Tacoma Brakes Thumbs Down

Never had a single issue stopping in any of my Tacomas, even when towing.

This thread gets a thumbs down from me.

 

I had my Tacoma for five years and ran with 500lbs of gear on a daily basis. I can safely say that during a had full of emergency stops the truck did actually stop and had no problem throwing everything that was on the backseat onto the floor. Are drum brakes old technology??? Yes, but so is the internal combustion engine, you'll be fine.

 

They last longer, stop just fine, and I don’t care. They do the job. You do most of the braking with the front also, which are disc. The Tacoma isn’t perfect, but I like it the best of all the others. I’m not going to let rear drum brakes sway my decision. Funny, Tacoma’s have the highest resale of any midsize pick-up and they have drum brakes.
just curious, what’s the longest someone here went before changing the rear drums?

 

Toyota installed the same size drums on the 79 - 85 4wd Pickups and 4-Runners. The only significant difference is that the 2016 drums have an additional pound or two of iron.

 

That's because they're left over from the old Corona...... really.....

 

Grip comes from weight. This is why front brakes are more important. Because as you slow, weight transfers to the front wheels.

Combine that with it being a pickup, and a composite.bed at that, there is minimal weught over the rear tires during braking.

Drum brakes last forever, require minimal attention, and very resistant to damage due to warping or getting bashed with rocks.

 

Maybe he just wants to drive a single speed in reverse.

 

We 2nd gen guys gave you 3rd gen guys our rusty frames, non locking fuel doors and rear drum brakes and this is how you act? Buncha ungrateful bastards

 

Google "self energizing brakes" and see what you come up with then think about why Toyota used them.

 

As someone who gets out in the sticks quite a bit when weather is crappy, I'm personally fine with the drums on the rear and actually prefer them. Getting in mud and rocks that get kicked up between the front discs and brake shield is a serious PITA. "Scrrreeeeeeeee". Stop, back up to dislodge the offending stone, go forward for a bit until it happens again, and repeat.

And they are much lower maintenance. Win-Win for me.

 

One time i was driving towards an intersection at 45mph, i was about 200 yards out when the signal turned red, i gently applied pressure to the brake pedal. Somehow i came to a full stop without going into the intersection, there must have been an angel watching over me.. omg talk about an adrenaline rush!

 

Drum brakes are some times finicky if every thing is not quite right the have a tendency to pull to one side or the other this isn't a big deal on the rears but the bottom line they stop pretty good and with a load in the back they do better than disks with less pedal effort. The majority of breaking is on the front because of weight shift so yeah big rotors and calipers are the norm on the front it's a good blend I have had Toyota trucks with 300K with the same rear brakes that it came with.

 

I put 125,000 miles on my first generation years ago without touching the rear drum brakes and never had a problem.

 

I clicked on the click-bait...And oh the joys of the irrelevant opinion of a non-automotive engineer thinking he/she is a better engineer than those hired by a global-industry corporation...

 

Can’t believe it took until page 3 for a few to mention the rocks/mud/debris getting caught in disc brakes but not in drums. It’s an on/off-road truck, drums are the smart choice for the design/purpose of the Tacoma.

 

Brakes is something Toyota did well, it’s the going part that blows

 

Up next on TW:

Rear drum lock anytime mod.

RDLATM ?

 

back in the day i got a 1970 GM A body with 4 drum brakes , all 4 corners. two of them had nearly failed. and the frame was significantly bent, there was basically no alignment, and it was in Seattle with 10 months of rain. boy that was a few 'fun' months. don't mind the drums but can't believe regular street cars ran with these, like the one i had with a big block. eesh.

 

Stuff people say, but the Land Cruiser doesn't come with rear drum brakes. IMO Toyota gives the Tacoma drums because they're cheap and a good income stream for when the rear diff vent rusts shut. When the rear vent rusts shut it's party time as the hot oil blows past the seals, wiping out the rear axle bearings and the rear brake shoes. The killer part is I believe the rear diff vent has been the same design since 1979. The rear axle design is kind of shit to start with.

 

If only this damn Taco forum had a search function...
Readin' & stuff is hard anyways...