2006 Tundra E-Brake Slack

I just replaced the pads on the front and the shoes on the rear of my 2006 Tundra. It has 197,000 miles. I did the repairs myself and all went well. I adjusted the back shoes through the adjustment port until I heard the shoe or shoes begin to make contact and left it at that. My brakes are now new and they work great. However, I do not have much of an e-brake now. I am guessing I have 10% of what I should have. The e-brake has never been super strong. I use it frequently and nothing is frozen or locked up. I fish a lot and tow a boat and the e-brake has never held me very well at boat ramps, even when new. I have adjusted the brake cable adjuster under the drivers side of the cab and there is no more adjustment. I suspect that cable stretch could be an issue here. I spoke with a local, reputable garage and he said that a 13 year old vehicle with 197,000 would more than likely have a lot of cable stretch and that replacing the cables would more than likely fix my problem. I am looking for any other input out there on this topic. I appreciate what you can give me.

 

I just replaced the rear portion of the cable and the bell housings. They work great now. Also replace equalizer bushings. I will put together a post on what I did because this seems to be a common problem on these trucks.

 

I wrote a bunch about this on another post but in short, adjusting the parking brake and the rear brakes in general is harder than people think, and most people do it wrong.

The first thing to know is that the port in the back of the rear brake drum is not for adjusting the brakes, it is for backing them off to remove the drum. The rear brakes are designed to automatically adjust...every time the parking brake is pulled they will ratchet the mechanism tighter until there it is at minimum spacing. This is very important as the brakes only work if properly adjusted...and since the two brake circuits your truck has each contain one rear brake and one front brake even your front brakes will be effected by an out of adjustment rear brake.

But onto the parking brake, it will only do its job of adjusted the rear brakes and...braking.....with adjusted properly. Even a small amount of slack will keep it from performing the automatic rear brake adjustment.

THERE IS A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOW WELL YOUR PARKING BRAKES WORK, AND HOW WELL YOUR REAR BRAKES IN GENERAL WORK.

It IS possible that your cable has stretched but the system is complex with multiple points of adjustment so it needs to be checked and tightening the cable is the LAST step of the process.

 

Thank you so much for the information. I just found the cable adjustment on the parking brake pedal last night and adjusted it. I have about 30% of my e-brake now. You are right...the system is complex with many moving parts. I think I will replace the back, large cable, the bell crank parts, and the two interior cables in the drums. I have not inspected the bell crank parts. They are freed up and clean but I have not removed the boots to look at wear on each side. I suspect that there will be some wear present.

 

Good post. I started to disagree with you but then I found this. I recently went too far when trying to dial in my drums and I've been trying to fix my mistake. When I try to "back off" using the port the star wheel only moves upward, which moves the shoes outward, thus tightening them. It looks like you need a pick tool in order to reach in there and move the self adjust lever out which will allow you to back off the drums.

 

You can do it with just a skinny screwdriver. I'm not sure where you go this instructions from but although that is basically how the mechanism works, its not how it looks.

There is a little 'finger' of silver colored metal that sticks out below the star in a gap in the springs You just push that straight back (towards the tire) with a screwdriver which disengages the ratchet and allows you to turn the wheel manually.

If you use your parking brake to set the adjustment as the manual states its not possible to over tighten the brakes. The way the mechanism works the parking brake lever (The one inside the brake drum) has to be able to move a certain amount to reach the next tooth on the wheel and turn it. When the shoes are nearly in contact with the drums that lever can't move far enough to tighten them and the ratcheting action stops until the brake shoes wear down enough to allow another click.

In my experience the easiest way to set this is to put everything back together and then lay under the truck and just grab the transverse parking brake cable with your hands, brace your feet on the truck frame, and just pull the cable repeatedly. You should be able to hear one or two clicks from the brake drums with every pull until the brakes are adjusted at which point they will no longer click.

This is the 'finger' that releases the ratchet. You just need to push it away from the wheel from the the backside.

 

Aerindel The brake master


Very informative posts.

To bad pro hand model isn't available to challenge everything

 

Ehh....I wasn't born knowing this stuff. I just looked it up after I replaced my rear brakes and had the same problems everyone else does, but I had the PDF of the service manual which is pretty clear on how to adjust them.

 

Just did my rear shoes today and I’ll second everything ^ this guy says.

 

So I worked on this yesterday, and while it's possible to do this from the peep hole, it's not easy. The leaf springs block your head from being able to look in there so you have to do it by touch. A stubby screwdriver is needed as a regular length one is too long.

I ended up just jacking it up and pulling both drums instead. I now have them back off to normal levels and will let them self adjust as they are supposed to.

Thanks again for your knowledge on this subject.

 

Just make sure your e-brake system is in good repair. It only works to self adjust if its properly adjusted itself.

If it still seems like your parking brake isn't working after pulling it until the adjuster in the drums stops clicking then you need to tighten, replace etc your parking brake cable.

The first time I did my rear brakes I thought I had everything adjusted but the parking brake wouldn't even hold the truck in place if in D at idle. After I worked on my e-brake system I was able to get half a dozen more clicks out of the adjuster which really made a big difference.

 

Hello all and @Aerindel brake master.

I have been working to get my parking brake functioning properly. Currently it holds the truck in place but only on level ground, and with all of the cable tensions maxed out (under the dash and truck).

I pulled the drums today and everything looked to be in smooth working order. Plenty of life on the shoes and drums.
I adjusted the bell cranks according to the the FSM. The bell cranks move freely in their full range of motion. When I reassembled and spun the wheels you could hear the shoes rubbing slightly but there was only a very small amount of drag if any.

When the parking brake is not engaged, the bell crank adjust meant screw does not return to rest on the brake housing. There is about 3/4 in gap between the screw and the housing even with the parking brake off. This makes me think the cable is too tight, but loosening the cable any and the p brake won't function.

I don't hear a click when I engage the parking brake but the star screw was turning freely and I could make it click by turning it from inside the drum when I had it open. I didn't adjust the play of the shoe. All other components moving parts in the e brake cable system are moving freely. Brakes are otherwise working well. No soft pedal.

Any suggestions for next steps appreciated.

 

Great info. Thank you! Much different process from drum brakes I grew up with. Those self adjusted whenever you applied the brakes when in reverse. I never would have guessed this in a 100 years. Also appreciate the FSM reference. Again, thanks!

 

Gotta revive this old thread. I just replaced my wheel cylinders, rear brake shoes and had the drums turned. I also replaced the bell crank kits. We've bled the system. I adjusted the bellcranks so theres 1mm of play, adjusted the park brake cable to theres no slack. When the e brake cable is pushed down it clicks 8-10 times and the cable is really tight, e brake works. yet when i push the brake pedal i have damn near no brakes. Truck on jack stands rear wheels just keep spinning while i have the pedal to the floor.

Do 2005's also self adjust when you push the E brake? When the e brake is applied there is no clicking and with the drum off I pull the bellcrank there is no connection to the tab that would self adjust and turn the star wheel.

 

Does anyone know the bolt size / thread for using those threaded cheater holes to get rusty brake drum rotor off? Thanks!

 

Air in the system? If you have LSPV, did you bleed it also in the process? Sounds like air in the system to me, or your wheel cylinders are garbage and/or aren’t engaging.

 

Looks like it’s m8x1.25 based on research, but lemme know if that’s off

 

You're right. I ordered some on Amazon.

M8-1.25 x 25mm

 

I ended up getting rid of the LSPV and installed a Wilwood. The wheel cylinders are new AISIN, brakes are significantly better now.