Fed up with parking brake!!!

Ha ha.. And it was not my 4Runner either..
I would be so screwed if it was damaged doing that and explaining my friend what I did.

 

when my gm vehicles I adjusted the park brake shoes , then the parking brake cable is the correct adjustment too tight or too loose ...the cable is a new GM vehicle and the factory cable my adjusted ...correct.. the cable adjusted new with the tightness brake cable factory to adjust it ...
my GM vehicles parking brakes work very good and the park brake shoes are not much wear .. around 20 yrs ...but I had to change the parking brake cables all of them ....

 

Ah yes….the legendary GM parking brake cable dangle. I cant remember the last time I’ve seen a rear axle with that that cable hanging off lol.

@jcat, does your GM have drum in disc as well?

 

my brakes are all calipers .. GM vehicles ... 1996 and 2000 ...bought it new and now ...the calipers rear are inside the park brake pads [shoes]...
I removed the rear calipers and I cleaned the calipers also rust on the shoe caliper brake area ...

so I was going to this fall to inspect the parking brake 4 runner ..my runner is around 40K miles ...the first inspection ..

 

My parking brake sucks in my 4Runner. I’ve never had a problem in my Tacoma & you can’t drive anywhere if it’s on. I want to get my pb adjusted & be flat out better in the 4Runner. This is a good thread because I wasn’t sure if it was just me but seems to be common place actually. Once I do get it adjusted, I’ll post back on here

 

I parked on an incline everyday for the first three years of ownership (I bought used). Never left it in N so can’t speak to that but in P it always held. It is the least confident of all my vehicles but it has not failed to hold. My other vehicles (mostly Toyotas) always felt secure. To increase the anxiety, my neighbor had a 1987 Toyota Land Cruiser that was in the direct path if it did fail.

 

BTW @McSpazatron I checked with my buddy on my old 4Runner - he said he never tightened the cable or the drum, so that's 4 years and 60k+ miles without an adjustment.

He did mention it was getting a little looser feeling, but still holding.

 

Just checked my old videos, looks like the car was on level ground when I step out of the vehicle while its in reverse. Not on the drive way with a slope. Not so adventuress I guess.

At the time of this video the parking brakes are 6 years old and closer to 65K miles if I'm not mistaken.

Edit -
Looks like I have even step out to get some shop towels to clean the lights.

 

my family member changed the 2019 Tacoma brake pads front calipers and the rear drums shoes ...the parking brakes are very strong very good no issues .....so the Tacoma brake fluids are a lot of bubbles in it !!!!!!!!! then previously the brakes are not braking ... brake fluid bleeding it ... then I did a great job of the Tacoma brakes ...working good ..

I was going to inspect the 4 runner park brake shoes ..in November ..rotate the tires change the oil and grease the drive shafts..

 

UPDATE:

I cleaned up my driver side parking drum/shoes today, and did the parking brake cable adjustment.


For ease of access I did the adjustment underneath the console. It was a bit fiddly since access was still tight, but I got it done with some patience. Some checking is required that you dont tighten so much that it’s still pulling on the brake when it’s released.

After I got it back together I re-did the bed-in procedure. Not that I had to, but I wanted to. Because there’s actually not much of the shoe that makes contact with the drum (just because of how drum brakes are), so Im hoping more bedding and more shoe wear should result in more friction.

On the first 22mph to zero parking brake application, I one of the rear tires was starting to squawk at 3/4 travel and it stopped the 4runner very quickly (legit, I got pulled forward lol) Compared to last week, it’s a night and day difference. I should add, I did the bed in procedure in drive, and Im almost positive I did it neutral last week.

The amount of pedal adjustment necessary made it very clear that most of the brake’s potential was lost, simply because the pedal could not travel sufficiently.

Taking the slop out of the pedal also improved the holding power when parked on my mild incline. At 6 clicks, it holds itself from rolling backwards in neutral. At 8 clicks, it holds itself on the hill when I put it in reverse!!!

If I press any more than 8 clicks, I can give it some throttle and it will not move! Yay, no more driving down the driveway without noticing my parking brake is on!!!

It works better holding forward than it does holding backwards. But holding power in both directions is still more than acceptable.

So, it’s very clear the parking brakes ultimate performance is immensly better than it ever was before. To the point that I can sincerely consider it an emergency brake. At least right now…

Time will tell if the adjustment holds. Need to remember to update this thread in 15,000 miles or so.

Truly appreciate everybody’s help on this!!!!

 

Glad you got it to an acceptable place!

 

Thanks for documenting your adventure. It’s very valuable information.

Just to be clear, when you say you did the adjustment under the console you mean the center console at the gearshift, right?

 

Appreciate your help too! And everybody elses. I know just enough about this kind of stuff to get in trouble, so it’s helpful to bounce questions and ideas off of others.

Regarding the adjustment location, yes I adjusted under the console where the gearshift is. That location seems more useful than the one by the pedal, because it allows you to see if there is still some slack in the line as it exits the vehicle. If you tighten too much, then you’ll see right away it has no slack (and therefore leaving the brake slightly engaged). So I left as little slack as possible, and double checked for free rotation at the wheel before buttoning everything up.

 

yes the parking brake is a good job ...park pedal 8 clicks and the runner is not running reverse ....
I will do that park brake adjustment did it good ..November ...

 

I did the rotate tires and inspect the brakes/park brake ...I cleaned the brake pads lubed the pins and the brake pads ... cleaned the park brake shoes cleaned the rotor park drum ..did a adjustment shoes .. very small adjustment .. works good around 5 clicks ...Saturday ..

 

My parking brake is not able to hold the vehicle on its own (in neutral) on my driveway's incline. I have to put the shifter in park as well.
Brand new Runner...1500 miles. Is this how it's supposed to be?

I park on my driveway often. I wonder if over time leaving the load of the vehicle (on an incline) on transmission park mechanism will cause any damage to it?

 

Nope. Apparently adjustment of the parking brake is one of those things that gets left off the dealer prep list.

I’ve heard lots of warnings to that effect but I’ve never heard anyone complain of damage.

 

does anyone have a picture of this or more instructions? like, how do you access the adjuster? Thanks.

 

Mine was not well adjusted when new either. I doubt that the parking pawl would get damaged over time if you park on relatively flat inclines. On steeper inclines however, it just doesnt feel great when the pawl holds the weight…especially when you go to put it in drive and it kind of bangs into drive. Feels horrible. Would much rather have the weight taken up by the parking brake before putting it in park.

Another update post adjustment…over three months later and the parking break still holds as well as before.

 

There is a pic of the service manual further up on this thread. Next time I take the top of the shifter console, I’ll try to remember to take a pic. But it’s easy to find…right behind the shifter.

 

I need to remember to test mine this spring before getting my boat. This sounds crazy if are launching a boat.

 

thx, would also be great to see pics on how to remove the console safely. if I was confident in doing that id have no prob tightening the cable. that's what I've wanted to do from the beginning. my shop charged me $70 to tighten it at the hub, and it didn't make a big difference.

 

the parking brake is the pedal down then put the shifter in park ... then start the engine use the shifter in drive then do the parking brake off ....
so you did the parking brake is not working do the dealership ..

 

Found a vid that shows removal. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eFDy3SK-rO8
Unscrew the shifter knob first, then pop off. It’s easier to do with two hands since you wont be holding a camera like this guy.

Behind the shifter assembly on the floor, you’ll see the brake cable, which is on a yoke-looking thing that splits it to two cables. It’s fiddly work to adjust it, by the way. It takes some patience and some fine motor skills.



Disengage the parking brake pedal, and then look at the cables under the console…You’ll see some slop and be able to move the cables around a bit. Most of that slop is excessive, because the pedal has to take it up first before it actually starts pulling on the actual e-brake shoes. Adjust it until there’s just a little slop in the assembly (you do need a little slop to make sure the shoes can fully disengage).

 

Thanks!

 

the parking brake cable adjusted it !!!!!!!!!
the mechanic is taking of the rear rotors brake,, then the park shoes are cleaned and also the rotor park brake area is rusted and cleaned ..
I did the inspected every year all of my vehicles ...

 

Set the parking brake while parking, if you’re using the parking brake to hold the vehicle you’re getting out or doing other things that’s asking for problems. Just pick up a brake pedal depressor for those times.

$34 BILITOOLS 28" Brake Pedal Depressor Tool Adjustable Depressor for Car Brake, Accelerator and Clutch Pedal

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XQ15GTQ

 

Not trying to ruffle any feathers here but. As an auto mechanic I can say that if everything is correct in the shoes you should never have to adjust the parking brake cable adjustment from factory. To correctly install any drum brake or drum in hat parking brake there is an order. The cable adjustment must be completely backed off first then the brake shoes properly adjusted making sure everything is free to move (Hello salt belt). After which you adjust the parking brake cable adjustment not before. To mess with the cable adjustment before verifying the parking brake shoes is asking for more problems. If the shoes are correct the cable adjustment will fall into line just like factory. I think to many people expect to much from an e-brake after all it is an emergency brake and will work to slow the truck and help take the load off the trans parking pawl. Biggest issue I've seen with the e-brake holding the truck has been rust buildup inside the rotor where the shoes contact outside of adjustment issues. Just saying from experience take it or leave it.

 

well in todays world is the parking brake ... back in the old days the emergency brake of the rear , brake shoes front and rear ....total ..
disc brakes are now in todays world front /rear ...then the small parking brk shoes in the rear disc small area ...

 

No feathers ruffled here. I honestly was looking for somebody to post something with authority over the matter lol. In fact, I hesitated on adjusting the cable precisely because I suspected there was a right way to do this, and I wasnt quite sure how. I think I pieced it together with the help of folks on this thread.

While I did set the shoes first, before moving on to the cable, I still wasnt quite sure which one of the two adjusting points inside the vehicle I should use. I picked the center console adjustment over the adjustment at the pedal because I could reach it much easier. I’m not sure if it would have been better adjusting at the pedal. Do you think one is better than another in this case?

I agree about reasonable expectations. Drum-in discs physically cannot be as strong as a traditional drum. But my expectation is reasonable. The only test that I want it to pass is to demonstrate that the brake can prevent the vehicle from rolling if left in neutral. If it cant do that simple task, then wont be able to take weight off the transmission, and it would be pointless to use it as a backup parking brake. Mine was pretty bad.

Thankfully since adjusting, it’s shown no reduction in the performance I documented here previously. And, so far, none of that weird “stretch” that I couldn’t figure out. It also exceeds my mediocre goal of just being able to hold itself without rolling. I can give it a bit of gas now, (in drive or reverse) and it still holds! Hallelujah!

I have a hard believing what Ive been told in the past, that it’s “just how it is”. Because Ive never had such poor performance in my other drum-in-disc cars, and also because it costs too much money for toyota to make a system be utterly useless. I like to imagine the famous toyota ethos would not allow a design that isnt even physically/mechanically capable of doing it’s job. I can understand the challenges of setting it up just right at the factory, but certainly the dealers should be able to. In my case, a master tech at the dealer told me it’s normal for them not to do much, which I took as encouragement to not bother making a service appointment and figure it out myself. If this is a PDI thing, I consider it bad form on the part of the dealer.