Adjusting rear drums.

You may need to slightly break free the ‘Bushing’ Bolt (Pivot #1) with heat or lots of penetrant. Mine was not seized. The other Pivot #2 on mine was seized. This caused a condition where my Parking Brake Cable was ‘Self Adjusting’ only the Pass Side Wheel. The lever wasn’t ‘Equalized’ in its self adjustment.

None of this is in the FSM which I followed to the T (per brake adjust), but could never understand why I could not get it right. The Equalizer Mystery (for my case) was solved when a member here decided to replace his Bushings and broke the Bolt during removal.

I never knew there were Bushings in there. Once I started messing with mine I discovered Pivot #2 actually was a pivot. It looks like a welded piece and mine was seized until I started investigating. Broke it free and lubed hard. Ordered 2 new bushings and installed. Both rears drums self adjust Equally, now.

 

Luckily I was able to to take off the bolt that mounts it to the frame bracket. Cleaned up the bolt with a dremel and painted it with a rust converter. The bolt was not fully threaded. After the bolt head it has a shank that fits just snug enough to rotate inside the two polymer bushings. No clue what material it is made of. Got the bushings $2.50 ish for the pair and two tube of red rubber grease for $8 each was free pick up at the dealer. I thought I could use the bolt that came with the aftermarket cable which was a fully 3/8-16 thread bolt and serrated flange nut. Unfortunately it seems that nut on the mount bracket is welded and it's something between a M6 or M10, my guess it's a M8. Had I known that I would had gotten the Toyota bolt too, it was under 2 bucks. Placed my order before trying to take off the bolt.... Now when engaging the park brake operates and turns both star adjusters on the rear drums. And now I can properly perform procedures in the FSM.

 

Good info here @Professional Hand Model and @shootemintheface. I most likely have that same issue.

 

bit of necromancy here, but some followup info as this post has lots of good info and pics. Toyota changed the rear drums around September of 2002. so anything built after that should have a slightly different shoe, and the self adjusting setup is different. the secondary "lever" on the front shoe that engages the star adjuster is removed and a different one is on the rear shoe. the parking brake does not adjust these ones post 08-2002. the old reverse and jam the brakes does (you should hear it clicking). other than that, same same, but different, still same same kind thing

 

thanks for this explanation on how to adjust

 

Damn brothet. Thank you. U just pointed out my issue. Expexpt me passenger wad not adjusting.

 

What are good/best replacement shoes? Source for good value cylinders and drums?

 

Advics brand is OEM front and rear I believe, but buying Advics brand cost significantly less than OEM from Toyota, stick with Advics to get OEM performance.

OEM drums, unless you like warped drums straight out of the box. This is true for front rotors also.

Cylinders, only replace if they're not functioning, just service and lube. This is 2x as true with the adjusters, if the stars aren't worn down, follow the FSM / factory service manual (downloadable via link in THIS THREAD, 4-5 paragraphs in) for servicing instructions.

For drums, assess whether the springs are uniform and in good shape, if not, get a kit to replace them.

Avoid major chain store brand parts, in a nutshell. You'll be shooting yourself in the foot.

 

Learn a new word and all of a sudden you hear it everywhere! While searching for rear drum cylinders I discovered Advics (OEM is unrealistically expensive!). Turns out that Advics is Aisin!

https://www.advicsaftermarket.com/product-lines/

 

Pulled a drum off this afternoon: cylinder, adjuster, drum, and all hardware look really good, shoes eccentrically worn but look like they still have a few thousand miles left on them, believe all are original. Cleaned everything up real good and put a little lube on the adjuster threads. Truck, 2006 DC, has 87k miles on it, has lived in Florida it's entire life. Think I'll buy a set of shoes just to have them on hand. Will pull other drum, inspect clean up. Will free up (as necessary) parking brake cables and bellcranks and adjust. Will check and adjust load proportioning valve. Will adjust to make sure shoe contact has no slack.

 

Picked up OEM rear shoes to swap on during the 25% off sale for $66.41. Serra has 20% off now with free shipping on orders over $75 ending 7/8/2024 (terms here).

 

Thanks for the link! Ordered a set of shoes and a set of pads.

 

Rotors end up a good deal too if they need replaced (but have had sets take multiple pad sets before replacing) - and with free shipping that is important due to weight when buying online.

 

Didn't read every comment but seems you could try pressing and releasing parking brake a bunch of times, assuming like myself you rarely use it until you have to jack up the truck or something

 

I use my parking brake semi-frequently while launching and loading my boat, at least a couple of times a month.

 

The drum brakes often need manual adjustment. Mega thread here.

 

I think not only works that way on certain years according to a comment in here. I was always under the impression that it worked for all first gens that way.