Rear drum brake locking up after getting wet

I live in Montana. I noticed during the winter months and driving in winter conditions to work or where ever, the rear breaks would become frozen after barking for some time. One time when leaving work, I slid through a four way stop because I had no rear brakes.

 

Since brand new this has been occurring. Like from the first time I washed it, so it appears to have nothing to do with wear, unless of course it gets better (unlikely) with more break wear. Obviosly the rear drum is holding moisture and freezing up. I have a short drive from the car wash to home, all uphill. And frigid temps, but this appears to be happening in much milder climates as well.

 

My fronts freeze on really cold days when I go to the car wash. The water sprays on the underside and flash freezes to the front rotors, it will either lock up the front brakes, or it will cause the front to not grip at all.

 

I’ve never experienced this with any other vehicle. This could be a big safety issue. I wonder if this is common for the Tacoma.

 

I think it is a combination of sub zero weather, waiting in line at the wash so the rotors get real cold, open wheel wells, and underside jets that can get more water in with those open wheel wells.

In all the other cars I had, never had the same issue, but I also never washed my other cars as much as my tacoma, its my first brand new truck, so I want to keep it clean.

 

Used to happen to mine, I backed off the shoes about 3 clicks and has never happened again.

 

Do the truck you are having the brake lock up after washing have a lift added ??

 

Look at this, a quick google search shows this occurs on most web boards!

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/brakes-sticking-after-car-gets-wet.108033/

https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/brakes-locked-up-next-morning-after-car-wash.386445/

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=48&t=1210892

http://www.pumapeople.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=86123

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/23480-brakes-sticking-after-wash/

This is rust forming on the drum and causing the shoe that is pressing against it to lock temporarily! It happens to all vehicle type and brake types. There is metal in the drum and the lining. The rust can fuse the materials together. Rust is suprising in its abilities to bond and push materials together and apart. Dry the brakes after washing or drive the truck and apply the brakes to knock off the rust. This might be an over used expression here in Tacomaworld, but brakes locking up after getting wet and then sitting is NORMAL!

 

I've had the same issue with my parking brake locking up. It would happen after pulling my boat out of the water. I would engage the parking brake to back it in my driveway but when I unhook the boat and try to pull away the passenger rear wheel was completely locked. This has happened several times to the point where I had to remove the wheel and smack the drum with a mallet to free it up.

I took it to the dealer and had them take everything apart and look but of course they found nothing and said they've never heard of this issue, despite complaints being everywhere on the internet. At this point, I don't use the parking brake anymore unless I absolutely have to. Pretty sad I know..

 

I must have an abnormal one then.

 

stock suspension? Any lift?

 

Completely stock. 2018 TRD Sport 4x4 Dbl Cab, Long Bed

 

Had this happen today while doing a little off-roading. Pulled to the side of the road for a few minutes (engaged the hand brake) and when i tried to leave the passenger rear wheel was locked up pretty bad. Was able to eventually press down hard enough on the brake pedal and it luckily disengaged. I may have gone through a small amount of water but definitely not cold enough to freeze (I'm out in AZ).

First time this has happened so I guess I will keep an eye on it for a while and see if it happens again!

 

this happened to me as well, any insight on this?

 

Did not read through all the comments so apologies if this is redundant for anyone. Apparently my original dealer did not want to be bothered so I found a dealer in my area [Central MA] that dug into this issue and found a recall for it. It was fixed in September 2022 under warranty. Needless to say this is my new dealership for maintenance and problems. See attachment below for dealer comments from Toyota Owners website.

 

Happen to me today, the rear passenger side locked up, it was around 25 degrees up in big bear and locked up while trying to get out of my driveway. I put the truck in reverse and backed up while turning the steering left to right. It unlocked then i had the pads backed off. Was fine until i pulled the ebrake and locked again. Out of habit its hard to not pull the ebrake. Purchased a drum rebuild kit and new pads, truck is a 2019 with 40k miles first time having this issue.

 

As mentioned above, it could be any one of or a combination of moisture freezing the drum/shoes, moisture freezing the cable(s), or flash rust of those components due to moisture. Some vehicles are better protected from the elements than other. I've had my front brakes freeze over in a jetta leaving me with zero stopping until I melted the ice off the rotor following a car wash.

I don't believe replacing anything is going to help here unless the casing on a cable is compromised or you're missing a plug in the backing plate of the drums or something along those lines. Best advice I can offer is to
A.) spray into the cables with silicone spray or a dry lube that contains teflon as best you can, anywhere you see cable to casing and work the hand brake a bit to help get it in there and
B.)drive around after getting things wet and lightly apply the brakes occasionally to help dry things off.

The Tacoma parking brake system is on the less sealed side of things and I believe Toyota knows that as I believe they state in the owners manual to not use the hand brake in cold weather or when parking for a long time as the brake make stick/freeze on

 

This only happens at cold temp when im at my socal home never had this issue. I might replace the cable as well, i was disappointed in the tacoma this trip. I will dive deep into it when i get home and find the root cause, changing things without know the reason why it failed would create to many variables

 

Revived thread but always a good lesson.

I've learned not to pull the parking break during cold weather...especially, if the truck has been washed or gone through water.

I live in flat land Delaware so just putting my automatic transmission truck in P will suffice.

 

This can happen with a new truck with low miles. It’s simply a drum brake thing. I had issues with an 87 Ramcharger in Montana. It was an auto but I parked on a bit of a grade. When it got below -10 the rears would always freeze up.

I started using chocks when it was below -10
Hejj a few times, tires would freeze to the ice layer on the road.