How strong is your parking brake?

[Lead Head]

The parking brake on my 62 seems weak.

The rear drums are new. My rear brake shoes are adjusted well, with the shoes set to just ever so slightly drag the drum initially. The parking brake cable moves freely, all the levers and bell-cranks are clean and lubricated. The cable is also adjusted so ~6-7 clicks on the lever "feels" about 35-40 pounds

4 clicks basically does nothing, 6 clicks, the brake will hold on small hills, but I don't think it would on anything steep. If I'm rolling 3-4 MPH, 6 clicks will gradually bring me to a stop. The parking brake doesn't even come close to being able to lock the rear tires up on pavement. On dry dirt/gravel, if I absolutely heave on the lever (like 8 clicks), it will sorta try to lock the rear tires, but largely be unsuccessful. It's very easy to drive away with the parking brake set - it doesn't take much throttle at all.

am I just expecting too much from it? I mean it does work, and it's not the end of the world because it's a 62 with a "Park" position. This parking brake would not be very confidence inspiring on a hill with a manual transmission. That's for sure.

Maybe I just need different brake shoes? They were just autozone cheapies...

 

[bhsdriller]

Pretty good actually. My driveway has a good slope and it will hold it in neutral no problem

 

[dbbowen]

@Dubs2017 can attest to this....

When your parking brake is adjusted just right it works very well. My front brake soft line was a little too long and rubbing my front drive shaft after wheeling moab and i forgot to unlock my hubs on the highway. I lost brakes at the intersection of hwy 191 and i70 on a sunday. I was able to drive all the way to his house, 220 ish miles and over 3.5 hours away using only my parking brake and downshifting my auto trans. He actually took the brake line off of his truck and we put it onto mine so i could continue on my trip. You go through like 2 mountain passes and also have to go through some city streets through orem and heber city. Made it with zero issues haha

The 60 series parking brake is much better than the one on the 80 and 100 series, im guessing since the shoe is bigger and has more surface area.

 

[Lead Head]

Guess I need to investigate then. Maybe it's worth it to buy "premium" shoes. Usually you don't hear people talk about brake shoes much - just pads.

 

[toy_tek]

LH Yours doesn't sound much different than mine. But, I did a 500 mile drive home w a broken brake line and relied on only the Parking brake and shifting, so it's effective to some degree. Even though my cable looks and works fine (no rust), I'm assuming it may be subject to stretch. I got a new cable from Toyota and plan to replace it when I rebuild my rear axle here soon... hoping that improves the park brake response a bit.

 

[Paco]

My driveway is on a hill but my brake will hold if I pull it up hard. Not sure how many clicks that is...

 

[timexlost]

mine is pretty similar to yours, everything is adjusted correctly and lubed where its supposed to be lubed. Newer drums and shoes (last year) with a slight drag. I was actually planning to dig into this soon so I'll post if I find something weird. Maybe it's a Rhode Island thing....

 

[Lead Head]

mine is pretty similar to yours, everything is adjusted correctly and lubed where its supposed to be lubed. Newer drums and shoes (last year) with a slight drag. I was actually planning to dig into this soon so I'll post if I find something weird. Maybe it's a Rhode Island thing....

Did you use aftermarket shoes? I just found that Toyota still make shoes for these things. I'm tempted to get a pair of OEM shoes and see how it goes.

 

[3_puppies]

the shoes may need more adjustment
go tight, step on pedal, make sure still tight, back off 4-5 clicks, there will be drag on the drum

 

[John McVicker]

‘85 fj60 here’s how I got my PARKING BRAKE to work excellently. It’s has everything to do with the brake part that is called ‘BELL CRANK’. (See attached picture)

Here are the notes I wrote in my iPad copied/pasted regarding what I did:


At home removed D/S wheel again & then removed repaired d/s BRAKE BELL CRANK that was frozen & not working. I suspect whatever caused the d/s wheel cly to implode also caused damage to the bell crank rendering in in/op. I soaked it in Ed’s Red overnight & then put it in vise & hammered with 2lb hammer to beat it back into shape. Got it to work freely & also coated inside with Permatex PURPLE CERAMIC LUBRICANT. Also installed NEW SPRINGS on D/S AND P/S BELL CRANK arm (2 springs each side). Adjusted the shoes, then the cable length (10 m nut on PARKING BRAKE HANDLE next to drivers front seat.

Then new WHEEL CYLINDER & SHOES on P/S. Both sides of rears now have new shoes & new wheel cylinders. Both brake bell cranks are now working properly with the D/S being taken apart etc. All seems to be fine now. Torqued both rear wheels to 95 ft lbs. UPDATE 1/17/24: I did install all new springs to the shoes when doing passenger side at home. Also all new springs on shoes of the driver side when I put on brand new BRAKE BACKING PLATE. Adjusting the parking brake cable at the pull handle was very helpful.

This worked very well & I can basically lock the wheels on a very steep hill with 4-5 clicks on the pull handle.