e-brake adjusting rear brakes

recently i noticed the rear passenger side tire locking up on my 01 tacoma v6 4x4. i took off the rear wheel and the drum was stuck so i knew the shoes were open more than they should be. upon closer inspection i noticed when i moved the e-brake mechinism it turns the brake shoe adjuster which moves the brake shoes outward and when i release the e-brake it doesnt return the adjuster to its original position.

so basicaly every time i use my e-brake it adjusts my brake shoes outward. it doesnt look like any parts are broken or missing. Am i missing something, is this suppose to happen or has anyone else had this issue?

 

This might help. http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/drum-brake-self-adjusters-understanding-these-ancient-devices/

My guess is your adjusters are fine, but your shoe return springs are weak.

How many miles on all the hardware?

 

Using the e-brake on a regular basis is how your rear brake shoes stay in proper adjustment. When you pull the e-brake, the cable pulls on the bellcrank which pulls on another short cable attached to the parking brake lever. The parking brake lever has an automatic adjusting plate attached to it that rests against the adjuster wheel. When you pull the parking brake, if the adjusting plate can move one or more teeth it will tighten the brakes a little. Once the shoes are properly adjusted, using the parking brake won't move the adjusting wheel anymore until the brake shoes wear down enough to allow another click of the adjuster wheel. Hope that makes sense.

Here's a video about replacing the rear brakes that gives more information if you're interested.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/IJkVEBYSecs

 

I must have taken mine apart 3 times looking to see what the issue was. Everything "looked" good and I was stubborn about not listening to what other peeps said about replacing the springs and adjusters. The dealer had to order erverything and it was the down time that turned me off of going the dealer route for parts in the first place. New factory shoes, springs and adjusters and no problem since.

 

Kind of. Many Drums self adjust when you brake in reverse, you don't have to ever use a parking brake. There are a handful of different drum brake methods out there, not 100% sure which toyota uses.

 

Not 1st gen Taco drums, Timmah is correct.
In fact there is no need to do an "initial" adjustment of new shoes by turning the star wheel via the slot in the backing plate. Simply toggling the e-brake lever back and forth does the job, in seconds. Unless over travel of the mechanism is happening, due to wear/sticking/adjustment.

 

Agreed!

 

Well, there ya go free up the adjuster and life should be good.

 

"Free up" then adjust the bolt that limits the travel of the bellcrank so it does not keep tightening.
.

 

Thinking about my last taco (01), there has to be another method of action tHan juts the ebrake. The parking brakes were rusted solid in the no brake position when I got it and the brakes were adjusted fine. I spent hours beating them into submission so I would have a working e-brake for winching duties.

And really over my entire life of driving I've seen a p brake used a handful of times. There can't be 99.99999999% of toyota trucks out there with no rear brakes. Although it might explain all the wrecks here in Florida....

 

thanks for all the input everybody, ill try a few things that were suggested and leave an update. (Clearwater Bill) im not sure how many mile are on the hardware, the truck has 185,000 miles on it and i got it with about 165,000. but some of the springs still have paint and a shine to them so im guessing there not too old.

 

Second opinion and a good read on the subject.

 

Thread is about 1st gen brakes.
Are you speaking of 3rd gen brakes?

 

Oops...thanks.