rear brakes not engaging?

About 2 weeks ago I did a brake job on my 2001 DC Prerunner (140,000 miles). The steering wheel had been shaking REALLY bad for awhile whenever the brakes were applied.

This is only the second time this truck has needed brakes. The first time was around 75,000 miles and only the brake pads were changed out. After completing the front brakes (new OEM pads, new O'reillys rotor) I moved onto the rear. I discovered that the rear shoes looked almost brand new with VERY little wear. I didn't even bother resurfacing the drums. After everything was put back together I went ahead and bled the brakes (for the first time).

Is this normal? The rear suspension has been saggy for years, and I don't know if that had anything with the rear brakes. I am afraid that they haven't been engaged for a LONG time. In a few days I will order JLee's BPV relocation bracket because the rear will be lifted about 1.5".

Any ideas?

 

Mine looked like that on my old taco after 125,000. They don't wear much if you are easy on the brakes.

 

Don't forget that the front brakes take a majority of the work. If your back brakes were not engaging, you would be constantly skidding.

That happened to me before. No back brakes, only front. Downhill. Heading towards a T intersection. In SF, with a 2 story building right in my path. Skidding all the way down....

 

I feel the same way about the rear drums Adam. I feel like they aren't working like they should because the truck seems to have a slight nose dive compare to other cars I drove. It just seems odd the rear brakes shoes don't have that much wear. My truck is at 130,xxx and I never changed the rear drum shoe. I don't think my dad did either, he gave me the truck not too long ago.

Hey if thats normal I guess great for us, less maintenance. At the same time I wish the braking was more evenly distributed.

 

I understand that the front brakes do most of the work, but that shouldn't mean the rear brakes should look almost new either. My truck did dive noticeably as well. Hopefully my most recent brake job and adjustment fixed the problem.

 

My rear brake shoes are original at 175k miles and are only about 1/2 worn.

Normal, dont worry about it

Although for me, being a manual and using engine braking pretty often to slow down, I can see how my rear brakes have been preserved.