F'd up while working on drum brakes. Help?

Exactly. I pop the pistons out of the calipers on my bike every time I swap the pads. They don't have a gaiter on them, so a ridge of dust can build up and limit retraction.

On the OP, the pistons were installed in to the wheel cylinder that way, so there is likely no damage.

 

This thread is reason number 4365 drum brakes suck

 

??

The same thing happens if you pump the pedal with the caliper off or the pads out. Nothing against the OP since we've all been there and done stupid things, but this is more on the fact that they pushed the pedal and nothing to do with the fact that they were drums.

Real story: Back in HS, my GF and I went to the movies in her dad's Cutlass Calais Quad4. The car just came from a dealer service. This was prior to cellphones. We came outside to find her dad there with their other car. He said they had to take the Cutlass because the dealer forgot to put the drums back on. That's real stupid, right there.

 

Congrats OP...Buttt at 27K I'm still trying to wrap my head around why you were fking with the drums in the first place

 

Never Ever attempt to try to do anything on the truck unless

1. you know exactly what you are doing.
2. watched a youtube video or a howto guide on how to do this.
3. have the proper tools to get the job done.
4. have a backout plan that if you get so far and cant figure out how to proceed you can button it up until you can figure it out and take another crack at it or just take it in to get it done.

Start collecting tools.

Hmm. Maybe if I have time I will post what tools are mandatory for working on this vehicle. I also have a tool roll in my truck that will let me do almost do anything with the truck except maybe take an axle off amd if I am going to have to do that then I am in real trouble.

 

My rear brakes were completely jammed with silt at half of that distance. That was from spending several weeks on wet gravel roads, but just goes to show conditions play a big part. OP was very wise to look in there prior to a trip.

 

Especially since he mentioned the rear brakes felt like they were “doing nothing” and he had a “nose dive” issue...

 

In my opinion, OP did everything right, even the screwing up part. You need to make your mistakes to learn and gain confidence. That’s how you acquire the skill to get yourself out of a jam in a remote spot, and avoid being unnessesarily hosed by a dealer for something simple.

 

I was in there at 13k to check for mud. None was found, so the drums and wheels right back on.

 

I was 16 first time I ever did drum brakes. It was a 66 Ford Fairlane with drums all the way around I think.

Was at a friends house and he was gonna show me how to change them. Got one side took off and some other friends came buy on their way to a concert in the park. Ass hole tossed me a Chilton's Auto Repair Manual that had to of been 5" thick and took off.

Took me a few hours, but I got it done.

I still hate drum brakes.

 

My dad was a DIY'er which pretty much consisted of oil changes, tire rotations, air filter swaps, and lubing the chassis. He never messed with ATF swaps or brakes, but my thought was how hard could it be? I did a couple and my parents were a bit skittish the first few times driving after I was done. Of course, these were many years before I even heard about a torque wrench. Garages would ugga-dugga to theirs hearts content when tossing on wheels. Pretty much no one had alloys.

Even to this day, I usually have to pull both wheels to figure out how to get the springs and retainers in the correct spots. No big deal.

As it always comes up, 99% of cars / trucks with rear disks still have a drum brake under the hat for the parking brake. It just doesn't make sense to get disks on the Toyota since they seem to work well and last forever. If they do swap them, do it right and use a secondary caliper or similar for the parking brake. That's a real improvement all around, since the last thing our rear end needs is more unsprung weight.

 

FWIW the drums look similar to the 2nd gen ones. Some great videos on working on them on YouTube. I had to redo mine as they were shot, shallow, missing pieces and rusted to hell. It's a steep learning curve for the uninitiated. Gotta say though, I'm surprised yours are that rusted in FL. Sea salt?

 

I still do it that way too, even with the manual. All the cars, trucks, and Jeep's I've had the drum brakes seem to last a long time. Now days when I do replace them, I replace every damn thing including the drums.

Last ones I changed was a couple years ago on a 2000 Jeep. I'd swear they were the factory originals. I had to spray the drums down with Kroil numerous times and beat the shit out of them for about an hour just to get the drums off. Emergency brake cable had rusted thru years ago from the way it looked.

I worked with a dude that did work on everyone's cars. He could honestly change out both sides of drum brakes in a half hour or less.

 

I can imagine seeing them all the time, it gets easy. On all the ones that I have seen, the usual suspects are there, but they are arranged differently and it is usually a long time between messing with them. Now with cellphone cameras and such, life is easier.

 

Everyone who works on their own brakes owns a Mightyvac.

 

Why for the love of gosh are you working on your trucks brakes if you dont even know what or how to bleed them....people these days blow my mind!

 

Valid point, the absolute most important part of any vehicle is the brakes.

Nothing wrong with learning to DIY, but at least have a manual on hand. Or a lap top and some good youtube vids.

 

No its great to learn how! BUT....a very big BUT. If you dont even know the basics like what or how to bleed them then you sould NOT be working on your trucks brake system. Watch videos, read forums, get a friend that can be there to walk you through it and explain things. This is a great way to mess something up that could lead to a loss of control of the truck.

 

Totaled.

 

Surprised that no TW members were nearby to help him hands-on.
Since on subject, if you want to have more "touchy" brakes, replace the OEM rubber brake lines with SS braided lines. You will see a difference, BUT since you will have opened ALL brake lines, bleeding is more involved and needs to be done in a proper sequence or no brakes. Have replaced my lines at almost new and pedal still "high".