Poor Brake Performance and weird shifting

Bought a 2011 about a month ago. On the test drive, I mentioned the brake travel was too long and that the rotors were warped. So I put that in the contract before purchase that it would be taken care of when I bring the truck back in. I had them check about the brakes and also weird shifting. It shifts rougher as I go through the gears. Truck had 116k miles on it when I purchased it and was religiously serviced at that dealer it's whole life.

So I bring it in, spent 6 hours at the dealer, only for them to say the brakes and transmission is normal. I dont believe them. Brakes have way too much travel and at times feel like they barely work. As the initial depress of the pedal, you can feel something grab, and then after that there is about 4-5" of travel where nothing happens. And then the truck starts stopping.

As for the transmission, it seems like if I get on it a little, it shifts better. Maybe a computer reprogram is in order?

Any tips/advice on what I should do?

 

Is it lifted? Or have over sized tires? If you have +33" tires then the shifting can occur at higher rpms. Did they do a recent brake job? I wonder if there is air in the brake lines. Just my 2 cents. Also front calipers are notorious for going bad if off roading often, but they should be able to tell. I'd say get a second opinion.

 

It's bone stock. I couldn't get the service records due to the previous owner's info being on there, but according to car fax, it was there for every major service and every oil change. So I would have assumed it has had a brake job before. The rotors were resurfaced when I initially went there, and they are warped again. All highway/city driving

 

all Toyota dealers are able to see maintenance records done at other Toyota dealers. if you think these guys are giving you the run around, try another Toyota dealer.

 

Ok, I'll check into it tomorrow if I have some free time. I'd just hate to have to pay money to fix something that should have been taken care of in the first place.

 

They shouldn't charge you for a diagnostics/check up (at least my local dealer doesn't). Then you can take that to the first dealer to fix for free if they agreed to it. Good luck.

 

Check that you don't have an adjuster seized up in one of the rear drums. If they aren't adjusted out far enough, you have to displace a lot of brake fluid before you build up enough pressure in the system to do you any good. I think it's fairly common. Your parking brake adjusts them. You could try setting and releasing your parking brake a couple of dozen times and see if that helps.

If not, pull your rear drums and have a look. They should be kind of tough to pull off.

 

I'll look into it. Appreciate the help!

 

Change the fluid in the transmission, if it's original it's past due.

 

Do this to adjust the rear brake shoe clearance:

From the Shop Manual: http://www.customtacos.com/tech.old.../06toyrm/06toypdf/06rmsrc/rm2006ta/042010.pdf

ADJUST REAR DRUM BRAKE SHOE CLEARANCE

(a) Provisionally install the hub nuts.

(b) Remove the hole plug, and turn the adjuster to expand the shoe until the drum locks.

(c) Using a screwdriver, release the adjuster 15 notches.

(d) Install the hole plug.