Taco parking brake.....

Could the cable get stretched like on older vehicles? I know on older vehicles, it'd even have an adjustment on the bottom of the handle under the boot that would let you tighten it up. Not sure how these new Tacos are configured.

 

Long thread resulting from a simply question "Use the parking brake or not".
The Tacoma rear drum brakes are mostly overlooked by owners as they don't do most of the braking so out of sight out of mind.
As such the rear springs do get rusted and weaker, the drums grooved, weights could be dropped causing out of balance, the shoes worn down and out of round, the adjusters hard to rotate, and wheel cylinders can get gummy or leak. The shoes have several levers attached that pivot and when the parking brake is applied push the shoes out to lock the shoes against the drums, and at same time a lever is actuated that if the shoes are far enough apart pushes down on the star adjuster to expand them and keep them spaced closer to the drum. On my Tacoma the lower parking brake shoe strut was rusted solid to the shoe and freed by prying off and cleaning and greasing.
1. Yes rust can screw up rear drum brake operation - preventative maintenance (PM) is the answer.
2. Yes if the rear drums get wet and it freezes out and you applied the parking brake they can get stuck to the drums (anyone living in such climates knows this).
3. Yes if the cable and/or foot/hand actuator is messed up it can cause parking brake issues (again PM). (Cable length adjustment under the center console)
4. Yes it is a good idea to use the parking brake to keep the shoes adjusted but this is still a free country so do as you please but do so knowing the facts not how you feel
5. Yes if you do not use, or do not want to use, or feel bad about using the parking brake you can manually adjust the rear shoes (lock them on then 15 clicks back off) if you are so inclined

 

So is there a history of Tacomas breaking there parking pawl???
In other words when you place your truck in park. Then release brake pedal, truck always rolls forward a bit. Then stops. Will that damage the parking pawl over time???

 

No. But you're not looking to be at the head of the line are you?

Mechanical empathy. It's good for longevity.

 

Years back my father in law scoffed at using the parking brake on his MT car when he parked in the garage or a flat surface. As you probably know, garages are ever so slightly sloped out for water runoff. One day he didn't quite get the gear engaged or forgot entirely. Either way, his car ended up on the neighbors front stoop with a couple grand in damage. After an earful from the wife he made a habit of always using it.

As I grew up driving manuals that were sometimes sketchy about staying in gear, I made it a habit to always use the hand brake. Still do on my MT Taco.

 

I never use my parking brake if on a flat surface. I'll use it if parked on hills or always with a trailer. I always set it before i take it out of gear, then put it in park and then shutting the truck off.

 

Everytime I park it.

 

Yes, of course. Maybe I misunderstood what you meant. It sounded like you're saying that if you regularly use the parking brake, it won't pass inspection.

 

Flat surface parking/no incline or decline and I don't engage the parking break on my AT.

There is one parking lot we frequent for dinner & beer that has slanted/incline parking spaces. I'll pull the hand brake and then put it in (P) Park.

I practiced the same with my 2003 Honda Pilot AT but it had a foot parking brake.

 

I do the same thing with my MT. Flat surfaces I typically don't use it. On inclines, I do.

 

On my old celica GT4, I parked on a slope in 1st. parking brake was on but not adjusted properly (I just replaced the rotors and didn't adjust the parking brake). the slope of my driveway (may 5-7%?) slipped the timing belt. Had to pull the tensioner and re-install the belt properly. That was fun...

 

Now that would suck...

 

@muddog321 have you adjusted the cable length? At my last service the dealer noted the parking brake was out of "adjustment" and wanted $60 to do it... Haven't got around to doing it my self yet.

"
3. Yes if the cable and/or foot/hand actuator is messed up it can cause parking brake issues (again PM). (Cable length adjustment under the center console)
"

 

Habit I use mine all the time. I don’t like the truck sitting and depending on the transmission auto or stick. Right ow I have no e brake and it’s made me miss it a ton. (It’s there just not working as expected or at all)

 

Doesn’t really matter if there’s a track record of them breaking or not. Resting on the pawl is never “good” even if it works. The parking brake is there on every truck and it is always called a parking brake for a reason (not an emergency brake). If the autos were so great they didn’t need it, they wouldn’t give it to you.

I’m an “MT bro” but there was a miserable two years in there where I landed an automatic. I used the parking brake 100% of the time and not out of habit. It’s just much better feeling when you don’t have that nasty clunk pulling the trans out of park and into gear as the load is taken off the pawl. Much better to just avoid that crap 100% and use the brake as designed.

Also as stated rear brake adjustment is important and in this truck it works off the parking brake, so even more reason to promote parking brake usage.

 

The funny thing about discussions like these is many auto trans owners do not use the parking brake and many (almost all) manual owners do. The truth of the matter is the automatic needs the parking brake arguably MORE than the manuals do.

Leaving the manual trans in 1 or R (depending on which way you’re facing - 1 for uphill and R for downhill) pretty much always has enough engine compression to not roll away on a hill. It would be very unlikely for a manual in gear to roll away unless the clutch was faulty/slipping.

The auto literally only has the pawl locking the wheels from moving. If the pawl breaks, the vehicle is going to roll away unless the parking brake is engaged. I’ll still use the brake on either but logic to me tells me the auto needs it more than the manual does, because of worse results in the worst case scenario.

 

I have never use the parking brake in any vehicle....for parking. Growing up in rural Florida we were drifting before drifting was a thing.

 

Haha, MT Bro checking in. I always use mine.

 

To this point, my 1970 Challenger had an interconnect between the shift linkage and a sleeve on the steering column which would rotate to allow you to remove the key from the ignition; unless the manual transmission was in Reverse, you couldn't get the key out.

 

I’ve only used it -30% of the time since 2017. Hills yes, inclines negative.

Since I now know that it will keep the rears adjusted-I’ll use it more often but never in winter here in NorthEast.