Ever since doing my FZJ80 brake upgrade on my FJ80, I have been feeling this weird pulsating "grab and release" feeling from the brakes at low speeds (like <20mph while coming to a stop) but not in the steering wheel or pedal. Frequency of the grab and release slows as the speed of the car slows. Doesn't seem to be super dependent on braking force. It seems to not be present after the car sits for awhile and shows back up after a few stops. Possibly even more noticeable when it's hotter outside? And weird because it totally disappeared for a couple of days once.
I pulled my front wheels, checked the rotors and pads, and made sure the caliper and rotor were torqued down correctly. Rotors and pads look great and I could not see any sort of warpage or runout with my naked eye, but runout would be hard to see without a dial gauge.
The other option, I think, is that my rear right drum brake has been bathing in gear oil for tens of thousands of miles. I've been told it was an issue for a long time and I have just added gear oil to the diff a couple times a year, but this brake issue made me think I should finally think about fixing the axle seal leak, because the cracked brake shoes and oil everywhere is probably not helping my braking performance regardless.
Here are some pictures of a well-lubricated drum brake.
Clearly, that's not good. The shop I took it to for the brake flush quoted me $1300 to replace the wheel seal, replace the shoes, turn the drums, and replace diff fluid. Probably repack the bearings and whatnot too. That is a lot of money. Can someone please tell me exactly what I am looking at here in terms of tackling this myself? I have been reading through other threads on here but I can't seem to figure out exactly what seal it is that's leaking on mine. Seems like there's an inner and an outer and I don't get it. Could someone also inform me on (or point me to a thread that informs me on) the scope of this project? Like, what parts will I need, what are the steps required, will I need to outsource any work to a machine or axle shop, etc.? I do have an FSM but would really appreciate some outside advice/wisdom.
Also, any wisdom on the brake issue is appreciated. I was thinking of trying a classic bed-in process to perhaps re-bed my front brakes, but I think this is the more urgent issue and hopefully it is the cause of the symptom. I find it odd that I've had a leaking rear axle seal for probably 30,000 miles and it would only cause an issue as soon as I happened to do a front brake job, so I still haven't ruled out a front rotor run out issue (or some sort of other issue.)
Thanks in advance!!
I pulled my front wheels, checked the rotors and pads, and made sure the caliper and rotor were torqued down correctly. Rotors and pads look great and I could not see any sort of warpage or runout with my naked eye, but runout would be hard to see without a dial gauge.
The other option, I think, is that my rear right drum brake has been bathing in gear oil for tens of thousands of miles. I've been told it was an issue for a long time and I have just added gear oil to the diff a couple times a year, but this brake issue made me think I should finally think about fixing the axle seal leak, because the cracked brake shoes and oil everywhere is probably not helping my braking performance regardless.
Here are some pictures of a well-lubricated drum brake.
Clearly, that's not good. The shop I took it to for the brake flush quoted me $1300 to replace the wheel seal, replace the shoes, turn the drums, and replace diff fluid. Probably repack the bearings and whatnot too. That is a lot of money. Can someone please tell me exactly what I am looking at here in terms of tackling this myself? I have been reading through other threads on here but I can't seem to figure out exactly what seal it is that's leaking on mine. Seems like there's an inner and an outer and I don't get it. Could someone also inform me on (or point me to a thread that informs me on) the scope of this project? Like, what parts will I need, what are the steps required, will I need to outsource any work to a machine or axle shop, etc.? I do have an FSM but would really appreciate some outside advice/wisdom.
Also, any wisdom on the brake issue is appreciated. I was thinking of trying a classic bed-in process to perhaps re-bed my front brakes, but I think this is the more urgent issue and hopefully it is the cause of the symptom. I find it odd that I've had a leaking rear axle seal for probably 30,000 miles and it would only cause an issue as soon as I happened to do a front brake job, so I still haven't ruled out a front rotor run out issue (or some sort of other issue.)
Thanks in advance!!
