Rear brake issue

So lately I have discovered that my emergency brake hasn’t been able to hold my truck at all. I can stop my truck, put it in drive and slam the ebrake to the floor and in drive simply let my foot of the brake and idle will break the rear brakes free. I figured it was just out of adjustment so I tightened the emergency brake so it was firm but not tight and did the same thing, and it felt slightly better but could power through it still at idle

I decided to test my regular brakes by jacking up my rear axle and putting it in gear and again at an idle pushing on my foot brake and it would stop the tires but not immediately just kinda slowed down to a stop.

things I’ve done. Bled the rear brakes. Adjusted the emergency brake. Adjusted the star wheel till it would stop the drum and two clicks back. Replaced the drum. Shoes are only 2 years old with almost full life but I sanded them down really well. I was doing this alone so I couldn’t really test the cylinders but as it’s an issue with foot brake and emergency brake I don’t think that’s an issue

any help would be much appreciated. My next step is replacing both sets of shoes and hoping they are just really poor shoes. As it was two years ago I don’t remember what brand of shoes they are

 

Is it your brake cable where it connects to the rear wheel hub?
Check out this thread
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/parking-emergency-brake-seized-stuck.470756/page-7#post-29352735

 

I’ll have to take a look at that, but that doesn’t explain why my foot brake isn’t working as it should.

 

Ebrake and Cylinder failures could be coincidental...
Now you finally noticed...both?

 

Yeah that’s true, when the wife gets home I’ll have to pull the wheels off and test the cylinders. I’m trying not to just keep throwing money at it

 

Here’s the correct way to adjust the self adjusters.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2013-rear-drum-shoe-replacement-adjustment.819157/#post-29377533

But it would seem being adjusted too tight would cause dragging, the opposite of your symptom.

Is there any chance the shoes became oil or brake fluid contaminated? I’m not saying you don’t know but gotta ask. Usually new drums and rotors come oil coated to prevent rust. This oil coating was thoroughly cleaned off?

To check the wheel cylinders. I like to do this before washing the dust off with brake cleaner. Slightly pull the rubber boots back, if brake fluid is in there, they should be replaced. Eventually the fluid will blow past, leak out, and ruin the shoes.

Something else to look at. The area where the shoes contact the backing plates. Sometimes the shoes will create grooves in the backing plates. Then the shoes get stuck in the groove. The symptoms would be while braking, you get nothing, press harder still nothing, press harder it jumps out of the groove and suddenly brakes.

 

It’s definitely not the backing plate but I’m thinking maybe the shoes somehow got damaged, after sanding them they did work better, not 100% but noticeably better, maybe they got oil soaked or something. I think my next step is just to replace the shoes, it’s the only thing that the parking brake and foot brake have in common

 

After checking the cable and adjusting correctly, and bleeding, then make sure all springs are correctly installed (none fell off) and the pivots are lubed. Here is a diagram.
Rear Brake Replacement Tips | Tacoma World