Rear Parking Brake Shoe Replacement Instructions

[perpetualjon]

Well, after much difficulty and trouble I've finally learned how to do this. My instructions are to follow...

Understand that my background is in aircraft manufacturer and my specialty was dealing with operations that were considered "inaccessible" due to various reasons but I'm quite used to working in cramped conditions and near-impossible access problems. With that said, this has to be one of the worst designs I've ever had to deal with. What I've learned in the process I've decided to share with you all but with the warning that if you aren't well-experienced in somewhat difficult mechanical jobs or don't have much patience (and time to do the work), then don't start. This is the sort of thing that is well worth paying a professional to do --but I will mention that our own town mechanic pretty much did all he could to avoid doing this job and tried telling me that he needed just to adjust the parking brake cable more to get the parking brake to start working again (the shoes were probably the original ones and almost all gone --and the original owner drove with the parking brake depressed a couple of times). I chose to do the work because I had already decided to get it done correctly since I had already pulled the rotors and figured I'd go ahead and do the shoes at the same time and finally get the parking brake working again. I've talked with a few mechanics (and read a few posts here) where they just decided to disconnect the parking brake rather than deal with this job. Others here on this forum mentioned that the first time doing this is by far the worst and gets much easier. This is all true so here goes:

BEFORE YOU BEGIN
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1. DON'T DO THIS ALONE!! I went through a terrible time trying to perform this job by myself. It is clear that this job just doesn't work with only 2 hands. I had to fabricate special hold-down tools just to keep things in place several times but when my wife was around, just having her lend a small bit of help holding something in place made the job a much better experience.

2. BE PATIENT!! This job will take you a few hours for sure and requires a delicate touch at times (like playing the game "Operation").

3. Get the miscellaneous parts kit if you can. As you will see from the diagram, there is a part that is considered "non-reusable part" (although I re-used mine) but it would probably be a good idea to get all new springs, washers, and clips.

4. Put tape over the face of the new brake shoes before you get started. I like using wide, clear packing tape because the adhesive isn't too strong so it doesn't leave an residue on the brake material but you don't want your greasy fingers getting on them either!

5. Buy and use a bunch of brake cleaner cans. You're going to need them. First, I'd spray the snot out of the newly exposed brake shoes to clear out as much brake dust as you possibly can --mainly to eliminate breathing in any while you work. Also, the new rotors (which also serve as brake drums on the inside) are usually coated with a light film to preserve the metal and you're going to want to clean that from the braking surfaces before you install the new drums (if you're going to be replacing them at all).

6. TOOLS: I found that I really didn't need any special tools for this job. There are some tools out there used for pulling and replacing the springs but a flat-blade screwdriver worked just fine for me. You will need a few good needle-nose pliers tools to make life easier. I used 3 different ones (one long nose, one normal, and one with a curved end).

7. You will also need a couple of lug nuts that are open at both ends. The stock lug nuts on the Toyota Sequoia are not open ended on both sides so you'll need to find some around the garage or pick up some from the local parts store. You will need them when you re-attach the rotor for shoe adjustment before re-mounting the wheel.

GETTING STARTED
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1. Take pictures if you can. The two shoe return springs are different and it helps remember where everything goes (beyond using my exploded assembly diagram below).

2. Disassembly isn't too much of a problem but understand that there's two hold down springs (one on each shoe) that are removed by accessing the top of the spring cap by rotating the spindle until the adjuster access hole (identified on the diagram below) to be over the top of each hold down spring and inserting your needle-nose pliers to push down the top cap and rotate 90 degrees...



Above you can see the long needle-nose pliers about to push down the top hold down spring cap by pushing through the adjuster hole in the spindle. This is a good time to have someone helping you by applying pressure on the back of the hold down pin so that it doesn't move back at the same time the top cap is pushed down.

3. KEEP THE OLD SHOES. While rebuilding the parking brake assembly, you may need to refer to the old shoes to make sure you're still putting the parts back together the same way and the old shoes will have wear and rust in places where the connections used to be.

4. Don't bother disconnecting the brake cable from the parking brake shoe lever. It doesn't really help you to go that far.

REASSEMBLY
==========
1. Start by applying thermal grease to the 6 contact points shown in green in the diagram below. Also fully clean and grease any of the additional parts that are shown in the diagram below to need it.

2. Install the rear shoe first as it is going to require reconnecting the parking brake shoe lever. I like to apply a small amount of grease to the shaft on the shoe where the lever will mount. After attaching the parking brake shoe lever to the rear shoe, re-mount the shoe to the top of the assembly and install the return spring to hold it in place.

3. Install the anchor spring at the bottom of the shoe to the bracket on the frame as shown below:



4. Next is the WORST part of the entire reassembly process!! Insert the rear pin from the back and make sure that the dip in the pin is facing the front of the car and in front of the parking brake shoe lever. You'll want a friend to both hold the pin in place as well as the shoe in place while you re-insert the hold down caps and spring through the tiny space between the shoe and the spindle. This is where having patience, and a gentle touch comes in handy! Here's a shot of the rear pin in place with the bottom cap and hold down spring in place:



Insert the top cap on top of the hold down spring, make sure the spindle is rotated to have the access hole over top of the spring stack and push down on the cap just as you did removing this assembly before. If you get this far, pat yourself on the back and take a break to celebrate! It's all downhill from here.

5. Now that the rear shoe is being held in place by the spring assembly from hell, you can now place the strut at the top and the adjuster assembly at the bottom in their respective points on the rear shoe and slide the front shoe in place being careful to catch the strut and adjuster in the right places on the front shoe. Make sure to screw the adjuster all the way in to itself before installing it.

6. Have a friend hold the front shoe in place while you install the top return spring as shown below:



7. Now install the bottom tension spring in front of the adjuster assembly as shown below:



Above you can see the tension spring in front of the adjuster assembly and the anchor spring above it. You will also see that the anchor spring and tension spring affix to the rear shoe at the same connection point. Some OEM shoes have an extra hole to connect both spring in different points but I think people realized that they were so close together that it didn't really make sense so some shoe manufacturers no longer have that extra mounting hole for the anchor spring. It's a little confusing at first so I hope this pic and the diagram at the bottom helps...

8. Now insert the front hold down pin from behind and insert the hold down spring and cap assembly just like the rear one. This one will be much easier as the pin is straight and isn't working around a shoe lever either. Still, make sure you have a friend help you hold everything in place and keeps pressure on the back of the pin to hold it in place while you rotate the spindle around to the front shoe for access.

PARKING BRAKE ADJUSTMENT
======================
1. Remove the protective tape you originally placed over the brake shoes and mount the rotor on the spindle. Use two open-face lug nuts to bolt down the rotor without the wheel in place for this adjustment. I would recommend that you use some anti-seize compound on the spindle before mounting the rotor to prevent rust from making it difficult to pull the rotors in the future. I also like to put anti-seize compound on the lug bolts.

2. Make sure the rotor is mounted in such a way to line up the adjuster access hole on the spindle with one of the access holes on the rotor so that you can rotate the entire assembly until the adjuster access hole is at the bottom (6 o'clock) position. This should give you a tiny view onto the adjuster teeth from the outside.

3. Using a small screwdriver or similar tool, tighten the adjuster by turning the adjuster teeth away from you at the top in opposite direction from the loosening direction as shown below. Do this until the rotor no longer is able to turn freely due to the parking brake shoes pushing against the inside of the rotor. The factory service manual then recommends that you back off (loosen) the adjuster 8 clicks. Personally, I'd suggest only turning 6 clicks but either way should be fine.



RE-ASSEMBLY
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1. Keep the temporary lug nuts in place while the rear caliper and pads are re-installed.

2. Once the rear wheels are back on the car and you're able to test the brakes, it has been recommended that you burn in the parking brake by driving with the parking brake depressed for about 1/4 mile. The important thing after re-assembly is that you notice the parking brake has much less travel than it did before the work was performed. I'd say I ran with the parking brake down for about 2 blocks and that seemed fine to me to remove any potential oil, finger prints, grease, etc on the braking surface.

ASSEMBLY EXPLODED VIEW DIAGRAM
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This diagram is my own heavily modified version of the original factory service manual diagram that was worth about two dead flies. I hope it better explains how this assembly goes back together and where each part goes.


...So with all that said, if you have any questions or additional tips, please contribute to this forum and help the community learn from your experiences. Thanks everyone here on the TundraSolutions forum for all the help that got me here as well!!

[perpetualjon]

If anyone is interested in the original diagram and how it compared to the one I made, you can check my personal LiveJournal page entry where I talk about just how terrible Toyota did on this one! I guess it's worth a laugh or two --especially with callouts like "spring" with a diagram showing a spring just floating in space with absolutely NO clue where it goes in the assembly!

[perpetualjon]

If anyone is interested in a downloadable PDF version of these instructions, please let me know. This was a lot of work but I still think I can convert it all to PDF if there's any demand for it...

[Crewmax_hopeful]

Awesome, Perfect write up. Thank you very much.

[perpetualjon]

Well I'm glad someone could benefit from all the trouble this was! I've also learned that this is a Sequoia-specific issue as the Tundra has a different rear braking system. Lucky for us huh?!

[85runner]

Those springs have given me trouble on my 4runner but my '01 Sequoia has a different (better, I thought) design...if you know about it.
You can assemble the spring assembly BEFORE the shoes go in. The shoes have a slot instead of a hole, so if you just squeeze the spring assembly with pliers the shoes pop right in.
BTW, that's on Toyota shoes.
My problem was finding Toyota shoes. 5 dealers in the denver area and none of them had more than one shoe, all the passenger leading shoe. Anyone else contemplating working on Sequoia parking brakes, be ready to search for the shoes.

[perpetualjon]

That's true! I hadn't thought of that before! I'll have to try to remember that the next time I need to get in there (which probably won't be for many more years). Thanks so much for sharing here.

[bamapatriot]

Thanks for the great information. Had the right rear wheel bearing replaced. The shop installed new parking brake shoes but failed to hook up the cable. So, after much discusion with my other self, I found this thread. In less than an hour, had it apart again, and hooked up the cable. Works great. Thanks

[JD and Beastlet]

Excellent write-up... thanks! And I agree - that Toyota service manual leaves a lot to be desired and your mods to the diagram make it far easier to understand.

If you're getting into the front brakes, I've done a write-up on those.

[perpetualjon]

Thanks so much you guys!! It's really encouraging to know that all this work has helped others not have to deal with all the mess that I did!!

[Epicenter]

Excellent write up.

[Epicenter]

Those springs have given me trouble on my 4runner but my '01 Sequoia has a different (better, I thought) design...if you know about it.
You can assemble the spring assembly BEFORE the shoes go in. The shoes have a slot instead of a hole, so if you just squeeze the spring assembly with pliers the shoes pop right in.
BTW, that's on Toyota shoes.
My problem was finding Toyota shoes. 5 dealers in the denver area and none of them had more than one shoe, all the passenger leading shoe. Anyone else contemplating working on Sequoia parking brakes, be ready to search for the shoes.

Which springs are you referring to?

[ctedja]

Thanks for the write up. I got the rotor off, and a blue spring fall off. WTH.... I could not figure out where it is coming from if I do not see the write up. Still struggling how to install the freaking spring back..... I'd love to share my mind to the engineer that design this...

[moesman]

Wow... Thanks a ton for all you work. I was just starting to search for more info on this exact job. You have saved me a ton of time.

[spinn]

I was just contemplating whether I'll need to do my shoes along with my pads/rotors for the rear. At least now I have some reference to look at, if needed. Thx!