mushy but if you pumped it, it would stiffen up (thats what she said!!). that means the master cylinder was bad. Replaced that, but pedal was still mushy and didnt stiffen up anymore. Weird. Then i put new shoes in the back, and also put in a new spring kit along with the shoes. Totally fixed my problem.

I also adjusted them properly because typically the auto adjuster doesnt usually do it's job back there. That was the issue, improperly adjusted rear brakes. I was all nervous that my ABS system was acting up, i needed new brake lines, new brake booster, all these other things but i was totally overthinking it. I didnt think it would make much difference because most of the braking power is up front, but i was wrong. My truck brakes like it should now. Granted there is still a little more travel in the pedal than some other trucks, but i know this thing brakes like it should now.

If i wanted to get crazy i could upgrade the lines to steel braided, but i am happy with how it brakes now. Hope that helps you too! Keep us posted.

 

Yes,
The rear brake adjustment was the problem.
Man, I really cant believe this vehicle went through two service garages and neither found this problem. One was a Toyota garage and the other a prominent repair shop. Both tried throwing parts at it to fix it.
Finally the 2nd Toyota service shop found it along with all of you who suggested looking at it.
Thanks so much for all the help. Its been two years with this issue.
Thanks again!!