Changing drum brake pads

In the engine compartment.

 

OK is there a bleed valve? Might this fix the issue?

 

TBH I have no idea - you could look into it on here. Some stories I heard were on 2nd gens and since I don't have much experience working on brakes, I don't know if abs systems on 1st and 2nd gens are really similar.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/air-in-brake-lines-bkeeding-doesnt-fix.202503/

You could try this - cheap / free to try. Did you turn the key on at all while you had the brake cylinder disconnected?

 

Did you adjust the shoes to drag a tiny bit first? They don't have a lot of swing if in a contracted position. You have to do this with the drum on unless you have new or turned drums. (because of the ridge on the lip of well used ones)

If new drums you can get them spread out just enough to get the drum on. that's usually close enough to get started.

 

need to pump up the brakes with the vehicle off until there is good pressure. not just 6 pumps unless there is good pressure with that amount. have someone hold down the brake pedal when its hard to put pressure on the pedal at that point, then open the bleed port, release any air and or bubbles, then close off the bleed port, release brake pedal. repeat till the fluid comes out clear. Periodically check your fluid level.

 

mucho respect wilcam47 but if those shoes aren't close to the drums you'll never get a pedal and it's possible to blow out a wheel cylinder piston.

03goldextracabtrd, you'll eventually get them to work on stands. Good luck getting them to work on the street.

 

I didnt discount the brakes need to be adjusted close before bleeding. I was just giving tips for bleeding. I have never counted pumps to bleed, its all on pedal pressure.

 

Me to the pedal was hard to press. We were calling back and forth. He would press 6 times each time having a stiff brake pedal. Then I would open the valve tell it wit the floor. Then I would shout back close and he would pump again. We repeated these steps for the rear left and the actuator. Still no luck on getting the back tires to stop when given a spin

Note the back end is in the air on stands on the axle.

 

No I didn't only after everything was reconnected. The brake fluid was low so filled and bleed. Then after bleeding 2 or 3 times and still getting free spin on the rear end we started it.

 

I couldn't find many threads on the drum brakes so I'll post here.
This weekend I plan to take the rear wheels off for some maintenance unrelated to the brakes. While I'm in there, would it be worth the trouble to put the drums off, spray everything down with brake cleaner, and make sure the pads are still good?
It's a 2000 with 116K and the rear brakes have never been serviced.

 

Certainly! I'm OCD about cleaning every little part before re-assembling anyways...

 

Here is a few tips that have helped me bleed the air from the rear brake lines. These techniques are especially helpful when replacing a slave brake cylinder.

First raise the back of the truck so the brake slave cylinder mount bolts are level. On my truck when the truck is level, the rear slave cylinders is at an angle. I think that a space in the slave cylinder is above the bleed valve an air bubble will form and will be difficult to bleed out.

Second I remove the rear brake adjuster. This allows the slave cylinder to be fully compressed and minimizes nooks and crannies for air to get trapped.

Next before reinstalling the brake adjuster I just open the bleed valve with a hose and not pump the brake peddle. I'll wait several minutes for fluid to start dribbling out. This slow refilling of the cylinder helps fill the nooks and crannies before a bubble forms. Kind of like refilling a radiator after servicing very slowly.

Then reinstall the brake adjuster and install the drum. Then bleed the brakes by peddle pumping as normal. I have found these extra steps reduce greatly the amount brake fluid required for bleeding.

If you have an IR temperature gauge try this. After bleeding do a few moderately hard stops. Quickly measure the left and right rotor or drum temperatures. If they are within about 20 degree F of each other than the brakes are working pretty evenly.