Brake issues… maybe

I’ve never felt like I had the best brakes. Always Felt kind of spongy. I did new pads, rotors and even calipers last year and still felt the same.

Today I tackled the drum brakes. Did the shoes and new springs. Only got the driver’s side done before it started raining.

Lifted the truck and noticed the wheel wouldn’t free spin, moved like an inch back and forth. Tried it with both wheels off the ground and with just one. Passenger side freely spins. Not sure if that’s a big issues. This lead to me not being able to adjust the shoes properly since it doesn’t spin, any thoughts?

another weird symptom is when I press my brake pedal I can hear a weird hiss like noise coming from underneath the truck towards the middle of the drivers side. Fluid has never gone low so no leak?

 

Can’t help with the immediate issue. However I changed the master cylinder to a Toyota Sequoia MC. Moves more fluid. Stops my 5,600 lb truck. I got it from SOS Performance.

 

Was the truck in neutral?
The hiss is normal. It’s just air passing through the check valve.
You’ll notice it goes away once the pedal gets hard with the truck off.

 

Many help posts on DIY rear brake jobs review a few.
How many miles on those drums as could be low or out of round and ridged. An 06 should do drums and wheel cylinders for best ops.
Wheel cylinders need to be checked too for operation and no leaks. Ever bleed the rears and what came out?
So the side you did is stuck then did you adjust the shoes to lock then backout 15 clicks as manual says?
Did you clean and grease the pivots on shoes and parking brake levers and 2 points on each shoe where it hits the backing plate.
Did you unscrew the adjuster and grease the threaded part. Is the adjuster installed correctly on the parking levers and shoes?
Did you get all the parts and springs in the correct holes as easy to mess up - I had to look several times at the other side.
Quick fix to drive is back off adjuster thru the access hole (oval rubber plug). May act strange with only 1 side having new shoes so be careful.

 

Always start with new brake fluid unless you know it has recently been replaced. All fluid has a useful life and yours may be toast. I had a bunch of brake issues in my Camry that the mechs threw parts at that didn't do a thing... took it to a different shop, they replaced the fluid and no more issues. Always start with the fluid, always... unless you know for sure it has been recently replaced.

 

My Dad and I both have 2007's and we both had frozen front calipers that caused a "spongy" brake issue similar to what you are describing. Since you have already replaced those, maybe want to have fluid replaced and confirm master cylinder is operating correctly. Bleed brakes and then see if it improves. Also may want to check brake hoses.

 

Your drum shoes need to be adjusted. There should be slight resistance when you turn the drums and it would be good idea to flush the system especially if your fluid is dark.

 

I’m in agreement with your out of adjustment.

When you slid the drum back on, if it went on super easy, the gap between the shoes and drum is large. If it was tight going back on, the gap is small or none.

Back off on the adjuster, then the wheel should spin, follow the correct adjustment procedure.

Another possibility, if the drum went on super easy, and you didn’t do any adjustment, the wheel cylinder could have pushed out its pistons and got stuck out. Hopefully this isn’t what happened, you could have brake fluid on your new shoes.

 

Here:

 

Thanks for the responses, I ended up replacing both wheel cylinders and tried adjusting the shoes again. Drivers side star adjustment is pretty much at “0” and the passenger’s side I adjusted quite a bit more the the drivers which is weird. I adjusted till I could barely hear the scraping of the shoes. Also bled the brakes.

Yet my braking is the worst it’s ever been ☠️ actual safety hazard. It got dark so I packed up but I’m not sure what to do besides readjusting the shoes even more.

I shouldn’t have to bleed the front if I just changers the rears, right?

 

Follow the above adjustment procedure.

Replacing the wheel cylinders, you may have gotten air in the abs, which creates a new problem.

 

Now you probably have air in the system and ABS...

So you didn't see the proper procedure I posted above?



If the drivers side adjustment is all the way in and the other side is barely touching you have something assembled incorrectly and adjusted incorrectly. Maybe post some pictures with the drums off.

 

Depends on how much fluid came out when you replaced the wheel cylinders.
I use vacuum caps and cap the line.

As for the rear, if the drums and shoes are new, you should have close to the same adjustment length on both sides. I feel your pain bud, I just did rears. My issue wasn’t the pedal, it was the parking brake.
I will say, it definitely helps to take the truck for a drive once adjusted, then go back and readjust. Driving it helps center things up in the drum.

If your pedal and stopping power is bad, you likely have air in the lines or the shoes are way out of adjustment.