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BrakesDiscussions about the brake system in your vehicle and brake products.
This is a discussion thread titled "Parking brake sticking", within the Brakes forum, part of the Technical & Vehicle Assistance Forums category.
Checked out the truck this weekend since there was just something that wasn't right and after checking each wheel to make sure everything was ok i came upon the rear passenger tire that was very difficult to spin. Driver's side spun great so on to why it wasn't spinning right. Nothing obvious was wrong so i started from the top, check to make sure the parking brake cable or mechanism wasn't hanging up and sure enough it was. The cable runs along the diff to a pivot point on the rear of the backing plate which is covered w/a rubber boot to keep grime out. Well, the rubber boot, which was is perfect shape, didn't do a good enough job because that sucker was seriously corroded and rusted. Even a good blast of Zep 45 didn't want to free it up so i had to dissassemble it and do it right. It was actually quite easy, surprisingly. Disconnected the cable, removed tire and drum, disconnect cable inside drum, unbolt pivot assembly(you'll need to pry the rear-most shoe out of the way to fit the 12mm socket on 1 of the 2 bolts), slide pivot assembly out for cleaning. It gets even easier from here. Remove rubber boot, remove C-clip that holds the pivot pin in place, tap out w/brass drift and take everything to a wire wheel for thorough cleaning. Reassemble giving everything a good coating of grease or anti-seize and put everything back together. Last step is to ensure the brakes are adjusted properly since they might tighten up because of the fiddling w/the parking brake cable. That's it. The driver's side didn't get taken apart since it was moving great but a healthy does of Zep 45 is always a good thing.
To check if yours is hanging up, park on level ground parking brake off, crawl under from rear of vehicle and grab cables and pull them to make sure they're moving good. Why waste gas and wear the brakes out when this test takes a minute. I'll be adding this to my usually chasis inspection routine.
Thanks for this description. I just had my '03 Tundra in for a checkup and they found that I had the same problem. They wanted $270 to fix it (all labor). I wasn't sure if I should attempt this myself or not, so I came here to see if anyone else had done it. Glad I did.
One thing they told me that they planned to do was drill out a hole that a pivot pin goes thru to make it larger and prevent it from binding up if the pin corrodes/rusts again. I don't know for sure which hole he was talking about, but it sounded like a good idea. I'm assuming he meant the hole in the rocker? Does that make sense to you?
If this is a common problem, I think it should be covered under a TSB. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it possible that there is a TSB for this?
It is the hole the pin goes into that joins the "arm" and bracket that bolts to the backing plate. There's no need to enlarge the hole since when i wire brushed mine down to bare metal, i believe the bracket that bolts to the backing plate is magnesium, there was plenty of play, i almost thought too much. Once you get it down to bare metal and good covering of grease or anti-seize, the chances of it binding in the near future are slim. Just make sure to coat that pin and where the arm rides on the bracket are nicely lubed since that's where the issue is. Also make sure your rubber boot isn't cracked, split or torn allowing water and dirt in. The only tricky part is removing the drum and popping off the cable that runs to the parking brake linkage inside the brake assembly but it's very easy.
Thanks Icon, I think I'll save the $270 Toyota wants to do this and use some of that money to invest in a bench grinder (with a wire wheel).
Just so I know what I'm looking at when I attempt to do this, I've included a photo I took of my rear drum a few months ago when I adjusted my rear brakes manually. In this photo, there's a pin in the upper left with a dot of red paint on the end of it. Is this the pin you're talking about? If not, where would it be located in this photo?
Nope, that's not the bugger. Goto link and see the exploded view of our brakes. The pin that's the culprit is the one that's joints the "Parking Brake Bellcrank" to the "bellcrank bracket" in the upper left corner. Best way to remove the assembly is to remove the pin that attaches the cable to the bellcrank, remove drum, remove the 2 bolts that hole the bellcrank bracket onto the backing plate( have to pry the rear most shoe backward so you can get a 12mm socket and extension on the rear most bolt) then you can remove "parking brake cable no. 1", remove tension springs from "parking brake bellcrank" on the back of the backing plate and slide assembly out for cleaning and lube.
Thanks, I appreciate the detailed info. That exploded diagram is awesome! I'm a visually-oriented person, so this makes a huge difference.
(BTW, where does one find these diagrams? I could sure use diagrams like this of my whole truck! )
Well, now that I'm armed with this knowledge and your experience, I think I'll give this a shot myself. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll even try to take some photos of my progress and post 'em, if possible.
Glad I found this thread.
I just went through the same thing this morning, after finding that my right rear brake was dragging- the bellcrank arm stuck in the pulled (on) position. After removing it from the backing plate, Kroil and some tapping with a soft hammer freed it.
The corrosion appears to be aggravated by Toyota's use of dissimilar metals, along with infrequent e-brake use and, in my case, New England winters.
The pivot pin on mine isn't going to come out- it's practically welded in place- so I couldn't be as thourough as I would have liked. I'm sure it will corrode again.
Chances are you'll be able to clean it up and reuse the existing parts. Mine were pretty nasty but cleaned up nicely. Just clean everything real good w/a wire wheel after complete disassembly and lube real good when you're putting it back together. Preferably w/anti-seize or grease. Once sealed from moisture, it should be all set for a quite a while.
Hey, I'm finally getting back around to this. Of course, now it's to the point that I HAVE to do it... at least one of my rear brakes is hung, causing the truck to feel like it's dragging ***.
FYI, I went to Toyota yesterday and bought new bellcrank bracket pins. They're only $3 each, so I figured buying new ones was easier than cleaning the old ones. I also bought the bellcrank brackets, just in case (they're made of pot metal and somewhat are shy of hammers). Those were more expensive ($33 each). I'll take 'em back if I don't need 'em.
I plan to fix this tonight (I'm going on vacation -- towing the camper -- on Friday). I'll take some photos of the work and post 'em when I have a chance. Wish me luck!
I did mine today on both sides, it really is quite simple following your instructions, thanks! ! I think you might have forgotten to mention to take off the 2 springs on the rear of the assembly, that hooks to the bell crank and the bracket on the rim, they come off easily. I cleaned these up on mine too. Unfortunately, I couldn't get one of the pins to come out so I could lube it up, and clean it up. I hammered quite a bit, and then realized I could take the anti-sieze brush, and paint down into the pin from the outside. So, I did that, and the bell crank was flipping back and forth as freely as the other side. I used generous amounts of Cyclo Break-away to free things up, and cut thru the rust and get it almost completely free'd up before I wiped it clean and wire-brushed, then putting the anti-sieze on it made it move even more freely, where just lifting it up at a different angle, the crank fell freely. This took me maybe 30-45 minutes per side. It was really quite easy. As the original poster said, the hardest parts are getting the drum off, and removing/re-hooking up the inside brake cable to the bell.
Just a quick note:
This works with Tacoma's as well as Tundra's.
Just did mine and my brother's. All were nasty. I had to use a SIX pound sledge to drive TWO of the pins out. Everything cleaned up real pretty!
Just found the other side that was moving freely has decided to follow the other side and bind up. Glad it only takes about 10-15 minutes. If you have 1 side sticking, the other isn't far behind.
Well, no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.
Although the entire process was failry simple -- and these directions were very helpful -- I had one complication: one of the 12 mm bolts that hold the bellcrank brackets onto the backing plate broke off when I tried to remove it. My components were extremely corroded (upstate NY winters are hard on trucks). Good thing I bought new bellcrank brackets; I just went ahead and used the new ones. Of course, I had to go buy new 12mm bolts which delayed completion of the work a whole day. I also bought new C washers just to be safe (the old ones were fairly bent).
It took a small sledge and a large punch to get the pins out of the bellcrank brackets. I cleaned up the bellcranks with a grinder and painted them with high temp paint. I cleaned up everything else and re-assembled it all using plenty of anti-sieze grease where applicable. Everything works fine now.
I took photos of the whole process and put them on my computer, but unfortunately, my computer died a couple of days later (I'm using my work laptop to write this). This accounts for my delayed response and the lack of the photos I promised. I plan to get a new computer in the next 4-6 weeks, so I'll post those photos once I recover them from the old hard drive.
This is my first posting, my 2000 Tundra is eight years now and it's starting to need some TLC. I noticed that the parking brake were stuck when I change the front rotor and pads last week and check the rest of the truck's brake system. Thanks for all of your tips and suggestions, it made the job real easy. Only had one problem, I had was I snapped one of the 1/4 adjusting bolts. I took care of that, I tapped the hole with an ASE 1/4 20 thread hole and put in a Stainless steel bolt and and nut. Everything now works like a charm.
I just did this on my truck a few weeks ago. I noticed the cable across the diff drooping, if you see this suspect these bellcranks sticking.
I took a number of pictures and plan to do a write up on this as soon as I have the time.
You always run a good chance of the bolts breaking aluminum, and steel to dissimilar metals tend to be the problem here.
Mike
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“The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them” (Albert Einstein) Moderator Brake Forum
Parking brake sticking
Re: Parking brake sticking
(I'm using my work laptop to write this). This accounts for my delayed response and the lack of the photos I promised. I plan to get a new computer in the next 4-6 weeks, so I'll post those photos once I recover them from the old hard drive.
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