Rear end gone after New front and rear diff oil changed while on road trip!

Had my truck for almost 5 years. Drums have been flawless.

I don’t get why so many folks hate rear drum brakes on the Tacoma.

 

This is the same piece of shit I somehow bent on an offroad trip.

 

My truck is 14 years old and..."well tested". See here.

God help you if you ever get a bit of water and/or mud in there.

 

Drums are worse for off roading because sand and mud get in them and can't be easily flushed out. Meanwhile I can aim the pressure washer at the front calipers and get them cleaned out reasonably well after each trail ride. My factory Advics/Aisin wheel cylinders blew out and left me stranded twice before the truck even hit 42,000 kms.

Rear discs are easier to maintain as long as Toyota goes away from the in-hat parking brake design. Parking brake integrated into the caliper (like Hondas) would've been fine. Shoes inside the rotor hat increase the labor tremendously. I knew I was in for a rough time when I saw the S-shaped nails in the hardware kit for my 4Runner:

I didn't anticipate having to do laparoscopic surgery - the cup washers holding the shoes to the backing plate need to be accessed through a little hole in the hub flange.

 

Lots of water/snow over the years, can’t say the same about mud though.

Not a single issue.

 

What you are saying is correct. For a proper off-road rig, I can see discs being better.

Im not a hardcore off-roader, I do medium stuff and my drums have served me flawless on all my pickups.

I like that they last forever.

 

I'm glad the gods have smiled on you.

Many of us, the threads are abundant here, are not so lucky.

 

Probably just because its old tech and a lot of folks dont understand them. Only issue Ive ever had with mine was after a very unfortunate encounter with an endless sink hole during spring thaw a few years back. Honestly it wasnt even an issue per se, but I didnt think to clean out all the mud until a few weeks later. My error, which lead to visible wear on the shoes which could have been avoided. I have a million pics from this ordeal, but Ill just give you guys the highlight reel

Solo wheeling + this = target heart rate achieved




No amount of pressure washing will clean that out