Brake Issues

Hi all,

A little stuck here hoping someone can weigh in and help me pin point a problem.

I’ve had a recent and fairly sudden change in my brake pedal. When cruising normally and coming to a stop my brake pedal has a lot more travel than it used to but still stops reasonably. If I pump the break it returns to normal travel and feel. Belo are items I’ve checked or maintenance I’ve done.

I use the parking brake religiously so I assume the adjustment of the rear pads shouldn’t be an issue. Is this feature known to be problematic?

2011 Tacoma, 174k miles

Inspected front pads, plenty of pad life remaining (replaced w/ new pads and rotors about 15k miles ago)

Inspected rear pads (original to truck, looks to be about 4mm+ of pad left)

Inspected all lines and fittings for leaks. None noted

Replaced master cylinder and bled/ flushed system with new brake fluid.

any thoughts greatly appreciated!

zak

 

Did you adjust up the rear brakes?

 

4mm means the rear brakes have never been adjusted. They need to drag when spinning freely.

The master cylinders do fail on these trucks, but its critical to adjust the shoes first.

 

I’m under the impression that the rear brakes adjust automatically by use of the parking brake? Is this not the case? If not, maybe this is the culprit that I need to look into.

 

No, this is a myth that even my dad taught me.

This will 100% fix the firmness of the pedal.

Ideally you'd clean out the dust with some brake clean as well.

 

Thanks Bishop,

I know my next steps!

 

Did you adjust up the rear brakes?

No. Id clean and adjust the rears as @Bishop84 mentioned.

 

Normal

 

If you adjust rear brakes to spec and still getting those symptoms, check your front wheel bearings for excessive wear/play.