Squishy Brake Pedal - Fixed!!

Probably some thin ass disintegrated paper thing stuck to the inside of the drum or on the end of the axle. I haven't had mine apart, 165k and still original set of shoes back there, lol. Hey, they haven't made noise or complained. Not sure I have ever seen any kind of gasket between drum and axle on any other car/truck I've had.

 

Has it been cleaned regularly?

The adjuster screw may just be dirty and frozen.

 

OP my want to figure on replacing the rear wheel brake cylinders, too. If they aren't leaking after replacing the brake shoes I'd be surprised. Doing it now will save you from having to replace both the cylinders and brake fluid contaminated shoes again.

 

I just did this drum adjustment after finding the thread. It worked. Here's my take:

It should be noted that the metal adjustment tab needs to be pushed off the adjustment ring when backing it off (loosening the adjuster) otherwise the tab bends towards the hole and gets stuck. I used a second screwdriver to push it away from the ring.

I tried the method of fully opening the adjuster until it wouldn't open any further, then backing it off 14 clicks. However, it doesn't actually "click" when backing it off since you have to push the tab off the ring... I just kinda eyeballed it and made 14 small movements. After doing this to both sides, I set the e brake a few times and then drove in reverse and applied the brake many times. No change at all and the pedal was spongy as ever.

I took the rubber cap back off and clicked the adjusted only 5 times tighter on each side, then made sure the brakes weren't dragging. That did it! The brake system feels renewed and stops with much more authority now. I don't think the brakes have ever felt this strong, now that the rears are pulling their share along with the front brakes. After driving around for 30 minutes testing, I jacked up the rear and tested that nothing was dragging and noted that the rear drums weren't too hot.

Below is an illustration showing how you need to push the tab off the ring when loosening it.

 

okay, so i was trying this and had difficulty finding the star. broke out my cheap ass endoscope from Amazon and found it real quick.

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i tightened it until i felt resistance on the wheel and then used a pick to push back the spring plate and moved it back a few notches until i didn't feel resistance spinning. what a huge difference this makes! i feel like i actually have brakes now! i still don't feel like i have abs though.

 

Brake shoes require periodic adjustment to ensure that they are positioned just above the interior of the drum for optimum bite, and the drums themselves should be checked for warping and thickness. Finally, check to see if your brake shoes show any grooves that could mean it’s time for machining or replacement: you want as much shoe surface area as possible contacting the drum when you push down on the brake pedal.

 

Do this to adjust the rear brake shoe clearance:

From the Shop Manual: http://www.customtacos.com/tech.old.../06toyrm/06toypdf/06rmsrc/rm2006ta/042010.pdf

ADJUST REAR DRUM BRAKE SHOE CLEARANCE

(a) Provisionally install the hub nuts.

(b) Remove the hole plug, and turn the adjuster to expand the shoe until the drum locks.

(c) Using a screwdriver, release the adjuster 15 notches.

(d) Install the hole plug.

 

After replacing the shoes, springs/hardware, and cylinders - had squishy brakes. Initially thought it was a bad brake bleed, but this was the problem. Initially had the shoes sort of tight putting on the drum after a couple of pulls of the e brake. But driving around brake pedal felt very loose. Added 5 clicks to each side, it was a little better, 5 more clicks did the trick, brake pedal back to nice and firm.