Epilogue....
Finally got some time over the weekend to get the bell cranks rebuilt, new e-brake shoes and associated ebrake hardware, new rotors & pads installed. I should have finished this sooner but I had ordered the e-brake rebuild kit from a small aftermarket OEM parts supplier trusted their parts list unfortunately it was missing 2 important ( $.50 cent C washers) which held up the project for a week.
It's my first Land Cruiser so the process learning curve is steeper for me. If had to make a living by wrenching, I'd probably starve; I'm as slow as a turtle. I spent way too much time on this project between parts runs, web searches, posts here and multiple re-reading of the FSM. The irony is that in 50,000 or 60,000 miles from now when its ready for brakes again, I'll have forgotten what I learned from this job
. Other than learning more about my truck, and taking satisfaction in doing it myself, it would probably been cheaper to drop it off and have it done.
Everything went back together as it should but I did encounter a scraping noise on my initial test drive. That bummed me out, since I took my time on the reassembly making sure to follow the FSM to the letter- only leaving out 1 step: using the dial indicator to check the runout on the rotor. I didn't think it necessary on new rotors. I thought maybe I had the shoes set a tad tight so back to the garage to check. No dragging. So wheels back off and pulled the rotors back off to inspect inside. E-brake shoes looked good. I re-checked return spring functionality, rechecked the bell crank adjustment per the FSM and all good. Started looking for other causes (internet search) and checked the backing plate and noticed a small rub towards the bottom of the plate (between 4 & 8 o'clock). I got out the grinder and "relieved" some of that edge and reinstalled the rotors and test drove. Noise was gone when driving straight, but slight scrape while turning body roll would initiate the noise again. It was much less noticeable, so I decided to drive it for a day and see how everything beds in.
Took the truck for a 200 mile ride yesterday, drove some easy trails, and some forest roads. By the time i got home the noise was all but gone- What I attribute the scrape to was the new rotor tolerances being very close, and the rub was the inner edge of the machining on the rotor against the backing plate. The scrape had nothing to do with braking function or braking surfaces, just how the parts mated new to old. Its possible that had I checked the run out, I may have avoided this but who knows. Its all good now and my rear brakes and E brake are working as they should now.
Fwiw- I used all oem toyota parts on this rebuild. Total parts cost was just under $500 (new rotors, pads, shims, slide pins, slide pin boots, fitting kit, new caliper & pin mounting bolts, all new ebrake hardware( shoes, springs, bellcranks, boots, & related hardware)
Thanks to all those who chimed in and helped guide me through the process.
