What have you done to your ride lately?

[tex]

How big of a PITA is that?

Not bad at all. 30 min job. 3 tools needed.

 

[MatthewMay1]

Today I put a new fan clutch in the Tacoma, cleaned the dirt out of the radiator, and put new brake shoes on the 4Runner. Those shoes are being a bear to adjust though. The little click wheels do not want to cooperate with me!

 

[Taco Loco]

Today I put a new fan clutch in the Tacoma, cleaned the dirt out of the radiator, and put new brake shoes on the 4Runner. Those shoes are being a bear to adjust though. The little click wheels do not want to cooperate with me!

I never seen or messed with 4R drums, I do know that a lot folks that install brake shoes, do not screw the adjuster screw back in, before installing new shoes. Most of the time it’s approximately 5-7 turns inward or the difference of thickness from the old shoes compared to the new shoes, also an old school way to adjust the shoes with drums, slightly engage parking brake and back up ~20 to 40ft or so, as you back up, the brake adjuster will self adjust.


I rarely use this tool anymore.

 

[Taco Loco]

hope that helps/makes sense I hadn’t had my coffee yet!

 

[Anathollo]

I never seen or messed with 4R drums, I do know that a lot folks that install brake shoes, do not screw the adjuster screw back in, before installing new shoes. Most of the time it’s approximately 5-7 turns inward or the difference of thickness from the old shoes compared to the new shoes, also an old school way to adjust the shoes with drums, slightly engage parking brake and back up ~20 to 40ft or so, as you back up, the brake adjuster will self adjust.


I rarely use this tool anymore.
View attachment 17299

I just use a small flathead screwdriver to turn that little screw.

 

[Taco Loco]

I upgraded the F150SCREW brakes on all 4 corners a couple weeks ago, no drums to mess to mess with .

 

[Oswego]

I miss my Fords just for the simplicity. Front wheel bearing blows out.....NAPA has the entire assembly including new ABS wires for less than $100. Basically a 30 minute plug and play job per side. No cutting this off and pressing that on to tight tolerances etc.

 

[MatthewMay1]

I use a little flathead screw driver on my Tacoma drums but the 4R seems to be way tighter and I can’t get good leverage on it. They were rusty as heck, but I took them all apart and greased them very heavily on the bench. I had them screwing in and out by hand like they were new! Now that they’re installed, they’re so tight I can hardly get them to click at all. I can’t use the parking brake reverse trick because the parking brake is going to be a project on its own to get working.

 

[MatthewMay1]

I never seen or messed with 4R drums, I do know that a lot folks that install brake shoes, do not screw the adjuster screw back in, before installing new shoes. Most of the time it’s approximately 5-7 turns inward or the difference of thickness from the old shoes compared to the new shoes, also an old school way to adjust the shoes with drums, slightly engage parking brake and back up ~20 to 40ft or so, as you back up, the brake adjuster will self adjust.


I rarely use this tool anymore.
View attachment 17299

Turns out I had one of these all along. Used it to open paint cans, haha. It made adjusting the brakes wayyyy easier!




Had a productive day today

Oil change and tire rotation on the Tacoma

Adjusted the 4Runner rear brakes, bled the brakes, took apart half of the dash so it’s ready to run a new FM radio antenna when I get one, removed the passenger door panel to figure out exactly what was broken with the exterior door handle, took apart and cleaned the contacts in two of the window switches so now they all work up and down, and finally I removed the LED pods that were bolted to the hood. They’re now mounted on the front bumper.

Question for the folks of TOR... I adjusted the rear shoes tight and the parking brake is grabbing on the passenger wheel only. When I have the axle supported by jack stands and put the truck in gear, the brakes do not stop the rear wheels. They will slow down with brake pressure, but they do not stop dead. I’m not sure what to try next. Maybe wheelcylinders? The pedal feels almost normal after bleeding the system.

 

[Taco Loco]

Turns out I had one of these all along. Used it to open paint cans, haha. It made adjusting the brakes wayyyy easier!




Had a productive day today

Oil change and tire rotation on the Tacoma

Adjusted the 4Runner rear brakes, bled the brakes, took apart half of the dash so it’s ready to run a new FM radio antenna when I get one, removed the passenger door panel to figure out exactly what was broken with the exterior door handle, took apart and cleaned the contacts in two of the window switches so now they all work up and down, and finally I removed the LED pods that were bolted to the hood. They’re now mounted on the front bumper.

Question for the folks of TOR... I adjusted the rear shoes tight and the parking brake is grabbing on the passenger wheel only. When I have the axle supported by jack stands and put the truck in gear, the brakes do not stop the rear wheels. They will slow down with brake pressure, but they do not stop dead. I’m not sure what to try next. Maybe wheelcylinders? The pedal feels almost normal after bleeding the system.

Did you measure the thickness of the drums?
Hard to say what the issue may be with the brakes as you described. Keep in mind when you work 25yr old vehicles, some of the little parts can be pretty cheap, but often overlooked, if you replace the wheel cylinder ~$15 each the drum hardware kits are like only ~$18, if you take all that part again, replace all that hardware and with new springs.

 

[MatthewMay1]

Did you measure the thickness of the drums?
Hard to say what the issue may be with the brakes as you described. Keep in mind when you work 25yr old vehicles, some of the little parts can be pretty cheap, but often overlooked, if you replace the wheel cylinder ~$15 each the drum hardware kits are like only ~$18, if you take all that part again, replace all that hardware and with new springs.
View attachment 17375

No, I didn’t measure the drums. All new springs went in with the shoes

 

[Anathollo]

Did you measure the thickness of the drums?
Hard to say what the issue may be with the brakes as you described. Keep in mind when you work 25yr old vehicles, some of the little parts can be pretty cheap, but often overlooked, if you replace the wheel cylinder ~$15 each the drum hardware kits are like only ~$18, if you take all that part again, replace all that hardware and with new springs.
View attachment 17375

No, I didn’t measure the drums. All new springs went in with the shoes

But you have to be careful about what springs you use too. When I replaced my brake drum pads on my Tacoma, my step-dad was teaching me how to replace them and we eneded up reusing the OEM springs and clips because they were much higher quality than what came with my Vatozone order.

 

[Taco Loco]

But you have to be careful about what springs you use too. When I replaced my brake drum pads on my Tacoma, my step-dad was teaching me how to replace them and we eneded up reusing the OEM springs and clips because they were much higher quality than what came with my Vatozone order.

yeah, but at 25yrs old I doubt the oem springs were better.

 

[Anathollo]

yeah, but at 25yrs old I doubt the oem springs were better.

Well his are definitely worn out by now.

 

[Oswego]

But you have to be careful about what springs you use too. When I replaced my brake drum pads on my Tacoma, my step-dad was teaching me how to replace them and we eneded up reusing the OEM springs and clips because they were much higher quality than what came with my Vatozone order.

So thats why my e-brake never worked right after I did my rear brakes - I bought/installed the service kit with all new springs & hardware .

 

[Anathollo]

So thats why my e-brake never worked right after I did my rear brakes - I bought/installed the service kit with all new springs & hardware .

The E-brake barely works when it's brand new

 

[Silverback]

^^ FACT!!

 

[Oswego]

Than I did a good job

It won't matter when I get it moving anyway. Dam thing has so much droop the axle pulls the e-brake cable so far that it locks the real wheels up - probably the only time the brake really works. I still need to break in my leaves and tweak my shackle flip and bump stops + may need to add limit straps to stop that.

 

[MatthewMay1]

Hmmm so I’m sure the springs are in better condition than the ones I removed. Do you guys think it would be worth my while to replace the cylinders? Or do you think it might be something else?

 

[TacoXpo]

Not yet. Going to find a local mechanic to send it to for trouble shooting. This weekend Ill be making sure it's a rolling chassis again and also try to see if my mechanic buddy can stop by to eliminate some of the variables that could be the issue. Ive only got until the end of the year if I need a new frame so time is of the essence.

What problems? Symptoms?