Offroad-Express

DAMN TOYOTA DRUM BRAKES!!!

So ever since getting my drum brakes sorted I have had to put up with a dodgy half ar$ed excuse for a handbrake.....every so often I have adjusted the cable (near the fuel tank) to take up the slack. As of late applying the handbrake appears to do nothing at all......but the problem does not seem to be the cable.... the problem seems to be somewhere after the cable...... between the bellcrank and the strut that pushes on the inside of the brake shoes.

here are a few pics to help to explain it:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/ ... 33edit.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/ ... 5edit2.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/ ... 40edit.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/ ... 41edit.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/ ... 43edit.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/ ... 42edit.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/ ... k2edit.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/ ... deedit.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l140/ ... keedit.jpg

I would like to know what any of you think may be the problem.

I think it is a possibility that the brake shoes (non-genuine) have been made a little bit shodily (suprise, suprise) and the inner edge of the brake shoe where the strut contacts it is a little bit recessed (too much material taken out in the machining process). If it turns out this is the problem I think my two options are (A) to build up the contact point on the brake shoe with weld. or (B) to make a replica of the existing strut that is a little bit longer than the standard one, to take up the slack.

Thanks for taking the time to read this

RU sure you've got the tension springs on correctly?

Just replaced my shoes and they were bloody hard to stretch far enough apart to slide in

Shoes should be right up tight in that gap.

doin ole rusty's on friday night..

never done brakes before.. this'll be interesting.....

sorry for hijack..

as you were...

disc brake conversion? You'll still have a dodgy handbrake but at least the brakes work infinitely better

Alternatively there is a prop-shaft mounted kit available ex-usa which is supposed to be brilliant... Leithfield runs one.

However none of this answers the question... I suspect your shoes are probably ok but I can't think off the top of my head what might be causing the problem... is it likely to be at your brothers with the brake shoes all pulled apart to look at over the next couple of days? I could have a quick look and see if I can spot the problem...

Failing all else, keep 2 bricks in the back, and chock the wheels when you leave the truck anywhere thats not flat

Steve

Buy a Nissan...........................

If not jack one side off the ground and spin the tire, apply the hbrake and do the same again if there is no effect release it and on the inside of the drun the handbrake lever that actuates it push and pull it several times spin the wheel again and see.

Saves pulling the wheel and drum outer off the wheel should move relativley free it took more adjusting than I thought with new pad's to get the handbrake to work.

This is if the auto adjustment is working on the handbrake. you will have to do the same to the other side. The handbrake movement doesn't move as far as the piston as far as I could tell.

It could be something else if this doesn't work pull the wheel and drum outer and see if supralux can figure it out

yer that handbrake you are talking about from the us, will be orderinf one tomorrow from allpro,hey mullet do wot steve said and go disc rear the find out from hosehustler how he did his handbrake steup,

When I replaced the shoes on the FJ70 I used to own, I remember it being a real bugger of a job, that I re-did several times over to get the handbrake working correctly.

From memory, I just had to loosen off the adjusters through the little hole heaps on the backplates using a flat blade screwdriver. It was a creature of a job & took forever. After finally getting that sorted, some minor adjustment on the handbrake cable was all that was required.

Not sure if it is a problem that the strut doesn't contact the shoe when the handbrake is off?? I would have thought it was only what it was doing when the handbrake lever was on that would matter??

This probably hasn't been much help to you?? If it was me, I'd start again setting the brakes correctly (as above) then moving onto the handbrake.

Cheers

try loosening of handbrake cable tension altogether.Then adjust barrel adjusters on each side so as shoes are just in contact with inside of brake drum,then adjust the handbrake accordingly if everything is assembled correctly and in good nick you shouldnt have any probs.

curly12 wrote:

Code: Select all

curly12:Newbie:Standard Member
Joined: Mar 02, 2007
Posts: 1

Buy a Nissan...........................

You're doing very well - your very first post ever on the board and its so helpful I think it needs framing... and to be hung in the hall of fame for retarded butplugs. What are you going to do for an encore?

Back to the topic, if you want to have a look at a disc conversion then give me a shout... the MU should be coming home this weekend and I've done it on the Hilux axle under the back of that... I've also got a couple of sets of the Galant calipers used for the swap sitting here somewhere.

As for the AllPro handbrake setup, I've got a caliper here that Riks going to use to make a similar setup to theirs so keep an eye out for that one.

Steve

ooh i do apologise god kiss my hairy arse biarch

monaro427 wrote:yer that handbrake you are talking about from the us, will be orderinf one tomorrow from allpro,hey mullet do wot steve said and go disc rear the find out from hosehustler how he did his handbrake steup,

the handbrake setup I now have is the improved version that finally works bloody well, good enough to get certified and pass a warrant on one of those brake machines, the trick has been to use a leverage system. I have the callipers mounted frontwards so an original hilux H/B lever is mounted on the back on a custom plate which connects directly to the cross diff H/B cables, a small cable runs between calliper and lever and hey presto a handbrake that works properly on a disc brake conversion
I'll put up a seperate thread with some pics

sweet can't wait to see some photos tim, i ordered my e-brake from all-pro off road yesterday so should be here in a couple of weeks then i should have a better handbrake than the one i don't have,

hosehustler wrote:the trick has been to use a leverage system. I have the callipers mounted frontwards so an original hilux H/B lever is mounted on the back on a custom plate which connects directly to the cross diff H/B cables, a small cable runs between calliper and lever and hey presto a handbrake that works properly on a disc brake conversion

Sounds similar to what I did on Conan and Riks... "L" shaped bracket welded to the handbrake actuating lever, then drill a hole and just tie the Hilux handbrake cable to it with the original pin... leverage... it makes the difference and makes the handbrake attachment dead simple. I'll try to get some pics of either of those setups to add to the thread when it starts... put it in the tech section maybe as a reference for doing the conversion...

Steve

the strut 'gap'has worn. build it up with weld (not too much as you still need the locating gap)put it back together and your done.

taxi wrote:ooh i do apologise god kiss my hairy arse biarch

i think steve was directing his thoughts at curly12 who made his first ever post a burst of priceless thought that only a nissan owner could muster....

what you wrote was on the money and very wise,obviously a man who has done many sets of break shoes ....speaking of which i need to do mine again...bloody burst wheel cylinder

You're doing very well - your very first post ever on the board and its so helpful I think it needs framing... and to be hung in the hall of fame for retarded butplugs. What are you going to do for an encore?

Feeling a bit sensitive there Steve??
After owning four Landcruiser's with the same brake problem and sick of working on them I decided to try a Hilux. The brakes just don't seem to like being drowned in excessive amount's of water and silt ( bit of a problem when working on goldmine sites!! ).
Tried a Nissan after 12 years of toyota ownership and havn't looked back. Not to say that the brake's havn't been perfect. But it is a damm site easier to whip off a cailper and clean the crap out of it when the rear disk brake's start sticking every year or so, than tackle those bloody drum brake's.
So as I said before, buy a Nissan......................

curly12 wrote:
So as I said before, buy a Nissan......................

a certain toyota owner!!(in another post) wrote:
I'd rather push my Toyota than ride in your Nissan......................

Lets get on with helping out mullet with his brake problem, Nissan have rear disc's......so too rear disc conversion hilux's, and that's a damn site easier to achieve than "buy a Pissan", what do you think he's gonna do sell his truck with unrepaired brakes and go out and buy another vehicle just cos it has disc brakes
he wants some constructive help for repairing his problem, and a disc conversion could be the answer.

Tim, I'd be real keen to see how you attached the handbrake cable to your rear discs. what calipers have you used? Going to do this mod myself in the next week or two. It looks like a good simple mod that gets rid of the hiluxes braking issues, especially if you drive a lot of mud

hosehustler wrote:

curly12 wrote:
So as I said before, buy a Nissan......................

a certain toyota owner!!(in another post) wrote:
I'd rather push my Toyota than ride in your Nissan......................

Lets get on with helping out mullet with his brake problem, Nissan have rear disc's......so too rear disc conversion hilux's, and that's a damn site easier to achieve than "buy a Pissan", what do you think he's gonna do sell his truck with unrepaired brakes and go out and buy another vehicle just cos it has disc brakes

Mmmmmmmm could I list the other reason's why he should??

I also had the last one converted to disk's all round. I think our engineer used Hilux componant's ( while ago ). But I do remember we still had the brake on the drive shaft

UPDATE:

got the right hand wheel bearing done (yes I have now done left, right bearing and new diff because of a buggered pinion shaft bearing on the diff)

lathed the small lip off the inside of the drum (probably was'nt a problem, but at least now it won't be)

installed the genuine toyota brake shoes, thanks again elmo

hand brake works great, I'm used to no handbrake........got a WOF (elmo says it only locks up one side properly)

Thanks to everyone for the help and advise.

steve if I was intending on building my truck up into a bit of a beast I would do the disc brake conversion/ trans e-brake......but after looking at what is required to make my truck into something I would be happy with I have decided to campaign my truck in realitively stock form until I have built a project from scratch to replace it.

Thanks again everyone

Smurf wrote:Tim, I'd be real keen to see how you attached the handbrake cable to your rear discs. what calipers have you used? Going to do this mod myself in the next week or two. It looks like a good simple mod that gets rid of the hiluxes braking issues, especially if you drive a lot of mud

Didn't you buy a set of mounting plates off me, some time ago ???
If you did they fit Nissan Maxima or Primera calipers flip the calipers oposite sides and put a wee nick in the cable lever and bend it round a bit till its lined up and weld (your allowed to do this as it only effects the park brake not the main brake) your hilux cable will then fit.... the Primera needs a bit more work as its got a "hook and loop" style conection instead of the "barrel and hole" the hilux cable has
Oh and if you willing to take a punt they should also fit the Gallant calipers... they look to be the same caliper, I haven't found a set yet at the wreakers that were worth pulling so not %100 they'll fit

Like the list Mullet hey its not as bad as a mate... he had a leading shop (also certifier ) install a new clutch, then new main bearing in the gearbox only to discover after $1600 wearth of work that it was a faulty clutch slave cylinder.... hmmmm he now brings his truck to me to fix

Cheers Reece

Reece I did buy the mounting plates, still in the shed as I haven't has time to do anything with them yet. Trying to find a few more parts to finish of the surf and then I'll get everything done in one hit ready for cert. Just need a 4m sump/pick up etc to do the crossover steering.

Like the list Mullet hey its not as bad as a mate...

unfortunately that is far from a complete list of problems I've had with my truck in the 8 months I have owned it.

Here is the stuff I can remember off hand.........

endless rear brake problems,
countless starter motor problems,
both rear wheel bearings shagged,
diff pinion bearing shagged,
water in the diff oil,
new radiator,
puncture fixed in new radiator (thanks elmo )
new cambelt,
broken rear bumper,
broken wing mirror,
crimped/bent/chopped off exhaust,
2 ruptured tyres in a week,
water in the headlights,

That's all I can remember right now.

learning lots tho eh

Welcome to the real world of OFFROADING.

USE IT- ABUSE IT- FIX IT,

FITZY.

PS; 2 : 1 ratio = 2hrs offroad = 1hr fixing, .

on that ratio given the time I've spent building mine I should get 4yrs without a problem

Hey mullet get hard and buy a landrover then you'll really learn

Hey Smurf remember your going to have to get the disks and axles machined

Cheers Reece

gomulletgo wrote:

Like the list Mullet hey its not as bad as a mate...

unfortunately that is far from a complete list of problems I've had with my truck in the 8 months I have owned it.

Here is the stuff I can remember off hand.........

endless rear brake problems,
countless starter motor problems,
both rear wheel bearings shagged,
diff pinion bearing shagged,
water in the diff oil,
new radiator,
puncture fixed in new radiator (thanks elmo )
new cambelt,
broken rear bumper,
broken wing mirror,
crimped/bent/chopped off exhaust,
2 ruptured tyres in a week,
water in the headlights,

That's all I can remember right now.

learning lots tho eh

Problems with the truck hmmmm. A large part of that list is a problem owner

Problems with the truck hmmmm. A large part of that list is a problem owner

that's true.........just means I need to make a tougher truck that can take my abuse

Hey mullet get hard and buy a landrover then you'll really learn

I've already owned something worse than a landy , that's why I bought a toyota.......for reliability.... I'm not complaining tho......It's all good fun. I'm glad I've got this truck