Drum brake time

The shoes on my rear brakes are down to about the minimum spec. I'm going to order parts and do the job in the next two or three weeks.

I'm going to replace the drums and am thinking about using the Power Stop drums from Rock Auto. Thoughts on those?

What shoes do y'all like?

Here's the real reason for my post - should I replace the wheel cylinders while I'm in there? The whole mechanism in there is a rusty, dusty mess. The truck has 285k miles. It seems like a fair bit more work to do the cylinders and they aren't leaking now. However, I'm about to compress them more than they've been in years and I'd hate for them to start leaking _after_ I do the job. What's the conventional wisdom here?

 

I went with all OEM, except for the hardware. Replaced every single part possible too

 

Sub'd because I plan on doing this as well.

 

At 285k I would take it down to the bare axle housing and replace bearings,seals,backing plate,wheel cylinders,Ebrake pivots,springs,retainers,adjusters,shoes,drums and shoot for another 300k.Others will say if it aint broke dont fix it. Once you pull back the cyl.boot you wil have a better understanding of how far you wanna go. Your call really.

 

In case you need.....

 

You could take your drums to a machine or auto shop and see if they can resurface them for you. If there’s not enough thickness left for you to resurface them, you can get new drums either aftermarket or OEM, or not worry about it and use your current drums. I’ve done rear brakes on these rigs several times and never bothered to resurface or replace the drums. Usually the drum is pretty smooth and your braking will be fine just with replacing the shoes.

If you like wasting money, replace the brake cylinders, springs and other parts like somebody suggested. If you want to be smart, don’t replace any of these parts other than the shoes. Look at it this way, do you replace your front brake calipers just because? No, you don’t. So, why would you replace your rear brake cylinders if they’re working fine and aren’t leaking. Those wheel cylinders easily could last you the life of your rig. Now, they could spring a leak at some point, and then you replace them. But, chances are they’ll never leak on you. As for springs and other associated brake hardware, unless they are super rusty and might be prone to break, clean them up and reassemble with high temp grease where appropriate. Those springs and other brake hardware, like the wheel cylinders can easily last you a life of your rig.

I suggest you use only Toyota OEM shoes because some people have reported problems with aftermarket shoes fitting correctly in the drums.

This video will help you out:
https://youtu.be/IJkVEBYSecs

 

Timmah!, funny you should reply. I've been studying that video. Thanks for doing it.

Part of the reason I'm replacing the drums is they are quite rusty. Is that little square tab welded on the face of the drum a weight to balance it? I knocked that damn thing off and jb welded it back on pulling the drums to have a look at the shoes. I figure if it is a balance weight and the JB Weld ever lets go I'm going to have a real wobbly ride. You can see it in your video at 11:50 in your video. It's at about the 7 o'clock position on the drum.

 

^^^Lots of this.
If your wheel cylinders aren't leaking or frozen (and you should definitely pull your drums and have a looksee before ordering parts), and your bleed fittings aren't seized, then leave them alone. Likewise with the drums: were you shaking under braking? If not, and they pass minimum thickness requirements, save your money. Even in New England, the spring hardware usually lasts multiple shoe replacements.

 

How do you determine that without removing the shoes?

As I said, at least one drum is trying to shed what I assume to be a balancing weight.

 

Pop the drum off and peel the boot back on either side of the wheel cylinder. If brake fluid leaks out, get a new one. Take a pair of water pump pliers and press the pistons back into the bore. If both move back in easy you're good to go. If they're stuck, get a new one.

 

Perfect, thanks. I'll do that before I order parts.

 

I'm back. The wheel cylinders aren't leaking, but they are getting replaced. They are a rusty a mess and need to go.

However, I found that the driver's side bellcrank is not adjusted right at all and I'd like some help figuring out what's wrong with it. Witness my pictures:
The passenger side looks right according to Tim's video:



The driver's side is a hot mess:

 

They get stuck like that sometimes. Good you found before tryn to pull drums. Hammer it back down just dont hit the cable. You got the bolts used to pull the drums or ya gonna beat it till it cracks the drum?

 

I got the bolts, but the drums are being replaced, too.

Edit: OHH, but that explains what it was so hard to get the drum off that side, doesn't it?

 

The bolts to pull the drums are M8-1.25 use penetrating oil. Once both are tight 1 turn each. spin drum, repeat untill drum clears center hub. If the shoes wont allow removal Quote and re post HELP

 

BINGO ! WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER

 

Keep a gob of bearing grease or fluid film under that rubber cover to prevent Ebrake drag/lock on in the future.

 

What rubber cover? I'm having some trouble with the ebrake light, too. Have to fidget with the handle to get it out.

 

The rubber covers in ur pix BELLCRANK you called em

 

Got it. Thanks. Really appreciate the help.