So long Rear Emergency Brake Cables....

Dad's truck wouldn't move an inch today. I gave it a little gas and Dad noticed the passenger rear wheel was frozen.

I gave the E brake cable a good few yanks at the wheel. I got maybe a little over an inch of play. I put it in Drive, frozen, I put it in Reverse and "Snap" It could roll. Got to the end of the drive way and put it in D and frozen again. I shifted back and forth a few more times. I was able to baby it a couple blocks to a shop. Dad had them open the rear brakes and do an inspection and cleaning last week so we took it back.

They said the cables are bad and replacing them may not be adequate as the truck is getting too rusty.

They cut the cables at the wheel and up a little further at a bracket. They said they opened the drums and set the E brake to the neutral position. They said shoes got about 5000 mile left and kinda avoided swapping them now. They insisted we wait....ok....I got nothing to yank on if it happens again is kind of my concern....

Does all that sound about right considering the rust and age?

Thanks.

 

Sounds like the shop was looking out for you financially. When things look like that, it never goes as planned.

Example: It needs parking brake cables, open it up, the entire rear brake assembly needs replacing including backing plates. Go to remove the backing plates, all the bolts broke off, you need a new rear axle. It could never end.

It's kinda surprising they even touched it, unless they didn't charge anything. It opens them to liability. Example: they just worked on the brakes, it wouldn't stop causing an accident.

 

First of all, do you have an automatic transmission? So that means you probably never use the parking break. That causes them to seize up when you do need to use it.
I just replaced both of them. I have a stick so I used them for parking. I needed to do a rear brake job anyway. I don't understand how they say. The truck is too rusty to replace them.
I kept soaking down all the hardware that holds the brake cables to the frame with Kroil. I only had one bolt Snap off the frame where the cable crosses over it on the driver's side so I took bolt cutters and cut the cable away over there. It was a bit of work installing both new cables but I did get it done. And they work real nice now. I can't understand what they mean by saying. The truck is too rusty unless they're afraid. All the clamps and nuts and bolts that hold them in place won't come out. I got all the bolts outand except one. But I had patience and diligence.
Edit
Forgot to say I had the exact same problem back out of my driveway. And the rear brakes would not release And I use my parking break every day. It's just that my cables were worn out. The steel cable inside the jacket is coated with plastic. To make it slide and to keep it from corroding. The plastic wore away then corrosion got in. Also do not lubricate these. I don't think they need it in lubrication might soften. The plastic coating on the cable and actually make it wear away sooner.

 

I feel like this is a common issue with a lot of Toyotas and not just tacomas. I had to
Have new cables installed after my rear wheels froze up just like yours did and had to have it towed to a shop.

 

How much did that cost you?

 

I think it was like, $600ish. If I remember correctly

 

For us it stared out being $90 dollars that my dad's paid to get the front and rear brakes inspected and adjusted. That was a pretty good deal except that the next day when it froze up.

I paid a $130 for them to cut the lines and adjust the parking brake inside the drums to the "neutral" position. So it goes....

They pushed the decision to cut the brake cables without my total consent. My request was to disable the E-Brake cable so it wouldn't freeze up again. He called back and suggested to cut the brake cable. I asked it he could just disable it at the pedal. He said it would run the risk of seizing up again even with new cables. I asked to quote me out to make everything brand new. He said he would open the drums and see what he could do.

Later when they called they told me they ended up just cutting the cable and that my brakes were "Free" you can come pick it up....We took that as it didn't cost anything... only to find they meant the brakes weren't sticking anymore....oh well. I had my dad with me so I wanted to keep things very polite. I paid the $130 and what's done was done. I asked them to give me quote for all new rear brakes but they never did give me one. Only verbally quoted me for cables were for $650. $250 parts + $400+ labor....

The truck is a pretty rust Michigan truck. They did installed the shocks I bought off the market place here but that was $600 dollars. I would've had a nightmare trying to get the old ones off so we were grateful for them to be able to do it. The truck is so much better to drive now.

They probably weren't not too pleased to have to do the work on such a rusty truck is what I can figure. They didn't want me coming back so they just opt'd to do what couldn't come back to bite them and brush us out the door. I don't think I'll be going back.

@Waasheem makes the good point that it might have just gotten nastier and nastier to keep going trying to fix it. I'm dreaming of a used rear end from a junk yard. Just taken off where the left springs meet the frame. I load it on a trailer and bolt it up under this truck. It's a dream for now...

The moral I'm walking away with is if it ain't broke don't fix it.

I'm really to blame for not learning how to check the brakes myself. I suggested we get them looked at just for peace of mind. I never opened the rear brake drum before....Dad's not a car guy and I'm only where I'm at cause I wreck my beloved trucked and decided to fix it. I would NOT have been able to do it without this forum and youtube. Not even close.

 

It's not lack of use.

The cable sheathing breaks and the cable becomes exposed to the elements.

Nearly every 2nd gen in a salt state has damage cable housings to the drums. This is starting to cause more issues like sticking shoes and breaking cables like this.

 

Some will say brakes is easy to work on. It is and isn’t true. 1 to 10, 1 being easy and 10 being difficult, disc brakes is a 2, drum brakes about 7. Even more difficult if there’s nobody to mentor you through when you get stuck. Even more difficult without the specific brake tools.

So don’t feel bad if you don’t know how. All those little springs like a jigsaw puzzle, cancer inducing dust, pieces flying away never to be seen again, lol. Then if it’s wrong it can not work right, not release correctly or worse not stop correctly. It’s intimidating.

How I learned is watching it get done, make good mental notes. Once I figured I can do it I bought the tools, and took it slow. ONE SIDE AT A TIME so if I got lost reassembling I had something to look at.

Of course now we have YouTube so you can watch any time. Look at more than one. Some people skip steps like a dab of grease here and there, recognizing a worn piece that should be replaced, checking the wheel cylinders for leaks behind the rubber boots, adjusting correctly, getting absolutely zero greasy finger prints on the new shoes.

 

Brakes are easy to do IMO once you do it a few times
hardest ones to do IMO is Subaru calipers with ebrake which dont compress unless you take apart the caliper

 

This is absolutely correct. Front brakes are cake, rears are too if they aren’t drums haha

 

Wow, well, that was probably mostly labor. I bought set of raybestos brand from rock auto. For about a 100 bucks, was doing the rar brakes anyway. Was a bit difficult to install, took some time.

 

And The Thing that makes it harder on these brakes is that the flange is so big. It's tough to see in there and use one side as an example. Compared to drum breaks on cars, we're almost all the parts are exposed.

 

I don't know that shop does not sound very very trustworthy. To cut off the e break cables and then back the shoes off. You're probably driving without hardly any red brakes. After that, I don't know what state you live in but in. Massachusetts that would not pass a yearly safety inspection and the shop would be held liable.