Ever since I had the rear axle seals and bearing replaced, I've had intermittent trouble with the RR brake grabbing. The Toyota dealer has had the T100 2 or 3 times and I'm still having issues with it. They told me they had adjusted the emergency brake too tight.

It doesn' grab all the time. But it's pretty predictable. If I drive for a while and then park for a few minutes to run into the store, driving away I will typically see the RR brake grab as I slow to a stop using light braking. The RR will slide the RR tire the last foot or so.

Sometimes when I power away, it breakes loose pretty violently but this is not frequent. If I put the autotranny in neutral and let is rock slightly backwards, it usually frees up the RR brake. The LR appears to work normally. Generally, easy acceleration will cause the RR brake to ease off.

Sometimes I've noticed the RR wheel is warm, indicating to me that the RR brake is dragging slightly. Other times, it feels cool to the touch, so it's not consistent.

Could this be as simple as an adjustment? Anyone else had trouble with the rear drum brakes on the T100?

Sounds like a cable adjustment. Have you or they let it back out? Let it out some more? Has anyone gone back in there?

The only problem I've had with the rears was after I put new shoes in one of the spring retaining cups blew out/pulled through and caused the rear shoe to hang up on the drum. It would only get hot intermittently, but it was related to distance and speed - a few miles on side roads to the store it was fine, a few more highway miles than that to work and it would be hot.

what are rear drums? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

a PITA.
got about a grand I can have for discs? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

you can do it for a lot less if you do not do the full floater setup.

I've got a why bother mindset about doing it without the FF getup.

Yeah... they said they let it out... and it did improve for a short while.

I just had the truck up on jackstands for a few minutes to grease the driveline and spun the rear wheels by hand. They took about 30 seconds to stop, and I didn't spin them very fast. There was no hint of drag. I wanted to yank the RR drum off and take a look but didn't have time.

How does adjusting the Ebrake relate to the distance the Ebrake lever comes out from under the dash? Any relationship? The Ebrake handle comes out pretty far.

OK Scott... laugh it up. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If I lived close enuf to you I'd pester you to help me convert to disc brakes!

And speaking of brakes, my BIL was complaining about his '96 4runner (2wd) having front disc trouble every couple of months. Warped rotors he thinks. He's had this vehicle nearly 10 years (180k) and said it's been consistent having to turn the rotors every couple of months or so. What's up with that?

Are brakes the Achilles heel for Toys?

Adjusting the ebrake does change the distance the lever comes up. I believe spec is 7 clicks. Check the mech. where the cable goes thru the backing plate. It has a rubber cover over it but if you are where it can get corrodid or mucked up that will stop the cable from releasing fully. You should be able to grab the cable near the drum and pull it by hand quite a few times to see if it returns freely each time. If you have that wheel jacked up and spin it while you are doing that is should help to isolate the problem to either the cable or the internal stuff.

Thanks Gary. I'm wondering how it can be the Ebrake adjustment since the wheel spins freely on the jackstands. Am I missing something here?

Could the Ebrake cause this problem to occur frequently, but not all the time? I would think it would be consistenly dragging if it was the Ebrake.

And does the Ebrake just work on the RR wheel or both rear wheels? I never thought to look when I was under the truck today.

One last question: when the rear wheels turn, shouldn't the driveshaft turn too, no matter where the autotranny is selected? I noticed the driveshaft would move briefly and then stop when I spun the rear wheels today, either fwd or backward. Just seemed odd to me.

It stops both wheels. That is why you have a cable going to both drums. The cable spreads out brake shoes until it locks up the drum. If the cable is not fully letting go the brake will drag. Sometimes it is the cable itself rubbing or hanging up somewhere, and it can also be the brake mechanism being rusted up, weak return springs, or something came loose or got bent. Often after you move a bit whatever is hanging the whole thing up will let go and you will get that thump. Probably time to pull the drum and look at it. How Ebrakes work