Hand Brake Not Working (1 Viewer)

[mycars]

I purchased my first LC last Fall and have been loving every second of it. I just tried to use the hand brake for the first time (parked on a steep hill) only to find that it did not work. When I lifted it up, it would not stay in place and just went back down to the original position. Obviously, I wish I had checked this when I purchased the rig, but hindsight is 20/20. Any thoughts on what might be going on and a possible fix? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[tbisaacs]

In can be two things:

Not enough tension on the handle-in that case you can pull out the cup holder (just yank) and there is an adjustment wheel.

Or it’s the parking break themselves. They are inside the drum part of the rear disk. They are adjustable without removing the whole assembly. There should be a wheel on the back you can spin to adjust.

If that doesn’t work it’s easy to pull of the disc and see what’s going on. I had to replace mine at 100k miles.

 

[cboyd]

the local inspection office tried to fail me for similar.

As long as you have sufficient e-brake pads, the rest can be adjusted. It’s in the FSM or a competent mechanic can adjust.

 

[TeCKis300]

It's a simple adjustment. Something that needs to be done manually on occasion and not a sign of something inherently wrong. It's a very old school type of adjustment for anyone that's familiar with star wheels on drum brakes in cars and trailers.

I recently adjusted mine after it got my attention parking on a slight slope with 8k trailer in tow and not holding well. The instructions may look more intimidating than it is.

As I've adjusted drums many times on other vehicles, I'll say I cheated with a shortcut and turned the star wheel on each side up two clicks, and tightened the lever 3 clicks, and all was golden. They grab evenly on both sides, don't drag, and most importantly brake confidently when set. For those new to this, I'd recommend following the FSM which asks to completely release the brake cable first.

 

[Tex68w]

 

[mycars]

Thank you all for the help! I will hopefully be able to try these methods soon to fix the problem. Much appreciated!

 

[stonepa]

Land. Cruiser 200s have notoriously weak parking brakes, even when properly adjusted. Just for fun, watch some videos from Australian offroader owners of manual 200s and their many negative comments. I have, with considerable work, gotten mine to be ‘okay’. Most likely why Toyota went with electronic unit on the 300.

 

[Tex68w]

I can honestly say that I have never engaged mine in over two years of ownership lol. Maybe I should give it a go and see how it does.

 

[stonepa]

I use mine every time I park, before i engage P on the transmission. The parking pawl rod is not what you’d call a strong part of the transmission so I work to keep the load off, especially on an incline. Plus, with open diffs you need the parking brake or big rock so the car doesn’t roll away when you go to change a tire.

 

[Tex68w]

I use mine every time I park, before i engage P on the transmission. The parking pawl rod is not what you’d call a strong part of the transmission so I work to keep the load off, especially on an incline. Plus, with open diffs you need the parking brake or bike rock so the car doesn’t roll away when you go to change a tire.

Luckily I live in the coastal flatlands so the opportunity to park on an incline is slim to none.

 

[4gotalot]

I have learned that because I do not use my hand brake very often the drum surface gets a little rusty. Just before I get to the boat launch while still moving I will pull up on the hand brake just till I feel contact but no pressure and only for about a half a second and after a few rotations the rust dust has a chance to work its way out. This cleans off the surface rust and improves the contact surface of the pad to drum. Use this trick on any rig when you really need your parking brake to work or work better.