Rear wheels locked up, to the dealership she goes

Dealers try to blame anything they can on what you've done to make a problem go away. My brakes freeze too btw. I just dont use the ebrake in the winter or anytime now out of habit.
My truck had a water leak coming right out of the crawl control switch in the headliner . I work on cars and thought it's under warranty I'll just let them handle it ( that's what I'm paying for right?). They told me they adjusted the sunroof glass this one time but since it had been tinted they wouldn't warranty it any further and made a note on my service record . Sunroofs dont work that way they have a tray and weep lines because some water always makes it through . You could even clearly see all four corners of the glass. I had my dealership tint guy do it . I know it wasnt removed.

I just got pissed pulled the headliner and guess what bingo the windshield wasnt all the way sealed.

They try and squirm out of stuff if it's not an easy cash grab. I work at one (competing manufacturer bodyshop though)I've seen it to many times.

 

This has happened to my truck twice and both times I thought it had to do with the parking brake. Once in 4low and about 15 minutes ago in 2wd. The 2wd rear wheel lock up dragged the wheel for at least 10ft. I stopped tried to engage and release parking brake and still nothing. I put it in park, then in drive and poof it's working again. Not sure if that's the parking brake. I'm worried it's my diff. If you know please let me know. I have a 3rd gen 2020 TRD Off-road automatic. I'm going to bring it to dealership anyway. Also its not freezing temperatures right now. 8°c and the first time it happened in the summer. A brand new truck! Jeeze.

BTW Google talk to text spells parking brake "parking break". She sure can make you look like a dumb ass if you're not careful.

 

It’s not your diff . It either has something packed into your drum ( probably what happend in summer ) or is frozen which happens a lot . There is a slight chance something let loose in the rear drum also .

 

So here’s what I don’t understand. After operating all sorts and sizes of vehicles for over 50 years I’ve never had drive wheels lock up. Why does it seem to happen often enough that the manual tells you not to use the parking brake in cold weather?

 

I have own a couple of vehicle with "drums" over the years and all have had this issues more than once....Its a "Drum Brakes" thing

 

Your right but this design is super susceptible to rear lock up I don’t even use the parking brake any more . A lot of 4 wheel disk vehicles have a tiny drum setup for the park brake (any four wheel disk setup that has a manual lever ) and I’ve never had them freeze .

 

I beat on the backside of the drum with a hammer and that seems to release it. Freezing or not.... washed/wet or not.. taken apart and nothing obvious wrong looking.... I use parking brake every time I’m stopped out of habit (MT). Rolling backward a bit while engaging park brake? I can’t figure it out.

 

Why the hell is Toyota still using ancient technology! We pay $50k for a truck we should get disc brakes all the way around. I'm going to go protest lol.

 

Never had a vehicle without drum brakes. Heck some had drums on all eight wheels. So no, it isn't a "drum brake thing".

 

Yeah my 65 bug when I was a teen had four wheel drum in the same environment never locked up but the truck will within 1 -2 hrs at below freezing.

 

Glad I found this thread. 17 TRD OR 130k Miles. My truck will lock up if I use 4wd then park with ebrake. Only in cold wet days this will happen. If its cold and wet and im in 2wd all day it will never lock. Only 4wd. I have inspected and adjusted. Replaced shoes and hardware at 115k, copper anti seize on metal contact points.

 

I bet they said this is normal, or issue couldn’t be duplicated.

 

I think it has more to do with the e brake cable than the drum assembly.

 

IMO, it's over adjustment of the rear shoe.
If it's over adjusted, then the e. brake can't be properly adjusted.
Auto adjuster takes a click and brakes lock.

 

FWIW, I had the same problem in a prior 4Runner. It was a manual, and I just stopped using the ebrake in any relatively level parking environment. Otherwise, I kept a rubber head mallet on my rear passenger floor and got to be proficient at reaching under and giving a good whack on the pivot point for the e-brake. Worked all winter long.

 

Does the e brake have a separate adjustment if so, this may help especially, on lifted trucks ? If it's a cable issue maybe, an accordion style rubber needs placed over the cable.

 

This happened to me recently on a trail in the Ozarks after several water crossings in freezing temps and engaging the e-brake overnight. After beating on the drum with a mallet and attempting to heat it up with a torch unsuccessfully, I was getting ready to drop some serious cash for a tow to the nearest Toyota dealership. This was the second time this has happened to me – the first time was in a parking garage in downtown Austin that resulted in a tow to the dealership without any explanation or resolution from Toyota.

A simple yank on the e-brake cable was all it took to free up the wheel.

 

Freezing is one thing and Toyota warns of this in the manual.

The rusting after a car wash on a pleasant spring day is another. Likely different parts involved.

But Toyota doesn’t say not to use the parking brake after getting wet in non freezing temperatures.

 

I knew it had to be cable related . Frozen at a junction most likely. I had just stopped using mine.

 

First post, been reading threads here for a while now, but had to chime in here.

I have a '19 TRD OR with manual trans, at 5k miles this problem (rear wheels locking up) started happening. No rhyme or reason (happened at random times), went into a convenience store once, came out, got in and tried to leave... No dice. Back wheels locked up.
Had it towed to dealer and they were able to "replicate the problem" (I felt lucky for that). They told me Toyota had a fix for the e-brake problem, they hand sanded something...
I always use the hand brake if parking.

Today, at 19K miles happened again.
I live in coastal AL, its not cold here but it is damp. No mods to truck, no off roading - its my daily driver and weekend kayak hauler.

Looking here and elsewhere, they have a design flaw or defective part somewhere as this problem is mentioned in a lot of places on the net, one poster claimed his locked up while driving! I am an old dude, had Chevelles with drums all the way around back in the day, they never did this.

I rocked the Taco back and forth by pushing and pulling on the tailgate this morning and was able to get the rear brakes to let go. Guess I'll mention this at the 20K service and see what the dealership says...

Real head scratcher...