E-Brake Adjustment (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 28, 2003
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250
To All,

My e-brake needs to be adjusted badley (97 LX450), I do not use it much at all, but 2 days ago I pulled on it once or twice after learning that I must move some parts that I normally do not use just to keep them running, well I screwed the e-brake since I never used it for a quite sometime, I never remembered to download the how-to steps from the SOR forum prior to site coming down, can anybody please point me in the right dirction on how to get them, I am still waiting for my FSM to arrive.

Thanks for your great help.
 
Hey D-Master you made it! How did you screw up your e-brake? I had a problem where it stayed on. It turned out to be the mechanism was seized and held them on all the time. If this sounds familiar check where the cables attach at the back of the drum. That lever is what seized on mine and you can tell if it is the same problem as there is a rubber bumper on that arm that when released should contact the backing plate. Mine weren't touching and I had to hammer them back to get the drum/rotor off of the rears to be able to sevice the system. I haven't forgot about the venting just really busy right now with a "honey do" project and some international travel. Hit me off line and we can setup a phone call if you want.

Rick
 
Rick,

I do not know what the heck is happening with the e-brake, it looks like since I have not use it more often in the past it desided that it is time to get stuck, but your discription of the problem you had fits mine perfectly, the damm thing stuck and I can hear some faint whistle coming from the rear left tire area on slow speeds, I kept on pulling on it (the handel) hoping it will release but without luck, now I screwed the handel as well, it is also loose, you can actually wiggle it left to right and visa versa, it looks like that I will need some mechanic to look at it, but I thought there are a specific steps on how to get it fixed that is unique to the LC e-Brake system. if you know where and how I can get them let me know so I can provide the printouts to my mechnic to follow them.

As far as the breathers, I am reallly busey these days just like you, let things quite down a little bit and we will befinitaly hookup and get it done.

Good to hear from you man.

Al.
 
There is slight differences here but nothing that should stump a professional. Definately check those arms I mentioned and knock them back into place otherwise you'll toast those little shoes as I did. I ended up turning the rotor where the e-brake shoes contact and replaced the shoes as well.

Rick
 
Rick,

You are correct, I found out that the backing plate on both ends is as far from the rubber knobs as 1 inch (an indicator that the e-brake is on), I will have to take the tires off and see if I can knock them back, is there a specific work or procedure I need to do to the handel in the cockpit as far as adjustments ans so on, please let me know if you have any ideas.

Thanks.

Al
 
Al,

If you noticed there is 2 springs attached to each side. These are the return springs that release the shoes and tension the hand brake. No need to remove the tires yet. Release the hand brake and push it to the floor. Now as crued as this may sound, using a hammer bang the arms back into the off position so the rubber stops are against the back plate. Once this is done you can drive your truck without damaging the brake pads. I had to hit one rather hard but it has to be done to release the e-brake. I beleive this is quite common as my '84 LC had the same setup and developed the same problem. Once the shoes are colapsed the rotors can be removed and those seized arms can be cleaned and lubed with anti-seize compound. I beleive Toyota uses white lithium which will dry out and allows the aluminum housing for the arms to oxide and bind up the arms.

Rick
 
Rick,

Thanks for getting back to me, when you said hammer the arms without taking the tires off, you meant hammer the arms that has the spings and the rubber knobs attached to it correct ????

And hammer it towards the tires (outbound) to help the rubber knobs to go back into position and touch the backing plate ???

Rick, I am sorry for sounding redundant, but if I am going to hammer something down I want to hammer the correct part
 
Yes Al that is what you need to hammer. Those arms pivot inside the wheel. When the cable is pulled taught the arm pivots and forces the shoes against the inside of the rotor to apply braking. You understand it completely so just swing away.

Rick
 
Rick,

Thanks man, I was able to hammer at it as you said, but I ran into the following trouble:

-When I hammered one arm to get the knob to touch the backing plate it pulled the other side out, so what I did, and I hope I was correct here, I released the hand e-barke inside the truck which caused the cable to lossen up a bit so when I hammered one side it did not pull the other with it, now I have them both alligned perfectly where both knobs are touching the backing plate on each side.

Thanks Rick and I hope I have done this one right.

Let me know if I screwed up anything by what I did.

Thanks again
 
Al, Ya done good. I did mention that you needed to release the hand brake and push it to the floor as you figured out. Using the e-brake is a good habit to get into especially when you park on steep hills and the weight of the truck is on the parking pawl in the tranny. To properly fix it will take about half an hour per side if you don't turn the rotors. I'd get it fixed before the next inspection in case you get a guy who checks for that.

Rick
 
Rick,

Thanks for your guidance on this matter, I will definitely get to a mechanic to have adjusted, but before I do that I will have to wait and see if I can get my hands on my FSM I should see it sometime next week, as I know that there is a proper procedures that has to be followed in order to get the E-Brake correct, I might end up doing it my self if it does not require some special tools, as you know I am not mechanically inclined except for hammering things down as you have noticed so far. So I will have to wait and see what the FSM says.

Thanks again Bud.
 
Al,
Just to make sure you are clear on this. You don't have an adjustment problem. Your e-brake system needs to be torn apart, cleaned and lubricated. Until those springs are able to return the arms on their own you can't use the e-brake unless you are prepared to hammer them each time.

Rick
 

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