First Gen Brake Shoe Write Up

Since I was hard pressed to find a decent write up on brake shoes, I watched a few videos, did some research and was able to do my brake shoes by figuring them out. I am a DIY garage mechanic NOT A REAL MECHANIC, so take this how you like and let me know if it was done wrong. Reason for me doing it is because my rear bearings and seals blew, gear oil everywhere including on my brake shoes, drums and tires. This was done on a 2001 4wd tacoma.


Some prelude:


If your truck is a first gen around 160-170k miles your seals are probably going to go out soon so here’s some good info I did DrCoffee’s recommendation because it is simply logical to me. I also did grease tests during the install and he was right. Flipped the inboard retainer and moved it 1mm inboard. Seal is dead center based on the grease test, you can see my results on the last page on that thread.


And if you want to do full brakes, I recommend the 231mm tundra swap Then for a basic idea on brake shoes


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCpCkun2qxA


Tools:


Jack and stands

Wheel chocks

Tire Iron / Lug wrench

1 Package Anti-Seize

1 Package Brake Lube

2 8mm X 1.25 30mm Bolts

OEM Brake Shoes 04495-35151


And


Small tongue and groove pliers

Needle nose pliers

2 Flat head screwdrivers


Or, preferably


The correct brake tool (NAPA, Autozone, and O’Reilly didn’t have the tool locally so I made it work with what I had)


So:


1. Chock the front wheels so the truck WILL NOT GO ANYWHERE. If it moves and falls on you, you’re gonna hate life. So chock the front wheels.


2. Use the jack, lift the truck, then use the stands to secure the truck.


3. Use the tire iron to remove the wheel cap and the wheel.


4. Now you’ll be staring at the brake drum. There should be two small holes in the drum where the 8mm X 1.25 bolts will thread in. Tighten them, alternating back and forth, and the drum should come off. Some people use penetrating oil or WD-40 around the hub and in the lug holes to aid getting it off.


5. Now you should be looking at this


1. Shoe Hold-down anchor spring

2. Anchor spring

3. Parking brake cable

4. Front shoe

5. Rear shoe

6. Return spring

7. Adjuster

8. E-ring

9. C-washer

10. Automatic adjusting lever and Adjusting lever spring

11. Parking brake lever

12. Parking brake bell crank

13. Brake booster


6. The other side is the mirror image so do one at a time so you can refer to it.


7. Start off by removing the shoe hold-down spring. Push in and twist it. There are two “washers,” the spring and the pin. Note how they were on there in the bottom picture.


8. Now use the tongue and groove pliers to remove the anchor spring


9. Move the shoes down and out of the brake booster groove and wiggle the assembly over the hub.




10. Once the assembly is off, the only thing holding it should be the parking brake cable.



11.

12. Remove the E-clip with a screw driver by twisting it off



13. Now when you remove the automatic spring adjuster you will feel the lever spring on the back side. Note which end of the spring goes where, they are shaped different.



14. For the C-washer, use a flat head screwdriver and spread it open. When putting it back together you will clamp it with the needle nose pliers.



15. Separate the two shoes. One assembly worked by twisting it, the other I used two screwdrivers to pry the return spring off.



16. Now use the brakleen and a soft brush if you have a desire to and clean all the parts off.



17. Now, everything is clean. The Adjuster and star wheel is 4 pieces. Not sure what they are officially called so I will call them the female threaded part, star wheel part which has the male threads and non-threaded male, a little washer, and the non-threaded female part. I used anti-seize on the threaded portion so it doesn’t get stuck as the guy in the youtube video said. Then per Toyota I used the brake grease on the non-threaded male and female parts, the washer, and both fork ends of the adjuster. So the picture below this shows where I used the brake grease which is not in the black and red package.


18. Now reassemble the adjuster and put the parking brake lever back on with the c-washer. Use the needle nose pliers to fasten it.



19. Reattach the return spring and work the adjuster back on, I twisted it and was able to get it back together. When putting the adjuster back on note that it goes over both the shoe and the lever and in notches on both sides, there is also a little pin, make sure that’s facing up towards you. The missing portion of the spring correlates to the star adjuster.



20. Attach the Automatic adjusting lever and spring (in the right direction). The e-clip has history of flying away, so use care. When putting it on, using the pliers like this worked best for me.



21. Now before throwing everything back on, clean the backing plate and notice the 6 worn spots. There are 3 on either side, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 O’clock. Apply some brake lube in those spots.



22. Now, put it all back together in reverse. Attach the brake cable, jimmy the assembly over the hub, fit the ends into the brake booster, fit the bottom of the shoes behind the bottom portion and once its all on right, add the anchor spring (I used the tongue and groove) and shoe hold downs (I used my hands).


23. Now that one side is accomplished! Take a deep breath, pop your back, and commence the other side.


24. This is the part I had a challenge with. Now you need to adjust the shoes. I commenced putting the drum on, moving it side to side feeling for when the shoes start to press on the drum. This involves taking the drum off, adjusting the star wheel, putting the drum on, spinning it, taking it off, adjusting the star wheel over and over till there’s resistance but it still spins. If you cannot get the drum on, move the star adjuster in the opposite direction. Now do the other side.


25. If you haven’t done it in a while this is a perfect opportunity to bleed your brakes and if you have the interest, doing the brake booster in this project is a good idea.


26. Throw the wheels on, caps, lower it and test it in the driveway before you go running down a giant hill like a bat out of hell just incase something went wrong. But if it all worked the right way, you have earned yourself a beer simply because these things are a headache and certified at hurting people.

 

Thanks for the info.

But after seeing the tundra upgrade is 5lbs+ of unsprung mass/corner, I will go with more aggressive pads.

Has anyone done a braking comparison to quantify the actual benefits?

 

For what it's worth, my oe taco setup was wasted but that compared to the tundra setup was huge. Its reasoning is basic to me. Bigger rotor means better heat transfer=better cooling=more efficient braking, bigger pads for the bigger rotor means more surface area=more brake force, and the rotors are way larger and stronger = more brake force. Or think about it this way.... I took the brakes from a v8 tundra designed with a tow capacity of 7100 and threw them on my 3.4L v6 that tows 5500.

If you haven't read the write up I posted there's a lot of info in there all the way down to what wheels fit.

 

Great write up! I did mine a few months back and it was a bitch. I hate working on drum brakes. This write up will be very useful. Possibly sticky worthy

 

I can see your logic.

My first response would be: "I am not racing it so am not too concerned about heat dissipation"
But in reality, if you tow stuff and/or live in hilly terrain, then I could see the need. Not too much for me, to date, driving around pancake flat Houston.
Maybe I will revisit the idea in the future. For now I will get some more aggressive pads (Hawks or something).

 

I wish I had this a few years ago, nice job.

 

@OP... I see that you removed the hold-down springs and washers first, then slipped the entire assembly down and twisted it out, then removed the return spring.

Wish I'da thunka that.

First I removed the hold-down springs. Then I spend another 20 minutes or so removing the return spring. What a bitch! I used all of my strength, and a few curse words, to get it off. Then the rest of the disassembly was pretty easy.

I reinstalled the assembly in reverse order with the return spring near the end and the hold-down springs and washers last. Another 20 to 30 minutes using a variety of tools trying to get the return spring back in place while keeping all the parts in place, or nearly in place, until the contraption finally snapped together.

Gone are the days of two return springs hanging off a center pin above the wheel cylinder.

Your write-up and photos make me almost want to do it over!

Thank you very, very much for the photos and the info that you provided !!!!!

 

Skeezix, next time use a medium/large vice grips, clamp on a straight section of the return spring & stretch the hook end of the over to its hole, much easier, takes considerable strength tho.

 

Are the shoes the same for all first gen Tacoma models?

 

Should be about the same for all 1st gen. Brake drum/shoes are pretty consistent in design though between all vehicles, might be a few differences but concept is similar.

 

Never sell yourself Short you are just as much mechanic if not more so then most I have met.

We all get our own system for doing Drum Brakes .

Myself it is to the point they are easy.

What scares most is unless one pulls differentials often is looking at them every few years .