Drum brake pads/adjustment?

Dont know if this has been posted yet but i was wondering how long do the rear drum brakes last before needing replacement? And is there any way to adjust them or do they adjust themselves?

 

I have 50k miles on my truck now and they looked pretty good still. They auto adjust, and the auto adjust on them looks like it works pretty well compared to my old honda.

It really depends how you drive though, best bet is to pull them off and there is a wheel you adjust using a screw driver to bring the shoes out if needed.

 

Do they have the knock out tabs that you can put the rubber plugs back in to? That way you can use an adjustment tool w/o removing the drums.

 

So there is a way to adjust them if the auto adjust doesnt. thanks for the info im gonna pull mine off tomorrow they started to squeak today

 

i looked and didnt find any did i miss it?

 

Mine has one on each side, but the wheel isn't behind it. I'm hoping someone that has removed the drum can help us out. How do the drums come off? Do you need a puller?

 

No puller needed. take your wheel off and bang the drum with a hammer to loosen it and with a little elbow grease and finess it will pull off!

 

Cool. Once I remove it, I'm going to see if thers is a knock out tab behind it for future use. Good luck w/ yours.

 

there are two screw holes you use... putting in bolts in both holes and screwing them in will push out the drum.

just don't go too far or else you'll knock a retainer off a spring and its a PITA if you don't have the little push tool to put them back on.

 

There is a rubber elongated plug on each side and you can get a adjustment tool in there, You may need to look in there with a flashlight first to see the sprocket, its a little offset. I have done mine a couple times. As far as pulling the drums there are two threaded holes in the drum, I don't know what thread they are but they push the drum off with little effort. I just happened to have a couple bolts in my spares that fit. I am sure they were metric and left over from on of my other projects. Good luck

 

Drum brakes generally last way longer than Disc brakes. A basic rule is that you can usually expect 2-3 front disc brake jobs before you have to do the rear brakes. Most of your braking power comes from the front brakes. On my old 89 4Runner, I had it for 115000mi, and NEVER did a rear brake job to it, but I did about 3 front brake jobs. I know the Tacoma's will be different but just to give an example.

 

You should remove your drums at LEAST every 10,000 miles. Use a quality brake cleaner and spray them down. Once completed, apply a little bit of greese to the hub so they come off easy next time. Then, adjust them from behind. There is a small rubber plug covering the adjustment star wheel. They are self adjusting, but they still require a manual adjustment at 10,000 mile intervals.

 

alternating the screws, turn in screws untill drum wiggles off
Dont ask the screw size, have had these since my 1st truck - 88
how some things never change.

 

took mine off and used some supertek brake cleaner(walmart) threw em back on and no more squeak and the pads looked good!

 

I'm on my fourth set of disc pads and I looked at my drum brakes today, they still look good. Triumph843 is right on how you pull the cover off and Timber is right on the adjustment.

 

I was getting some bad squeal last weekend going down a hill at gorman
just popped my drums off today, 1st time for me on this truck
I have about 92k and from the looks of it the rear pads have never been changed. About 2mm left of pad. and real dusty
so, what drums and pads are people using?
im searching around

 

It's likely you may never have to replace them on the rear. I put 150,000 on my first gen truck and they were fine when I sold it.

 

Good trick/tip that most people dont know. I had to do this on the 1990 Toyota pickup to get the drums off.

 

what size bolts?

 

I'm not sure on the thread size but pull any 12mm head bolt off the truck and it'll fit.