[TOME]

MY parking brake does not work at all, and I cannot figure out how to adjust it (other than at the handle). I recently had ALL braking hardware replaced (except for the master cylinder) at NTB 6 months ago. I can still stop, but there is very little stopping power. Something makes me think that the problem lies in my rear brakes... but i have no idea where to start looking.

This is my problem, and I would love some help

I also am planning on doing the 4-runner caliper upgrades in the front soon to give me more stopping power.

[2mbb]

If the drums are not adjusted tight enough, then the hand brake can't pull them far enough to get them tight. However, the brakes should self adjust when as you pull the hand brake, but if they are way out of adjustment, you might have to pull the brake quite a few times. There is an access hole on the brake backing plate where you can use a screw driver or brake adjusting tool to tighten the rear brakes.

But maybe you can answer a few questions first:

has the hand brake never worked since you replaced the brake hardware, or has it recently gone out of adjustement?

Did you or someone else replace the brake parts? What does "ALL" mean--exactly what parts were replaced?

How many clicks can you pull the handbrake before it stops moving?

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

Your rear brakes need to be adjusted right for the e-brake to perform well. Your braking performance will improve too! Made a HUGE difference in mine. Check out posts from 2mbb in this thread.
http://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/281160-rear-brake-adjusting.html

In my search for that, I saw that you posted on this back in February. Get yourself the FSM. It will make repairs like this easy and un-intimidating.



Edit Speak of the man! 2mbb is fast!
Butt

[TOME]

Back in freb was when I figured that my brake cylender was leaking and that was fixed. I got an FSM, but it hadn't been much help to me in this.

to answer your questions:
1. It's been growing progressively worse as time goes on. now its gotten unusable and I am having to use my tranny to hold it in place (which Im not too fond of)

2. NTB replaced the parts, and by all I mean all 4 slave cylinders, rotors, drums, calipers, and a few other parts that elude my mind, and my receipt doesn't list the parts

3. I have the handbrake adjusted all the way down, and get little to no resistance until the last two clicks. Ill get back to you on how many tomorrow, the house is already locked up for the night

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

When I adjusted the clearance of mine per page BR-8 of the FSM it made all the difference in braking - both the parking and regular brakes. I use my parking brake EVERY time and it has maintained performance. If you use your parking brake regularly but it still looses performance over time, I suspect your adjuster is not operating correctly.

Butt

[TOME]

alright. how could I get my adjuster to work properly? I would guess trying a little WD-40, but that doesnt seem like a good idea to get wd-40 into the brakes

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

Yeah, I'd avoid the WD-40 too. Here's how I'd start:
You've got to pull it apart to see to see if the adjuster itself spins freely. If it's frozen and you can get it freed, lube the adjuster with high temperature grease. Replace it if it's beyond salvage and lube the new one with high temp grease.

If you find the adjuster spins freely, make sure the adjusting lever engages the adjuster. If it isn't engaging, compare how things are assembled against the FSM. If it all looks to be assembled correctly but still won't engage, post up here what you find. It's possible the adjuster is bent.

If you fix it, post your solution. You'll get there man!

Butt

[2mbb]

The first thing to do is to find out what is wrong. Do a search on "bell cranks". these are the lever arms that penetrate through the brake backing plate and transfer the pull from the brake cable to inside the brake drum. Often the bell cranks will sieze. Next I would recommend pulling off the wheel and brake drum and confirming that the selfadjusting mechaism inside the drum is working properly (the selfadjusting level moves the star wheel when you pull on the brake cable/bell crank.

A short term fix would be to adjust the rear brakes manually using a brake tool through the access hole. I usually tighten each wheel untill I can't turn it by hand (wheel lifted off the ground), then I back off the star wheel five clicks (or so), until the wheel turns freely or with just a very small amount of drag.