Help to re-install the parking brake (1 Viewer)

[RCsGX]

I've been trying to put the parking brake shoes back on for 20mins and I cannot get the side springs w/ retainer clips on with the shoes separated let alone w/ the shoes joined together w/ the bottom spring and parking brake cable in place. You have to put pressure on the spring and it has a locating tab. I cannot compress the spring, there's no room for my fingers?
http://s140.photobucket.com/user/rrcompton/media/Lexus GX470/parkingbrake22.jpg.html


The manual is no help it just says attach it. Yeah no shi*t, how is the question!!

Anyone have any tips on how to re-install the parking brake??

 

[RCsGX]

Well I tried. Obviously there's a way but I've tried everything I can think of and I don't see how it's possible to reinstall it. Whoever designed our parking brake has obviously never worked on it. I've seen multiple youtube videos of other manufacturers where the retainer clip / spring is to the side of the shoes out in the open, not hidden behind the hub where you can't even get a finger in back let alone any type of tool.

Guess I'll take it to Toyota and have them fix it. If they're not busy I'm going to watch because I'd love to see how it's done. For anyone thinking of replacing the rear rotors, don't, have a shop do it. You will end up paying labor one way or another.

Would love to hear from other GX owners. Tried a search but came back with nothing....

 

[470reasons]

Knock a wheel stud out of the hub???
If the wheel studs pass directly over (or close) to the retainer clip - it might work.
In your picture it looks like there might be room to stick a screwdriver through a stud hole to compress the spring.
Put a lug nut on the stud to protect the threads and smack the stud with a hammer. Penetrating oil would help.
Easy to put the stud back in, it will pull up to the hub when you tighten the lug nuts.
Just speculating here...

 

[RCsGX]

I finally got it. I ended up using twine. Several 4Runner / Tundra guys had the same problem and they used picture hanging wire....the wife was asleep and all I had in the garage was twine.

I ending up looping it through the hole, compressing the spring with my fingers and pulling the twine to keep it compressed while I slide the shoes back on. This job was a PAIN IN THE AZZ! It wasn't hard to do, just hard to figure out how to do it. I still don't know how the retainer popped off to begin with when I removed the rotor. Doing a rotor / pad job would've taken me 10mins or less to do...this damn parking brake took me hours!

Spring is compressed w/ the twine


Retainer clip seated. I had to use 2 bolts to remove the rotor, you can see the marks below.


DONE



I can't lie, I felt like this after I finished it. LOL

 

[rz470]

Did you have the little simple tool look like a screw drive with a special head
To put those back in the place?

 

[RCsGX]

Did you have the little simple tool look like a screw drive with a special head
To put those back in the place?

Do you think I would've used twine if I had a special tool.

I found this pic from a Sequoia of someone using long needle nose, that's the only tool I found in any Sequoia / 4Runner thread where the retainers / springs were behind the hub flange. Several Toyota techs on 4Runner forums even said to use 2 needle nose pliers. Now that I know how it's done, using twine or wire turned out to be a piece of cake.

Every other parking brake spring tool I saw was used when the retainers / springs were off to the side like on my wifes E39 below.

 

[IanB]

Glad to hear you got it sorted out! I can't remember having any major issues when I did my rear rotors & pads, but it was nearly a year ago and I had help that day so who knows at this point.

 

[rz470]

sorry RCsGx i did not mean to make you feel like one of the 300 again . I am working on my English language And part of it is American sarcasm ))

 

[rz470]

When it comes time to do the rear brake and parking brake I think I just drill the hole bigger so all kind of tool fits it . After owning this GX which is my first Lexus and I just love it but I have to say these things are expensive for parts and repair and have some peculiar design.

 

[RCsGX]

Glad to hear you got it sorted out! I can't remember having any major issues when I did my rear rotors & pads, but it was nearly a year ago and I had help that day so who knows at this point.

Doing the rotors and pads would've taken me 10mins per side, it's this **** parking brake that's a pain the azz!! I've never in my life had to change one. The think that irked me is there's only so many parts and so many ways for it to go together...it's not hard.

sorry RCsGx i did not mean to make you feel like one of the 300 again . I am working on my English language And part of it is American sarcasm ))

It's all good, that's why I used the smiley face missing a tooth...but I no longer feel like one of the 300. Today I feel like this:
http://apopandagumshield.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/failure.jpg

When it comes time to do the rear brake and parking brake I think I just drill the hole bigger so all kind of tool fits it . After owning this GX which is my first Lexus and I just love it but I have to say these things are expensive for parts and repair and have some peculiar design.

Maybe you won't have to mess w/ the parking brake. I don't know how the retainer popped off when I removed the rotor. Had it not been for that I didn't have any reason to mess w/ the parking brake. The parking brake shoes had a little over 3mm of pad, a brand pad has 4mm / minimum is 1mm.....so it was perfectly fine.

Doing a simple rear rotor swap and brake pad swap would've taken me 10mins if that. Damn parking brake!!!!! <---supposed to be the smiley with 2 middle fingers?
EDIT: What's the use in having a smiley face with 2 middle fingers sticking up if the software removes it and uses ********** instead???






So just an update....today the rear rotors were finally delivered. I went to put them on and just my luck the passenger side didn't fit!?? The back side drum wouldn't fit over the shoes? The star adjuster was not stuck, I was able to rotate it up and it expanded IE: tightened the shoes
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/rrcompton/Lexus GX470/IMG_7574.jpg~original

I was able to rotate it down as much as possible to the loosest position possible and the rotor still wouldn't fit over the shoes. I tired compressing the shoes by hand thinking something was stuck but nope.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/rrcompton/Lexus GX470/IMG_7575.jpg~original



I tore the entire parking brake assembly down again and rebuilt it just like the manual showed and still, same problem so I honestly have no clue where I went wrong but obviously I did something wrong. I can't be down without my GX for any longer so I had to scrape what's left of my pride off of my garage floor, call USAA for a tow and had it towed to a local indie Toyota shop.

 

[Frankencruiser]

The adjuster is in the wrong location. look at the first and second picture you posted. the adjuster goes on the vertical piece of metal on the shoe, not the horizontal piece at the bottom. If that doesn't help I can try to be more specific.

In the first picture below and to the right of your hand there is a white mark on the shoe. just to the right of that is a notch. The adjuster seats inside that notch.

 

[rz470]

All I have to say if RCsGX got frustrated with these rear brake job I have no business even look at them or try to repair mine if it ever needs it I have few more hair left on my head and replacing it is very expensive and definitely don't want to lose them over this Pain in .... brake job . Time is money

 

[rz470]

PS RCsGX I forgot to say you need to do something a bout your lower Lip that looks awful just make sure you do not stick your head out of car over 35 miles per hour because you could possibly beat your self to death ))

 

[RCsGX]

The adjuster is in the wrong location. look at the first and second picture you posted. the adjuster goes on the vertical piece of metal on the shoe, not the horizontal piece at the bottom. If that doesn't help I can try to be more specific.

In the first picture below and to the right of your hand there is a white mark on the shoe. just to the right of that is a notch. The adjuster seats inside that notch.

THANK YOU for catching my mistake....I knew it was something simple!!! And I had the drawing right in front of me from the manual too and I still didn't catch it. You know what's funny, I looked at that drawing on where the adjuster was placed because the adjuster had a threaded side and a side that would slide in and out. The longer side was the right slide side and the shorter side was the left threaded side. There's even an slight white outline of where the adjuster notch was and the pink mark was from the factory when they doubled checked their work and I still didn't catch it! All I needed was a fresh pair of eyes! Thanks again!
http://s140.photobucket.com/user/rrcompton/media/Lexus GX470/Noname-2.jpg.html

I was putting the adjuster in the red, it should've gone in the grooves in the green circle.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/rrcompton/Lexus GX470/photo-1.jpg~original

All I have to say if RCsGX got frustrated with these rear brake job I have no business even look at them or try to repair mine if it ever needs it I have few more hair left on my head and replacing it is very expensive and definitely don't want to lose them over this Pain in .... brake job . Time is money

Like I said over on CL, I knew it was 100% user error. It's always something so simple that causes the most problems!

PS RCsGX I forgot to say you need to do something a bout your lower Lip that looks awful just make sure you do not stick your head out of car over 35 miles per hour because you could possibly beat your self to death ))

Hahaha, I needed a good laugh!!

 

[re_guderian]

Old thread, but I wanted to share a tool that makes this job SOOOOO much easier...

Parking Brake re-assembly tips

So on a recent trip, I noticed the GX making a rather "unrefined" squeaking sound definitely emanating from the passenger's rear hub area. Upon disassembly and taking the rotor off, I noticed one of the parking brake (emergency brake/hand brake) pads flopping around in the in/out direction...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[VSPro9]

Thanks this reminds me that my parking brake isn’t even connected.

 

[canadacowboyboy]

I finally got it. I ended up using twine. Several 4Runner / Tundra guys had the same problem and they used picture hanging wire....the wife was asleep and all I had in the garage was twine.

I ending up looping it through the hole, compressing the spring with my fingers and pulling the twine to keep it compressed while I slide the shoes back on. This job was a PAIN IN THE AZZ! It wasn't hard to do, just hard to figure out how to do it. I still don't know how the retainer popped off to begin with when I removed the rotor. Doing a rotor / pad job would've taken me 10mins or less to do...this damn parking brake took me hours!

Spring is compressed w/ the twine


Retainer clip seated. I had to use 2 bolts to remove the rotor, you can see the marks below.


DONE



I can't lie, I felt like this after I finished it. LOL

Thanks for putting this together, very helpful! I made one modification to your suggestion to compress the retainer spring. If you file/cut some very slight grooves on the edge of the rear disk (the one with the "L" piece on it) at "6" and "12", and put your string/wire in the grooves, the string/wire will not slip off as you compress the spring, and install the shoe assembly. This made it way easier for me. Thanks again.