Hey,

My park brake on my 86 4Runner was very weak so I tried to adjust it...I have drum brakes.
I used a scrrewdriver to access the little screw inside the drum, that sets the position of the brake pads. I turned the screw as long as I was not able to move the wheel anymore...the problem:
I can`t contract the brake pads, because the teeth of the little screws are totally destroyed. I used my phone to take a picture and the screw looks like a saw blade; this makes the screwdriver slip over the screw all the time.

Do you have any suggestions? I probably won`t be able to pull of the drum, because the brakes are pressing against it...In the worst case I`ll have to cut off the drum?

Hope zou can give me some ideas!

 

Your drum has two bolt holes in it that you can install a bolt and it will push against the axle and assist in getting the drum off. If I recall right the bolts are a 12mm head and need to be about 3/4 inch long.

If you are concerned with the brakes holding the drum on, what I have done is get a pea grinder and cut the pins that hold the drum shoes on, that will let the shoes collapse and take some of the pressure off of the drums. Be careful not to get carried away with the grinder on the back side of the back plate. You might could even chisel them off with a very narrow chisel against the pin.

I would just order a hard ware replacement kit which will have the star gear and all of the other springs, clips and such for the brake shoes.

On the drum you will see two bolt holes opposite of each other that you can use 12mm bolts to push against the flange to push off the drum. The two bolt holes will be located in between two of the bolt studs.


If you can see on this picture, at the 11 o'clock and 5 o'clock position, you can see the bolt holes to use a 12mm bolt. I don't know the thread size but it is a standard Toyota bolt. Once you get the drums off and get the pads closely adjusted, what I do is install the drums and while backing the truck up, I pump the hand brake and that gets the pads adjusted correctly for me. It can take several pumps to get the pads adjusted.

 

I believe it's M8x1.25. I would try to make sure it's grade 10.9. If it pulls the threads then you'll have to go to extremes like mentioned below.




I had trouble getting my drums off even after I loosened the star wheel/e-bake adjuster.
I soaked the wheel studs and damn near everywhere I could shoot PB Blaster for two days and didn't get anywhere. I even applied heat from a Burnz-O-Matic and used a sledge hammer and it wouldn't budge.

I got desperate and center punched the pins that hold the shoes in place then used a small drill bit and drilled mine out. Before I got all the way through the bit caught and turned the pins right out of the spring holders and I was able to pull them out. However I still couldn't get the drums off.

I then got the bright idea to remove the brake line and unbolt the wheel cylinder to let it all collapse. That didn't work either. Luckily I have an auto shop VERY close by my place that I limped it to. They beat on it with one hell of a big sledge and got the drums off. They cracked one of them doing so and neither of us noticed it. It's only when I was cleaning things up that I noticed it. The brake cleaner let the brake dust run inside of the cracks and it ended up looking like what you expect to see from a magnaflux treatment.
I don't blame them at all because they were STUCK in place by a lot of bad rust.

I was going to purchase this tool to try and get them off but figured it would be cheaper if I could pay a shop to just get the drums off. They ended up not charging me at all but I had to get a new drum anyhow so I might have broke even there.
Then again I might have purchased the tool and then broke my drum trying to get it off and be deeper in the $$$ hole, you never know.

Rotors and drums can brake even when using a tool.
(Not mine)






Just be sure to use a wire wheel to clean off the rust anywhere the drum makes metal to metal contact with the hub end of the axle. Apply some anti-seize to the contact areas before you bolt the drums back on. That way things won't rust up so bad and the next time it needs to come apart it will be easier.

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That would be a handy tool to have and something I have not thought of. Another thing I have done is once I got the bolts in with a few good twist in to the drum, I took a wire cloth hanger and twisted each end of the wire to the bolts. I then took a sliding hammer and connect to the wire and tug on it with it.

Some times these hubs can be a bear to get off. Another thing I have done is to take a hand file and just go over the hub of the axle and the center of the drum just to help reduce the chance of it hanging on there.

About once a year or so I like to just pull the drums off just to keep them from being so difficult or having a chance to freeze on there.

My disc on the front were needing to be turned. To have them turned was going to be $20 a piece but I was able to buy new ones for $25 a piece. I am not sure what rear ones cost but some times getting new ones might be well worth cutting them off in worse case scenario.

 

That's being creative and worth a shot if you've got a slide hammer.



I thought about doing that but didn't want to take a chance on getting the drum off center any more than I have to. I reasoned that it could create balance/vibration problems. I know the wheel studs would help keep the drum centered but I think there's still a little wiggle room.


That is a VERY good idea, the end of winter would be a great time for it.
I also noticed one of my hubs had some type of fabric glued to it. I did my best to remove the rust while leaving that material in place.
I don't know if it was factory or what but that's the side where it wasn't that hard to remove the drum. It survived to be used another day.


.

 

Thanks for your answers guys!

The solution was as simple as it can be: I did not know that there is this lever on the adjuster star, that locks it in one direction.

I had to expand the adjuster even more, that took the pressure of the lever and I finally managed to contract the brake pads again.
The p-brake is still not very good, but I tried the screw on the lever under the car, where the two cables connect. I set it to the maximum, but the brake didnt get noticeably better...I better leave it like it is!
Thanks!

 

Maybe you can find someone close to you to help get your emergency brake working .

The emergency brake is what keeps the rear shoes adjusted .

Drum brakes have shoes

Disc brakes have pads

 

Have you tried the following yet?
On these trucks that IS how it's done correctly. Using the E-Brake every day is how you keep them adjusted.
If that still doesn't help you could have a couple of things going on like a stretched E-Brake cable or maybe (not as likely) the brake shoes are close to the end of their life cycle.





If you can't get the drums off now it's only going to get more difficult as time goes by.
A stuck drum could be hiding brake shoes that are near the end of their life or shoes that are getting contaminated by brake fluid from a very slowly leaking wheel cylinder. Sometimes it takes a while to show up on the outside of the backing plate or the wheel. I just had to fix that problem on mine.

.

 

Toyota trucks are known for being reliable. The problem is they aren't so reliable when stuff gets neglected. I'm pretty sure that's why Terry removes his drums every year. It's called Preventive Maintenance and it's something a lot of people neglect to do. It's a reason why some of these trucks are in the scrap yards. Slacking off on the maintenance can just as easily put a vehicle in the scrap yard as a wreck.



One bad brake part can cause a serious accident. You will be at fault.

A failed front U joint can launch a vehicle into the air destroying it with the possibility of seriously injuring you or someone else.

Failing to flush and service the coolant regularly can lead to a blown head gasket, an unusable head or a trashed water pump.
Or the engine could end up needing a total rebuild because someone kept driving it when they started getting that white puff puff out the tailpipe.

Oil leaks combined with not checking the oil enough can lead to a seized engine.

Not changing the oil enough can take years of life out of the engine and some of the components.

The same can be said of the transmission and differentials but they often don't get serviced until there's a noise or a problem. Too late...

Corroded battery cables can leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere and or a hefty towing bill.

 

I enjoy working on projects and taking and making something from nothing. When I buy a new car, just doing the very basic maintenance, I get so much more life out of my trucks and cars then most people who buy new cars every few years. My 3rd gen runner just turned 250k miles today and I would trust it on a coast to coast run if I had to. I have owned it for about 8 years now and so far never been left on the road. Hood is a little faded but really does not look two much worse then when I first bought it and a minor scratch I put in the tailgate.

I don't care to work on them in the winter and one day out of the summer, just spend a day cleaning one up underneath, checking, maintaining the basics like mentioned above really does not cost a whole lot and gives years of life. In the winter time I will have the quick lube places to change my oil.

 

The last sentece was ironic, I service my car regulary (my bikes too)

I just replaced the brake pads and the cylinders. cleaned everything and adjusted the lever under the car again. It is ok, although I still have more than 20clicks on the e brake.

Odin, thanks for your post. I will give this one a try!