Keep messing up my rear drums, please give me some advice.

Weird. I get a subtle vibration braking, but only at pretty slow speeds (like approaching a stop sign >10mph). I'm not feeling it in the steering wheel, so that rules out front brakes (which I've deal with on multiple vehicles). Thought it may even be engine vibration since the RPMS drop to near idle speeds when approaching a stop sign. The frequency of the vibration feels too high to be a warped rotor... but could maybe be some sort of brake shoe chatter? Is that a thing? had it on a jack recently and didn't notice any dragging of the rear brakes.
Someone above mentioned leaf-spring u-bolts being not tight enough. If it gets worse I'll check those.

 

It could be hot spots on your rotors. Your rotors can ware unevenly without warping.

If you think it's too high a frequency, could be a u joint on the drive shaft. That spins 4:1 compared to your wheels, and when you brake hard coming to a stop, your driveline angle changes.

 

I have a floor jack in my garage, so last weekend I raised both rear wheels off the ground. I was able to spin each tire by hand. To further investigate, I removed the wheels and found that I could easily spin each side with one hand, even without taking off the drums. This suggests that nothing is sticking.

 

Yikes ... ive got nearly 60k on my oem linings and front pads. U must b a latebraker

 

Do you live in the mountains? Either you are using a hell of a lot of braking or something is wrong. I have a 2010 with 279K on the original rear brakes.

 

Did you hit the brakes hard and see if you could rotate the wheels with ease ?

 

I notice it under light/normal braking, not hard braking, so I think a u-joint seems unlikely. I'll have to pay closer attention. I'm not positive it even changes frequency with speed, which is why I guessed maybe just engine vibration from RPMs dropping to idle. And I don't notice it all the time either, since it's not very pronounced. Only 12k miles on it

 

Eh you guys should check your drivelines. I mentioned U Joint earlier but I forgot to mention the slip yoke. If that is binding, you will get vibrations when you brake (as your drive line angle changes but length does not).

 

Well, I replaced the rear drums and didn't notice a vibration at first, but it has appeared to have returned. It's silky smooth from 8-60, and then rumbly from 60-50, and then back to smooth again. I feel like this truck has been nothing but problems recently.

 

Maybe it was posted here already, or maybe it was a tutorial I watched. But they suggested chamfering the leading and trailing edges of the shoes with sandpaper to reduce noise/vibrations.

 

Did you replace the OEM double sided sticky paper that sticks between the drum and lug face? That is supposedly there to address noise.

 

Well then that is wheel balance when certain speeds make vibration.
Joe

 

I'll give that a shot. I wonder if it could also be axle wrap causing the pinion angle to go out of whack.

 

I actually did not. I'll look into that.

 

Sorry, should've mentioned it's only when braking. That's my bad.

 

Thanks again for all of the help!

 

I'm looking at it now, how would I check for a seized U-joint? Put a gopro underneath while braking and the driveline angle changes DRASTICALLY. I think I may have figured it out.

 

I've had the same problem for most of the truck's 40k miles. I get the braking vibration around 40 mph which has always had matching vibrations while gently accelerating through the same speed range. Because of the issue with acceleration I've always assumed it was related to the transmission problems you read about on here. I've messed with driveline angles by driving around with extra weight in the bed and still have the issues. My next guess is the rear drums. I've have serviced them in the past and notice that with the drums removed the hubs stick a little bit at one point in the rotation. Maybe something is out of wack with the rear axle?

 

It's definitely reassuring that there's lots of 21s with the same issues, haha. I'll keep you in the loop.

 

After replacing the rear brake shoes, I experienced a similar issue with my 2013 vehicle, but I found a solution. First, I removed the shoes and thoroughly cleaned the plate where the shoes sit. Next, I applied high-temperature brake grease to those points; any brake grease will work. Finally, I replaced the springs that hold the shoes in place with OEM parts. The first time, I mistakenly bought aftermarket springs, which caused a terrible vibration. This last step may not be necessary if you own a newer Tacoma with fewer miles. I replaced the rear brake cylinders. '13 Tacoma w 125,000 miles.

Last and not least I am seriously looking at the 2024 Tacomas. Finally Toyota got rid of ream drum brakes.