Rear right tire locked up

I made sure not to apply the parking brake last night, and this morning it was fine. I cancelled the dealer service because Denver is expected to get 8 to 12 inches of snow today. My current guess as to what is going on is there is water in the parking brake cable and it freezes and doesn't let the cable release. I would like to get some video proof of that before I head to the dealer though.

 

Just following up. I can definitely say without a doubt my issue is the parking brake cable. The weather has been below freezing for over a day, and came back from the store and accidentally engaged the parking brake. Instant lockup of the drivers rear, wiggled the cable where it enters the backing plate and wheel rolls. Really weird, because everything had to already have been frozen. It would make more sense if the cable froze overnight, but oh well.

 

Just had this happen to me this weekend. 2018 TRD OR M/T for the record. Was off-roading / camping and on a trail and it happened twice. Odd thing was that it went away almost immediately both times. First time trying to pull away, right rear dragged. Stopped, got out to inspect not knowing what was going on (felt like I may have been high centered or something so I got out to see if I stopped on a rock). Then got back in when everything looked ok and was able to leave just fine. Second time, same exact scenario and friend saw the right rear drag and told me on the radio. I stopped briefly, got out to see if we could see any debris or anything, and when I got back in to try again it was fine. Super annoying and definitely concerning for a truck I take to pretty remote locations.

 

I assume it was below freezing?

 

I have had this happen before on my 2016 TRD OR. It was not freezing at all. Washed my truck, drove it down the street to sling the residual water off the tires and came back and pulled into the garage. The truck sat for about 3 days after that and when I went to pull out, the rear wheel was locked up. I thought I was gonna have to get it towed out, but it finally broke loose. This happened one other time after the first time and I took it to the dealer to have them check it out. They said they didn't see anything but after doing to some research, it seems pretty common. I had a friend with a 4Runner that he pulled his boat with and it would do the same thing after getting wet and then sitting for a while.

 

I was on a four day trip, on day one I did about 25 miles of trails in the snow, but the lock up didn't happen until day 3 and it was in the desert middle of the day about 60 degrees out. There shouldn't have been anything frozen in or around the breaks as it had driven at least another 30 miles on roads/dry trails since the snow day.

 

I had this happen a couple years ago while living in Mississippi. 2000 Manual transmission Tacoma sat outside without moving for a few days in the rain and nasty humidity that is the south east. I always set my parking brake in that truck whether I was on a hill or not. It drug the left rear tire down the driveway a good 10’. Never happened before or after, in fact I forgot about it until I saw this thread.

 

This just happened to me. 2019 TRD OR 4WD. Southern CA - no snow... Washed it 2 days ago and then parked on the street on a hill, pointed downhill. Engaged parking brake. When I washed it I sprayed water directly into wheels (I always do this with all my vehicles that have discs). Went to move it this morning and it was stuck. Moved just a bit at first, then just spun the wheel. I thought I'd need to get towed. Tried 4WD with no luck. I then moved transmission shift from D to S and somehow it got freed up. Mystery. Called the local dealership and the guy told me he's heard it happening with rear drum brakes on these Tacos. Just F-ing bizarre...

 

Seriously is bizarre. Makes me want to do a rear disc conversion.

 

This has happened to me in a garage. But still cold enough to freeze. Another interesting thing to consider is how sticky in colorado mag chloride is. I do think this is the drum brake and not the axle. I wish I had more time to inspect mine when this happens, but I have experienced this in other makes/models where e-brake cable gets water in it and freezes not letting the brake go. More so could be the cheap drum brakes on this tacoma getting frozen temporarily too.

 

As I have stated before in this thread. This is not unusual or bizarre. I work on commercial vehicles and this can happen to them after a weekend of sitting. There are times where we have had to free up brakes with another vehicle by pushing them. You don't even need to spray them down for this to happen either but it definitely can make the problem worse. I have also had this happen to me personally with disc brakes. The brake lining and drum or disc get wet, the parking brake is applied and the components rust together. The longer the vehicle sits the stronger the hold.

 

If this is the case, how did it happen in my scenario? Vehicle working/running fine on the trail. Stop for a very brief time (no more than 10 minutes) and then it is locked when I went to leave? Definitely not cold enough for stuff to freeze, btw.

 

This has happened to me a couple times out in the mountains in below freezing conditions. The condensation in the drum freezes up and you have wiggle the e-brake line until it breaks free.

 

Had this happen twice. Both after a wash and left parked. Freed up first time with some throttle. Second time I turned on the auto limited slip and it popped loose. Looks like Toyota changed the quality of the steel the drums are made from. I see rust on the outer surfaces of the drum that my first and second gens never had.

 

Hi.
I am following up on a reoccurring issue with my truck. I own a 2018 Tacoma with 27000k
The passenger rear wheel is looking while the vehicle is being driven forward, you can reverse but soon after you move forward wheel locks. The vehicle in question was in for inspection on Jan 10, 2020. The malfunction occurred four (4) times today during a trip to the city.
This problem is becoming a safety concern as the wheel will lock randomly, either if I use the parking brake or not when the vehicle is parked (we thought, based on the Jan 10 inspection, that it was a problem with the parking brake needing adjustment and this was resolved during the service visit). Happened in the middle of an intersection and can not imaging what the situation will be if it happens while doing a left turn with incoming traffic.
Have anyone got a concise response on the possible cause of this?

 

As far as I know there has never been any real solution to this issue; however, if yours is locking up randomly while driving, you have a different issue. You need to ride Toyota hard on this one, I would send emails to whoever you can and make sure they fix it. I would basically demand they replace all the brake components on that wheel, including your e-brake cable. Next time it happens take a video with your phone, so you can show the service manager.

 

Hi, Thanks for the feedback.
Got video already and have an appointment set up. The issue is kind of a safety issue as one of the times it happened I was doing a left turn, hopefully, no cars were coming from the opposite direction.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z2jrddxdxqfydml/20200119_170032.mp4?dl=0

The dealer replaced parking brake cable and found a defective spring and a warped shoe in the wheel brake assembly. Spring set and the shoes were replaced have no experience the fail again.
We concluded that the spring failure was causing the locking issue.

 

So my 2019 (13k miles, 45 degrees temperature) did this today, went through a car wash and at the first stop sign after pulling out of the wash I got stuck. The rear tire would just spin if I mashed the gas pedal, I was stuck HARD. Really inconvenient spot too, had to wave a bunch of cars around for the 30 minutes that I was stuck.

I had called roadside assistance to tow the car to the dealership, and after turning the truck off and mashing the brake pedal super hard 10-15 times I heard a pop and the brake freed up.

I cancelled the tow because I'm expecting a "cannot replicate issue" from the dealer and need the truck tomorrow, but anyone have any advice on how to get them to take this seriously? I can't have this happen every time that it gets wet.

 

I finally got around to jacking up my truck and examining my rear drums this past weekend. Everything looked to be in good condition. I took a bottle of brake cleaner to both sides and got a lot of brake dust out. After washing my truck (which caused my right rear to lock up previously), I let it sit with the parking break on. It released no problem. My best guess is that when enough brake dust collects in the drum, wetting the dust allows it to either bind to the parking brake cable itself or, more likely in my opinion, to the shoe and housing of the drum, causing it to stick. I guess I'll just clean out the drum every 20-30K miles or so from now on and see if that works?