Rear Brakes

In checking out the rear brakes, they don't look so bad.

I don't see a huge difference in surface material difference between the old and new shoes.

What do you think?

 

They look great. A good point of judgment, the pad should be twice as thick as that backing plate it's connected to.

 

Thanks for the tip.

When rotating the wheel hubs toward the front, I hear a slight clicking noise coming from the hub area.

Is that a normal noise from a rear end differential gears or does it indicate the bearings or some other part of the rear-end may be getting weak?

It doesn't feel loose or has a leak. I'm just not familiar with the normal sound that should be coming from the rear axle.

 

It means you don't drive with heavy load on the back. 99% I drive with empty camper shell and my rear brakes look half new after 320k miles:

 

To freshen up the drums, took them to O'Reilly and got them turned. Installed and adjusted the rears brakes.

Then finished up by installing the Wheelers SS rear line. Then bled the brakes again. I'm happy with the brakes now.

 

Since your back in That area, check that the diff vent valve is working correctly.

If it gets plugged or stuck closed you will blow out your axle seal from the pressure created by the gears. It’s an expensive fix if a dealership does it and it’s tricky to get it done right.


This happened to me, didn’t know it needed to be checked and cleaned.

Bought a new one for 12.00

 

i was just back under there a couple days this past week, spare tire is out so i can still easily crawl under there
how do you check if it works correctly, i have a lot of winter roadspray buildup in areas
i tried to avoid hitting that and the brake lines

 

Unscrew it then try to blow thru it. You should be able flow air, but it will be restricted.

If you can't blow thru it, it's plugged.

 

Make sure you clean all around the valve before you remove it so no dirt falls into the diff too.

Spray the valve out with brake cleaner while it’s out and make sure it’s working and moves up and down

 

it just finger screws out, no special tool?

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

 

Open end wrench will work

 

are you powder coating the drums?

 

Nah.. They were the originals. After getting them turned to smooth out the wear edge, I just sprayed them with some flat black conversion paint. Then cleaned up the axle to drum mating surface and sprayed it. I don't want to spend a lot of money on rear brakes for a while. I think I have a lot of miles left in these.

Maybe when I completely run out of things to do and its time to work on rear brakes, I'll look into converting them to disc. I see a disc conversion kit for Tacos.

I always liked these finned aluminum brake drums though.

 

Good tip about cleaning around it. It had some gunk built up around the thread part.

Took off the vent, cleaned it out with brake cleaner, blew it out with compressed air. Its all good now.

Bled the proportion valve and made a slight adjustment to the right rear brake.

I have a nice firm pedal. The brakes lock up fairly easily now. When it does lock up, I move in a straight line.

 

My axle seals leak so bad my drums and shoes should last forever

 

its probably best i just get a new one to put in the one i have is weather worn worse than most

do you have a part #

 

No, I just ordered it from my dealer

 

I suggest that your automatic adjusters are not working. (I bet most cars with rear drums are not working...) and that's why you have so little wear on the shoes. I found this when I went to hold the engine while loosining the crankshaft balancer bolt. In gear with the brakes applied, the back wheels turned while trying to take the bolt off. Adjusted up the rears and it held fine. Suprising how little I noticed I only had front brakes for so long.......