Rear brakes becoming over tight or stuck parking brake

Went to my girlfriends family house on Saturday/Christmas Eve and truck sat until Monday. Today we went to leave and the rear brakes were stuck/dragging. Im wondering what caused this. I’ll go through in chronological order because a few things happened that could have been factors.

On the drive there I had to brake very heavily (like almost emergency braking as someone ran a stop sign) causing rumble&+wobble for a few minutes after. This happened one time before after avoiding a deer on the highway but I never noticed a sticking brake issue after(could have missed my radar or could be an unrelated coincidence).

Upon arriving I had to back down a very long driveway to the top of a steep hill where we’re parking. When parking I engaged the emergency brake for the first time in a long while.

today after releasing the parking brake cable I had to give the truck gas to drive down the hill I backed up two days before as the brakes were holding it. They were dragging and hot on the ride home which was relatively short or I wouldn't have ‘sent it’, but could feel dragging and heat.

So trying to piece this together.

I don’t know if the hard stop wobble issue is related at all but curious about that in general.

I know that going backwards engages the self adjusters so was thinking of that as part of it but idk and maybe the parking brake factors into adjustment and I use that infrequently and then did.

it was also well below freezing the whole time.

Curious how this all plays together to having sticking/hot drums.

planning to do some backwards driving and light braking with parking brake to hopefully unlock / self adjust. If not I’ll spin the adjusters manually and adjust my parking brake cable to all work, but I’d like to solve the problem rather than treat the cause so I know this won’t keep happening.

Redid the full rear brakes and cables a little over 18mos ago with no issues until now.

thank you!

 

I am not entirely sure how the self adjusters work on our trucks. I’ve read braking while backing up, and repeatedly engaging the parking brake. In your case I would start by lifting the rear and spinning the wheels to see which side is binding and inspecting the drum hardware accordingly. I’ve seen a couple threads here like yours but the OP’s never updated their threads with their fix.

 

Check the parking brake cables.
They are notorious for breaking where they go in to the backing plates.

The only other time mine got tight was from a leaking axle seal. It gummed up the shoes making them stick/bind.

 

I’m gonna check those first. My research is showing a lot of stuck parking brakes. The cables are less than 2 years old but I rarely use the parking break then ‘aggressively’ did for 2 days in very cold temps. My old cables (I think original +-130k) we’re both ‘free’ at the drum ends and thus not working.

if those look intact I’ll see if I can use the brakes&parking brake to get it to unstick/release.

Unsure if the other factors play in but thinking it’s the parking brake. Will report updates when I hopefully get it free or get it off the ground to take a look under the drum.

 

This is the lesson to take here. Always use your parking brake. Always. That is if you don't want them to bind up and cause the cables to break prematurely. And on Tacomas that is how the adjusters are activated. Whether they work correctly is another matter. But you have to use the parking brake to even have a chance... unless you do them manually.

 

The Tacoma drums brakes self adjust using the parking brake. Driving in reverse and stopping does nothing.
Was it moist/wet when you were driving the other day? If you set the parking brake when they are damp, then it sits for a long period of time, the shoes will get stuck open.

 

Yeah I’m learning that lesson as I read through more and more old threads. Thanks for confirming.

Use parking brake regularly. Use parking brake regularly.

So any advice moving forward to get it unstuck/frozen?

Also I’m seeing a lot of varying info on how the parking brake adjusts the brakes and what the procedure to get them to adjust properly is. Anyone know?

I’ve adjusted them manually from the drums and cab cable end to have all working well, but don’t really know how it works once I’m not spinning the adjustments and I’d rather not have to do that frequently.

 

Tacoma rear brakes self-adjust when you use the parking brake. NOT like many other cars that do it in reverse with regular brake application. People who say that for Tacomas just don't have the correct information. For my part, I find that the self-adjusters don't work great anyway so do a couple of manual adjustments every year.

 

If frozen due to any water place a heater blowing on the drums from diff side if wheels on and pull into a warm garage if available. An electric type best not flames under there melting plastic.
The parking brake cable pulls on a lever/strut in the drums and the pivot is often overlooked and rusts/freezes up so needs to be cleaned (3M pad) and greased to move. Adjuster internals also need some grease.
Whacking the drum with a large hammer and may be a quick unstuck method if you need to move the Tacoma off the road.

 

I don't see your location. Here in Minnesota, if you don't use your parking brake regularly it will lock up. Moisture gets in there and will rust up the cable.
All my pick-ups have been manuals up until this one and I used the parking brake over 90% of the time in them so I routinely use mine on my Tacoma out of habit.
I would guess your cables are junk.

 

I’m in RI. Not quite Minnesota but was well below freezing during this issue. My cables are only like 18mo old and look okay from the outside where they connect to the back of the drum, but I haven’t opened the drum yet to look inside. I hope they’re okay. My originals were broken n the back and the whole cable e we lule slide so I replaced those when I had the rear end apart in 2020.

The parking brake ‘seems’ to not be stuck/freezing anymore (didn’t get hot on short drive / couldn’t feel a drag) but now my driver side front brake is. Don’t know if this is all related in some way or just a coincidence. I’ve only done a few very short trips to see what’s getting hot or pulling.

Really need a day off and a second vehicle so I can get this thing in the air and take a good look.

Probably going to adjust the drums and parking brake manually and hope that with more frequent use of the parking brake things will adjust better and not freeze.

As far as the new (I think) front brake issue I might just bleed the brakes and see what’s toast in there. Probably should pick up the full parts on hand and replace it but i put a lot of money into repairs and I don’t love that.

thanks for the support!

 

The brake cables will rust inside the plastic sheath. Or the plastic “tabs” will break right where it enters the backing plate of the rear drum. It’s a pita to repair.

When I repaired my truck, I went ahead and bought new drums, new hardware kits, and new cables. You have to disassemble the entire rear brake assembly on each side in order to change the cables.

for me the hardest part was fitting the new cables up right behind the shifter. An extra hand at that point will help a bunch.

 

I upgrade my garage hair dryer every time my wife gets a new one. Works great for all sorts of situations- freeing up the snowblower chute, unfreezing frozen cables and so many other ad hoc uses…

Back to original programming…

 

yes doing those alone when I did my rear ended work kinda sucked but they don’t seem to be broken yet so I think the pad just froze/stuck and the cables appear to be ok.

 

Yeah I have an electric heat gun I use for shrink wrapping wires that I guess has a new use. Keeps me from stealing my gfs hair dryer which is probably best for everyone!

 

2011, automatic, TRD OR, access cab, 123K miles
I replaced the rear drums, shoes, wheel bearings and hardware 2 years ago.
Light surface rust since the truck was originally in FL, but it's more of a patina than rust.

I washed my truck today, didn't do much clean up as usual with the water, but now my back right tire is stuck. Help please.
I'm in Vegas it's 90 degrees today.
I use the parking brake all the time.
It only sat for 2 hours after I washed it and I moved the truck after I washed it.

I took the tires off and got the drums off using the bolt holes I believe it was just a matter of excess brake dust and a little water turning into glue. The brake cable was still working. I turned the shoes in, drove it a few miles and nothing was wrong so I just sent it and let the back brakes readjust in the normal daily use of the ebrake.

 

You did not post year or mileage or when if ever you have been into the rear brakes. Or rust state of the Tacoma as understand its hot there.
So have to assume the parking brake did not release see post #9 above on pivot and when you released (let off) the parking brake in the cab did it fully release on both sides (cables).
You will probably have to pull that drum off to see but with the wheel/tire off whack the drum with a hammer and see if it releases first to move the Tacoma to a place you can work on it. Possible failed rear wheel bearing issue but you should have heard that before unless you always have the stereo blasting or the rear diff has issues but again the other rear wheel turns OK.
Worst case a flatbed tow truck can pull it on but getting it off may be an issue.

 

I’ve got 200k kms on my ‘06, and my RR tire gets stuck if I use my park brake. I always use it, just peace of mind. But after 17 years, the cable, where it connects to the backing plate, is broken. If I roll back about 20 ft, that unlocks it. Luckily, I have a long driveway. How I figured it out was when the brake is engaged, the cable at the backing plate is a floppy mess.