LJ Prado brake issues? (1 Viewer)

[MrWhiplash]

Hey all,
just figured I'd see if anyone else had an issue because I didn't find much else. I have a 93 LJ78 Prado and just the other day it felt sluggish driving home, EGT's were a little higher as well. Got home and the Right rear tire smells like burning brakes. Jacked up the rear and it spins fine. Pads have plenty left on them and it doesn't sound like anything is rubbing.

I drove to work and again it was smelling like fried E brake. The wheel was hot to the touch. There is a shop next door so I dropped it off with them. They had it checked out and called me at the end of the day to say they found nothing wrong with it, their tech said it seems to be perfectly fine. I drove home and you guessed it, R rear is smelling like burnt brakes, and the wheel is hot.

Any suggestions? I'm also a noob with 70s series. I just picked this up about a month ago.

 

[mcmarshing]

I’m not as familiar with semi float axles, but If I had to guess, (and if the brake mechanism is similar to that of a full float drum brake) the bell crank bolt needs to be tightened a little. Basically the handbrake is designed to tighten up the star wheel, and the bell crank sets just how much the e-brake handle cable can tighten the star wherl.

Sometimes if the bellcrank bolt is too “loose” as well, some slack will allow the small cable and cam that connects the bellcrank to the drum brake shoe adjusting mechanism to get all jacked up.

I know it’s tough to describe with just words, but if you search “toyota bellcrank adjustment” on google there are some good write ups.

Besides the brakes, maybe back bearings…?

 

[MrWhiplash]

I’m not as familiar with semi float axles, but If I had to guess, (and if the brake mechanism is similar to that of a full float drum brake) the bell crank bolt needs to be tightened a little. Basically the handbrake is designed to tighten up the star wheel, and the bell crank sets just how much the e-brake handle cable can tighten the star wherl.

Sometimes if the bellcrank bolt is too “loose” as well, some slack will allow the small cable and cam that connects the bellcrank to the drum brake shoe adjusting mechanism to get all jacked up.

I know it’s tough to describe with just words, but if you search “toyota bellcrank adjustment” on google there are some good write ups.

Besides the brakes, maybe back bearings…?

Awesome, thanks for the info! I'll try and check it out tomorrow after work.

 

[clintnz]

I'm guessing it's the standard for the era Toyota park brake drum inside a disc service brake (with the one piece drum/disc)? Maybe a good idea to go for a very short drive from cold & see if you can feel if it's the inner drum or the outer disc getting hot.

It's probably worth going through a handbrake adjustment anyway, they need to be set just right to work even marginally. Follow the instructions in the factory manual, I have an excerpt from the 80 series manual which is the same procedure, PM me your email if you want it.

If it's dragging on the disc it may be time for a caliper rebuild, or at least unbolt it, pull & check the pads, give it all a clean & grease the pins. Mind all the little slider bits. Good call above on checking the bearings too.

Cheers
Clint

 

[mcmarshing]

in my manual (HD 70 series) I believe that it says to have 0.1mm of play between bellcrank bolt and brake back plate when pulling the slack out of e-brake cable that parallel’s the rear axle —I don’t think that it is enough and has led to destroying the “cam” that the bellcrank-to-autoadjust cable runs through because there was enough slack for the cam to touch the hub itself… so i always tighten the bellcrank bolt to where the e-brake cable has just enough slack that it’s almost visible.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Couple other quick thoughts: Rear calipers are prone to seizing on these trucks and might be worth inspecting closer. Lots of the e-brake parts are compatible with FJ Cruiser. Have a look at this thread for cross info as well as some e-brake info. FAQ - LJ78 Brake Parts Cross Thread - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/lj78-brake-parts-cross-thread.1205246/

 

[MrWhiplash]

Couple other quick thoughts: Rear calipers are prone to seizing on these trucks and might be worth inspecting closer. Lots of the e-brake parts are compatible with FJ Cruiser. Have a look at this thread for cross info as well as some e-brake info. FAQ - LJ78 Brake Parts Cross Thread - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/lj78-brake-parts-cross-thread.1205246/

Ah, I had been wondering that. I had a 03 4Runner a couple years ago and I found out after replacing multiple calipers that they had a known issue with seizing calipers. Thanks for the info.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Ah, I had been wondering that. I had a 03 4Runner a couple years ago and I found out after replacing multiple calipers that they had a known issue with seizing calipers. Thanks for the info.

Calipers are same as an FZJ80 (they have a rep for seizing too). Rotors, pads and ebrake stuff is same or similar to FJ Cruiser/4Runner/Sequoia/GX470.

My rear calipers were seized and not working when I bought my LJ78....