Strange rear brake issue- Please advise

Starts out that one day the rear drivers side brake drum on my 2008 Tacoma 4x4 became extremely hot. I took the drum off after it cooled down and expected either a frozen wheel cylinder or a bad wheel bearing. The bearing seemed to be OK so I just went ahead and installed a new wheel cylinder, bled the brakes and put everything back together. I went for a short road test and I'm having the same exact issues with the drum being hot. This is where I'm lost. I've looked at the brake assembly and that appears to be ok, I'm able to remove the drum by hand without to much resistance and without the brake drum installed the hub/axle turns freely( with the rear wheels off the ground of course). When I put just the drum back on I can turn the axle but there is a noticeable resistance and it sounds like it is the brake lining contacting the drum but it will turn. Now if I hand tighten 2 of the wheel nuts I can not turn the drum and axle. Has anyone got any ideas what it could be, Thanks.

 

Your brake shoes are dragging on the drum. How many clicks does the e brake handle go...?
Readjust the shoes with the adjustment wheel and back it off a couple of notches.

 

Have you verified your parking brake cables aren't seized?

 

You don't mention adjusting the adjuster. Turn it in a turn or two.

 

I have not messed with the parking brake. I have turned the star wheel all the way in to minimized the brake shoe diameter. What I can not get my head around is the fact that I can easily put the drum on and off but as soon as I tighten down the drum it seizes.

 

im not certain................

check the backing plate on the rear axle housing

be certain it is ‘ square ‘ to the axle housing & axle

after tightening...........it sounds like the torque is distorting the backing plate

 

I'll check out the backing plate but the friction sound appears to be associated with the shoes. Question. If the parking brake was frozen at that particular brake, and that is causing the issue, would I be able to put the drum on and off fairly easily? This just not make any sense to me.

 

Also make certain the mating surface of the drum, axle and wheel are clean and free of rust and corrosion otherwise when it's tightened down it may not sit square on the axle.

 

Have you removed both drums recently and got them back on the wrong sides? I did this once and had one side getting so hot you could smell it. After a couple of days, I figured it out, swapped the drums back to their respective sides and all was well.
The shoes and drums wear into each other over time.

 

the OP had only mentioned specifically 1 side

i had not considered the possibilty U have correctly mentioned as cast iron is very directional

 

I think I have found the problem. The emergency brake cable appears to be frozen in the expanded or partially expanded position. Tomorrow I will take the assembly apart to confirm, but I'm pretty confident that is my problem. Thanks to everyone for their helpful suggestions. This forum is great.

 

hope that is .....................

yet if Uv heated the 1 side a few times

not likely that side is even with the other side

might want to rehab the rear axle all around

 

Good find, let us know how it turns out!

 

When you reassemble:

 

Always replace the springs when replacing brake shoes or wheel cylinders. I had a brake failure once caused by not replacing the springs.

 

They must be making these springs differently now. I have done more drum brakes than I can count and I have only replaced a few springs usually the small ones that hold the shoe to the backing plate and once when I lost one while it was disassembled. :shrug:

 

My old springs would have worked fine but the whole bag of hardware for both sides was only $10 and worth it for new. The only thing worth getting out of that kit was the horseshoe clips that hold the parking brake to the shoe assembly. The old springs can easily be reused though.

 

Had a drum out of round that will grab/drag only going one direction. Not sure, but the emergency cable will balance between both sides where it connects under the center console. You may want to check that mechanism as well to include if the drum or drums aren't out of round.

 

I too have done north of 600 drum brake jobs. The springs will generally last unless you do something like park it submerged in salt water. I have seen the little pins that hold the shoes to the backing plate with springs and cups break in two. So I plan on replacing the pins springs and cups. I always pull the boots on the wheel cylinders back just enough to check for leakage.