No e-brakes?

Problem statement: After installing new drums, shoes, and wheel cylinders on my 2014 Tacoma, I discovered my truck has NO e-brakes, as in NONE, NADA, NOTHING -- not even a hint of braking effect. So you know: (1) I did install each parking brake cable on each parking brake lever in accordance to the Haynes manual, YouTube videos, and the pre-procedure pictures I took for reference. (2) I expanded the shoes until the drum stopped rotating, then I backed off 15 clicks (I’m very hard of hearing, so I may have not heard precisely “15” clicks). (3) I did the prescribed, self-adjusting “back-up-apply-e-brake” routine three times, but to no effect. Please tell, what do you suggest I to do to regain functioning e-brakes?

 

Make sure all cables are connected 15clicks seems a lot.

 

They need to be adjusted manually. No shoe adjusts automatically.

 

Older vehicles did not sure bout the tacomas. I never really had them long enough to change drum shoes

 

They did but it was never close, I've never taken a drum off any vehicle thats even close unless its been adjusted by hand.

Tacomas absolutely do not self adjust, it may do one click when maxed out but thats it.

 

Yeah, the shoes are “designed” to self-adjust, and the mechanism is there, but it rarely works as designed. Especially if the ebrake isn’t pulled regularly or if there is any corrosion/grit on the adjuster. Always better to adjust manually from time to time.

I’d pop the drums back off and make sure everything is in its proper place. Shoes are seated in the wheel cylinder and pivot points properly, etc. I just changed my shoes and drums a couple weeks ago and it took a couple tries to get it right. Braking action sucked too, until the shoes bedded into the drums.

 

Thank you one and all. I'll adjust the brake pads as suggested. But first, and because I've already turned my Tacoma end-for-end in my narrow garage, I'll replace the front rotors and pads, and then I'll turn the truck around so I can remove the wheels and tires to gain better access to the inboard sides of the backing plates. As soon as I adjust the rear brakes, I'll report back to y'all. You give me hope. Thank you. Greg

 

Post-project report:

Just got back from completing the “brake-in procedure,” which involved five 45 mph RAPID decelerations to 10 mph and then five 35 mph RAPID decelerations to 5 mph, all done back to back. Screeching tires and even some blue smoke. I did this on a country road out by the Smith dairy
farm. While the truck and brakes performed well, I’m not certain the milk cows munching sweet grass by the roadway fence will produce much milk for a while. Then there was the farmhand on the tractor. He did quite well, considering.

But back to some details about what I did and what I learned.

After I replaced the pads and rotors on the front, and, as suggested, I removed the drums on the rear and inspected the impressive mechanical systems. All looked good.

My note-to-me as shown below tells the story:

Note #1: This for end-of-job procedure – involves mostly rear brakes --

· At this point, turn on engine, depress the brakes several times – I found lots of looseness in the drum/brake-shoe relationship, and I adjusted the star wheel UP 84 clicks. (Seems I may have had the shoes preset to a too-contracted position when I placed the drum over them. Maybe, or?)

· Turned on the engine again and depressed the brake pedal again. After this, I adjusted the star wheel UP 4 more clicks.

· Then I called it good, and drove out a country road so I could follow the “Brake-In Procedure.”​

Note#2: this for REAR brakes as viewed from inboard side (for reference) –

· to “expand,” you need to “ratchet” up; listen for clicks.

· to “shrink” shoe diameter, use the spoon to push down on the star wheel – there will be no “click” sound since you will use a small screwdriver (Suunto) to push the ratchet plate on the “auto adjust lever” out of the way to allow star-wheel downward rotation. ​

Thanks to y'all, the job appears to have been a success, and I learned a lot. I discovered changing the physical brakes is one thing, but adjusting them is quite another -- something like getting the wedding done only to realize you've committed to a lifetime of building a marriage and family.

The more I do this kind of DIY work on my wonderfully engineered Tacoma, the more I think today's auto techs are like medical doctors -- they use the same whole-system knowledge and analytical strategies to filter and sort out issues that hide themselves in the complex array of interconnected and mutually dependent subsystems. Quite amazing people, these auto techs, some of whom are some of you, methinks.

Now, with a bit of packing and a tank of gas, I'll get up at 3:00 AM, drive 1,200 miles to Vegas where my ol' beat-up, tricked-out 2005 Jeep wrangle LJ--up on jack stands--is waiting for my return. I'll put it on the ground, get it ready, and point it toward the Mojave Desert, where I'll drive for adventures in off-roading, camping, rock climbing, canyoneering, and river rafting. I'm 80, so my adventure clock is winding down.

Again, please accept my most sincere thank you for sharing your knowledge and coaching me through this project.

Hope all goes well for you and yours.

Greg