Rear drum brake locking up after getting wet

I never noticed a brake vibration before all this started happening. After the dealership swapped out the cables though I did notice a vibration that felt like it was coming from the rear. I notice it when going downhill and using the brake to control my speed. Idk maybe it was there before and I just wasn't paying attention the way I am now. Not sure how that would explain this though.

 

Interesting..

I wonder if the problem is actually in the booster or an electrical connector related to it. The OR has a pretty fancy braking system after all, it can hold/modulate brake pressure at any wheel.

I had a '16 OR M/T, and only once did I have an issue even remotely like this. I made the mistake of washing the truck in the winter and then not driving it very far before parking for the night. It took a few tries to get one of the rear wheels to release, but it wasn't too bad. Like my new truck, I always use the park brake (also a manual trans).

Definitely want to see the outcome of this one.

Good luck!

 

Yeah this is super annoying. Any time I wash my truck I have to do a lap around town, otherwise it'll lock up. I've had it happen on a 100 degree day.

 

To me, that looks like something beyond a parking brake sticking. I would agree with those above who questioned the ABS/TractionControl system malfunctioning. You would really have to yank a parking brake tight to get that kind of hold power. I wonder if someone was monitoring the ABS system if they could see that brake being applied? Is that functionality available in TIS? Maybe the water is causing issues with the wheel sensors reading properly?

 

I would take it in and whine until they replaced all the rear brake components/hubs etc. New everything.

 

return spring in drum brake or brake cylinder sticking/malfunctioning

 

Both sides would have to be defective.. it's possible though.

 

Curious if there is anything wrong. Mine freezes up every time I wash my truck with just the garden hose if I don't drive it around the block a few times and brake to get the water out. I think it is just the way it is, but next tire rotation I am going to pop the drums off to make sure nothing looks out of place.

 

I'd start looking a little further up the signal chain if it's hitting both sides intermittently, it's beyond the drums and pads.

 

Parking brake and moisture .....
Not every truck is exactly the same but with my parking brake on the very first notch it will lock the wheels up just as hard as if you pull it all the way up hard
The close tolerance combined with the stiction of the shoes against the drum makes it stick much the same way a few drops of water will stick a sheet of plastic to glass .... The drum brake system by design is meant to hold tight once the shoes engage
Maybe some kind of silicone moisture repelling spray would be beneficial to the springs and adjust assembly

This happens after nearly every car wash if I set the brake

 

I use my parking brake religiously; I had this issue once after washing my truck. It sat for awhile before I had to run some errands. It took awhile and I had to engage/disengage the parking brake multiple times while shifting between reverse and drive. But I had the same issue as yours, where only one wheel locked up, luckily it happened in my driveway.

Hasn't happened since and I have been washing it, using a pressure washer aimed right at it also.

 

Here is what happened when mine froze, I washed it, then used the parking brake overnight. It froze up pretty good, ended up doing 4 wheel low to break them open.

 

I work on commercial vehicles. They have a spring actuated parked brake that holds the shoes against the drum when parked. After a weekend it isn't uncommon even with just rain or cool damp air for the brakes to lock a bit when they are released. This even happened to fronts on some vehicles, first application will lock them up. After driving them a short distance knocking of the small amount of rust that formed on the drum the issue is gone. I have even experienced this with disc brakes. Your best bet after washing is drive the vehicle and dry out any water that may have got in there.

 

I had the same situation, once, after washing parked in my heated parkade and set the parking brake. Next day both wheels were seized. Got it free by rocking a bit and had the dealer look it over. Nothing unusual found.

My take away is that I don’t set the p brake immediately after a car wash and whenever I do set it it’s only 2 clicks.

Be interested to know what they find out to fix yours, @MSR2534 .

 

It sounds like the dealership is doing their best to figure out whats going on. They are in contact with one of the chief technicians at HQ or something like that (at least thats what I've been told) but don't really have a good idea of what is going on. They ran it through their car wash and parked it with the parking brake engaged overnight. This morning apparently it ran just fine. Classic.


I contacted Toyota of America, not to complain, but just to have them involved and hopefully have a good outcome from all this.

So no real updates yet but I'll let you guys know what ends up happening.

 

I don't have these issues I live in so cal.

 

You sure about that? I have seen it happen.

 

My past traded in 2012 Base 4x4 was used to launch and retrieve my pontoon boat every year. So twice a year, at the shallow boat launch, my rear drums would get some water. For the last few years I had the vehicle, after getting the drums wet the brakes would hop and shudder until you get a few miles and a few stops on them. Otherwise I never had brake issues. When wet, pad to metal will have some kind of effect/slippage.

With my 2002 GMC $omoma (spelled Crap), it had rear disk. The emergency brake was a "brake band" around part of the disk hub. Crap design. After the dealer first played with my rear brakes - they never routed the e brake cable correctly. It rubbed, rattled, wore through and froze in the winter. BTW I had to replace 4 sets of Disks/Pads and 3 emergency brake cables in 75K Miles. I hated the Disk. I also like that with drum you have two different type systems in the vehicle. IF on is effected by one type of weather, the other set works fine.

(I loved that Sonoma, I hated the repairs - traded it in for a Taco now- and will never buy a GM again ..... JMO

 

I was having the same issue, locked up rear brakes after "car" washes. It didn't matter if I used the parking brake or not. I could usually break it free by putting it in forward and reverse a few times but one time I had washed it and parked it for a couple days, I backed out of my driveway and put it in drive went like 4 feet and it locked up solid. I would not break free even in 4 low so I had it towed to the dealer.

The dealer replaced the rear drums, brakes shoes, springs and adjusted the cables under warranty. I have only washed it once since then but it had no signs of sticking like before.
One thing I noticed is since the parking brake was adjusted is now the parking brake lever goes "up further" than before when I use it. I think there is more clearance between the shoe and drum now than from when it left the factory.
Only real issue I've had with the truck.