Drum Brake failure

An overly tight shoe to drum adjustment can cause brake drag a little, which can cause a pulsation in the pedal due to excessive heat. I have had Toyota techs service my truck routinely and over adjust the brakes, resulting in my vehicle getting towed back to the dealership. I just installed a set of shoes/drums last week on an older Tacoma - one was a little tight and it pulsated like crazy after a drive around the block. I found the drum which was warm, backed off the brake adjustment a bit and it's perfect now. The parking brake adjustment can mess with you from side to side, so I'd check the adjustment. My 2016 TRD Off Road has 2,100 miles and the brakes are smooth.

 

My 2000 TRD OR had a rear brake that was too tight when I bought it. I had pulsing in the pedal that I could modify by putting on the parking brake slightly. I did the test described earlier where I drove on the freeway then pulled off on a (known) long off-ramp and downshifted to slow until the last few feet. Front brakes were slightly warm, one rear brake was warm, the other was sizzle-spit hot. Took a couple tried to convince the service folks what was going on. The guy that finally checked my brakes said they were actually too loose. Eventually I got them to back them off and all was well for 90k miles until I sold it. As far as I know the guy who has it now is up around 120k and has not had to do the rear brakes.

This is probably irrelevant, but the same truck would nearly lock up the rear brakes (enough that it took noticeably extra power and they would get really hot) if I went through deep water. I assume that was do to the drums shrinking, but I never figured out why. I made sure the parking brake was backed off to confirm that wasn't the cause.

OP, good luck.

 

To adjust the drum brake.

Tighten the adjuster until the wheel locks.
Back it off 18 clicks of the star wheel.
Repeat for the opposite side.
Done.

After this is done there will be a very slight drag.

 

Thinking I have a front and rear brake issue. 2,700 miles on the truck; already had the front drive-shaft fail and possibly the front differential (they were not specific at the dealer; "replaced driveline"). Nearly two weeks for parts and repair; likely related to crawl-control as I was using it seconds before the drive-shaft let go.

Picked up the truck on a Friday as the shop was closing. Seemed a little sluggish; mileage under 14mpg. Drove up CA-330 in 2nd and 3rd; deep into the accelerator. Stopped three times and found the drums and wheels to be too hot to touch, sizzling off water. There was a strong stench of super-heated brake lining, transmission fluid and rubber. Two hours after arriving at my destination the problem went away for a day.

On Sunday the trouble is back along with 18" of snow. While driving straight the rear-end of the truck suddenly swings out towards the road edge (no guard rails, 1,000ft drop). No ABS, no Atrac or other feature appeared to activate. Two minutes later the same thing happens again.

Pulled down a dirt-road to get out of the main road. Rear wheels lock very, very hard. Dragging them 20ft in the dirt. Tried backing-up, switching from 2H, 4H and 4L. Finally engaged the rear diff-lock and backed up; wheels go free. Locks again after getting back on the road...

Decide to "test" the brakes in a more safe area. 20mph panic-stop on icy road, all wheels lock and no ABS lights, no nothing except skid and slide.

Called dealer and Toyota, NTSB and FMVSS are next. Driving the Gen3 Tacoma is like playing Russian Roulette; I am not getting back in one, ever. I hope they recall soon before someone gets hurt.

 

If all wheels lock and slide, the ABS probably thinks the truck is stopped.

It sounds like you have major brake issues. I would call Toyota and get them to pay for a tow to a dealer

 

Is it possible that you're engaging the parking brake when the pads are too hot. I know thats a common problem with people who live close to the freeway when they make a 75 to 0 stop then engage the hot parking brake it will reshape the rear drums over time and it will get that warped feel when braking. Although it shouldn't be doing at such low miles.

 

Take it to the dealer and get the work done. That's what warranties are for. Not sure how the driveline and front diff "failed", but it all may be interrelated to Crawl Control.

"Panic"braking on an icy road can easily cause lock-up even with ABS. As Z50 mentioned, the brake controller has no way of knowing whether it is completely stopped or completely broke free on ice. It can only know in-between (i.e. some wheels are still gripping).

Also, recalls are for problems that are occurring frequently. Yours is the first I've heard with this issue and these guys on TW make a huge deal out of way less, so it would surely have been reported if it was common. Unless it was happening on several trucks, simply recalling everyone's truck would accomplish nothing. Just needs warranty work.

 

If I left the dealer and the brakes were sizzling hot, I would have stopped right there and told them to come tow it back to the dealer. That is a serious problem. Continuing to drive it only does more wear and tear on the vehicle. If the rear end locked up in the dirt, again an indication of a serious rear brake problem. Why on earth did you continue driving?
This isn't a recall problem, it's a problem with your truck. Toyota either needs to find the root of the problem, or give you a new truck. Contacting NTSB won't do anything for a single problem with a single truck.

 

Truck is at the shop with a list of problems related to wheel lock-up, brakes dragging and ABS not working. I have also asked them to look at why the passenger door pops open during cold weather and why the tailgate doesn't open during cold weather.

- To be very clear; truck was picked up late in the evening, the problem with the brakes overheating was not found until several miles away. While the vehicle felt sluggish immediately after receiving it I initially felt this was because the rental was the turbo-charged F150 (very fast, very powerful) where the Atkinson cycle motor feels more sluggish at low RPMS.

- ABS must react to a panic break situation and should active the ABS as well as Toyota's brake assist system. While the ABS does not "technically" know if the vehicle is stopped it certainly calculates changes in velocity at high resolution to know if the wheel has locked-up and the vehicle is skidding. Additional sensors including yaw, accelerometer, pitch and brake-pedal position/pressure also provide input to determine ABS states. Every vehicle I have ever driven on snow and ice activates ABS when one or more wheels is locked or begins spinning due to a loss of traction, even if I was driving at 5 mph on wet, slippery ice.

- I did pull off onto a dirt-road, covered in snow and ice, during a winter storm. I kept driving because my destination was one mile away and I was not dressed appropriately to walk and abandoning the vehicle would block the dirt road. I . Due to snow banks abandonment of the vehicle on the road would be at the peril of other motorists (and would ultimately result in impound and/or being plowed off the road by heavy equipment).

- I didn't say all Tacoma's need to be recalled. Statistically it is slim that only one vehicle currently has this issue. All automakers have quality measures to determine how to identify and quarantine suspect defects. I am sure that they can narrow down the range and reduce exposure while their marketing department works to suppress the general public knowledge of the problem.

Ultimately frustrating. I had a great working vehicle and just wanted to avoid using a trailer to haul fire-wood. In the 42 days I have had the truck it has been inoperable for nearly half that time. The amount of my time spent dealing with the problems seems absurd. To date, this has been the most miserable truck/auto purchase I have experienced.

 

That's what we have lemon laws for. I would suggest you look into them for your state.

 

I just had the drums turned on my truck (6300 Miles). I think you're right about the CC. I used mine when I got stuck in a ditch. It was engaged for a few minutes. I noticed the pulsating brake pedal the next time that I drove it. I took it to the dealer and they fixed it for me. They re-surfaced the brakes. Now my truck is smooth as silk again. They should have used discs n all four corners.

 

you said earlier it was closer to one minute. Now you are saying a few minutes

 

He's not the OP.

 

Oh

 

Same thing happened to my Lemon Yellow Taco. I had a ea hear except slippery near-death out-of control issue near 1,000ft cliff.

Repairs included all rear brake hardware and likely everything else that isn't frame, body or wheels.

I think Toyota is delusional about the issue. Picked up my Tacoma for massive drum brake repair. Ultimately they are blaming me for parking the car in cold weather and using the FMVSS required parking brake. The dealership had to put a note that says "fixed as a one-time courtesy" blah blah customer froze the parking brake cable....

Issues with rear brakes occurred after using crap-control, not after parking overnight in sub-zero Southern California. Drum brakes was a bad, bad, bad idea. I also think crap-control is doing something to the front rotors as well...

Of the things that get me piod about the new Tacoma include Toyota's attitude. Truck was previously towed in with all four wheels seized and a front-shaft failure (cracked from the factory, paint in the crack!). I read the invoice and noticed that they had missed the fact that I said I think the parking brake is dragging; the car won't roll when in neutral on an incline. Instead they wrote that I was complaining that the parking brake doesn't hold the car on an incline. The tech actually adjusted it so tight the hand-lever only raised about 1.5 inches....

P.S. Crap control on ice might have a glitch. While stuck (wheels locked by drum-brakes) the crawl-control ran the engine up to 5,500; I actually stopped the engine because it seemed like it was in self-destruct mode.

 

You know we are all laughing at you, right?

 

Whats to laugh at?

 

Maybe we can have laugh together. I am sure the Gen 3 taco and a two truck will be brining you to a dealer service center soon. May the Warranty be with you.....

 

one of my rear drums is like oval-shaped. and drags in one spot. not sure why. it's pretty noticeable just spinning the axle with wheel off.