E-Brake stuck?

It appears the e-brake is stuck engaged.
I pulled the lever and towards the end it felt like something snapped/gave.
Now, the first 1/3 of the lever is "loose" and brakes are definitely engaged.
I did some searching and found some threads to pull the lever and reverse to disengage, this is not working.
It also does not appear there are any accessible mechanical failure points (levers) outside the wheel hub or under the console.

Any tips/tricks/advice on what I should focus on disassembling?

 

First question, do you live in a area that is below freezing and did you drive the truck to where it could of gotten water in the drums? Car wash, slushy roads, puddles, these all can get water into the drums and if you park with the ebrake on, it can freeze solid in cold weather.

 

This car is parked in the winters, but I did have to take it out recently. Plausible, the car sat for maybe 3 hours since last driving, I def didn't go through anything more than maybe 30 yards of wet road today.

 

I would start with the easy things then, get the hair dryer or space heaters out and point them at the backsides of the drums.

You could also have rust in the parking brake cable, and since its not used much its just stuck in there.

 

I guess I'll see if some heat does anything.

Bought the truck new, hasn't seen many winters, nothing but stupid issues for an "off-road 4x4".
Add another W to the 25 year old Jeep that keeps goin....

 

Alright so I got the drums real nice and toasty forcing it up and down the road.
Here is a video of the lever, its more like 2/3 of the lever is "limp".



I don't see any obvious external failure points for the ebrake lever and cable.
Maybe I should start at the drums and check the cable there, similar to this?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wNxb8X8IPIg

came across this thread... guess ill rip the console apart

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-replace-rear-parking-brake-cables.799982/

 

After disassembling the console, it appears that the driver side brake cable is not retracting and causing the "slop" in the lever and keeping the brake engaged.
I'm guessing this is going to be problematic trying to remove the drum.
What are my options here, just cut the cable near the drum and hope it releases?

Having a difficult time finding the part number for these cables, does anyone have them?

 

I would give it time, maybe someone heres come along who knows more about it

 

My guess is cable itself failed after rust stopped movement of a section of the cable.

 

Manual states to avoid using parking brake in below 0 temps.

It can "freeze" even if you dont get it wet and its below 0 out.

 

yea im gonna park it and see if it magically fixes with a thaw.
Seeing that its a plastic coated cable inside, I could see cold weather causing the materials to contract and cause friction.
After reviewing the whole mechanism, it is so needlessly over engineered it literally can't be used.

 

I had the problem in big bear last year, my passenger side would lock up and drag the tire. I was able to get it unlocked but as soon as i pulled the e-brake it locked up. Even when i got to my home in warmer weather it locked. the fix was to replace the drum, pads, install new brake hardware and clean everything with brake cleaner. i thought it was the E-brake cable but it wasnt. I always set the E-Brake in my auto transmission truck as a habit, but if im in the snow ill remember next time. it was the only time my toyota let me down

 

Yeah, i think you will be fine once it "thaws out"

Could be worse There is a stop sale on some 4G tacomas with certain wheel diameter size becuase of poorly engineered brake line. The inside of wheel can get caked with dirt/debris and damage the line.

 

Did you get the drum off when it was "locked"?

 

Yes, i took it to a shop right after it happen. I think they just backed off the little adjuster with a screw driver.

 

With the drum e brake adjuster u can tighten and loosen them. Check out the videos on youtube.

Right after i left the shop i went to the local store and pulled the ebrake like a jackass. But i was able to free it up, then just tried really hard not to look at the ebrake lol

 

Ah yea I overlooked the adjuster port. I'll give that a try when I'm able to not lay on ice.

 

A quirk I've always had with my truck is if I washed it and left it overnight the rear brakes would seize by the morning. No they didn't freeze, this was when I was living in HI. I now drive around the block after washing and haven't had any problems...