Parking brake issue '05 6spd

Problem: Parking brake will not hold truck, even on a small little incline. When parking brake is engaged, truck will move forward when put in gear and pressure let off the clutch.

I just took the truck over about 600-700 miles in the past 5 days and prior to this last trip (today) it worked just fine.

Its been exceptionally cold here, below 0 nights...could this be an issue?

What are some things I should check first before taking the damn drums apart?

Mechanical experience is not an issue here, just looking for a good starting point to begin eliminating problem points.

 

did you notice if the handle got easier to pull back since it started occuring?

 

Not really. I just noticed it this evening around 4 hours ago. I'll check that tomorrow when I go to work.

I'm thinking the rear brakes are in need of a little TLC and R&R....

 

oh dang, my theory might not work if you haven't recently had your drums changed.

just did a drum job on my friends sentra and after i was done, the parking brake was pretty much nothing, lol. after a couple days the auto tensioner tension'd itself back up.

 

ahhh, so that's how you do it.. haha

i'll make sure to remember that next time i do a drum job

 

I'll try the reverse roll too....but that didn't seem to work earlier when I was trying to get the damn brake to work...I ended up just putting it in gear and using the brake...

 

Lol definitely gotta check for shit back there!

 

So here's some splatter and what appears to grease build up only around the air fill tip. This is the left rear wheel.

I did the roll in reverse and hit the brakes, no joy.

Stopping distance and ability has not decreased.

 

There is a TSB that has something to do with tightening the nuts on the brake cable. Is it possible the locking nuts are loose on yours and the cable went slack?

 

You can remove the cupholder and adjust the slack on the e brake cable as well - as your brake shoes wear this adjustment helps them engage enough to hold the truck.

The grease and grime on your wheel makes me think you've got other problems though - a leaky wheel cylinder perhaps. I'd pull the drum and inspect before you do adjustments.

 

Could be a bad axle seal... if the seal is gone it can leak into the drum and cause the brakes to not work. If you open up the drum , it will be easy to tell.

 

Did you try it again, after everything is warmed up? If water
got inside the drum, they could be frozen

 

Rear brakes probably need to be cleaned and the adjuster mechanism inspected/cleaned and adjusted manually to get it back into spec. I would be surprised if your rear brakes need to be replaced yet.

 

Its 37 right now and the brake seems to be holding...not sure how well. I still stuck it in gear as a backup.

 

Well my dad just stated that it smells like its a shaft oil seal is leaking. FML.

Looking at the manual, this appears to be quite the process to remove and replace, can someone give any insight on this process? Perhaps an easier way to replace this seal.

 

Not too difficult.. check the diff breather, make sure it's not
plugged, that can cause new seal to leak again. And check for
bearing play, worn bearing can cause seal to go out.
Look here for basic info on replacement
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/rear_axle/oil_seal/

 

I've done it on an 86. I don't think the basic design has changed. It does take a press, but not complicated, just takes a bit of time. Probably could get it done at a shop for a couple hours labor plus parts. Yeah, I know that's not exactly cheap, but could be much worse.

 

X2

I have had two seals fail on the same truck. First was clogged breather, second was worn bearing. Worn bearing will be heard as a loud roar that increases with road speed.

 

Auto adjusters on some Toyotas (not sure on the Tacoma) actually operate every time the parking brake handle is pulled. Might want to check and see which system we have before wasting a bunch of time backing up and pulling forward in the driveway.