Rear Brakes Won't Release

[skinnyhb]

Hi guys, long time lurker, first time poster.

I was driving my wife's 80 on Saturday and on my way home it felt like the emergency brake was on. It wasn't, or at least the handle was down and the light was off. The truck wouldn't coast at all. I got home and let it sit for a bit. I hopped in a tried to replicate the problem in front of our house, and everything felt fine. It has just been used for short trips since then, and no issues.

However, this afternoon, my wife calls and describes the exact problem I was having is now happening to her. Any ideas?

I haven't done any brake work on the truck yet, since we've only had it for a month now.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Stevesnj]

The brake lever that the parking brake wire connects to that connects to the brake shoes on the inner part of the wheel is notorious for rusting to a point of seizing in the on position. I just did my brakes saturday and found that my drivers side parking brake lever at the drum was rusted in the halfway on position. if you think it may be on get a hammer and hammer the lever so that the threaded stop is closest to the brake shield and dont pull the parking brake lever in the vehicle until it's fixed.

 

[khoi911]

Hi guys, long time lurker, first time poster.

I was driving my wife's 80 on Saturday and on my way home it felt like the emergency brake was on. It wasn't, or at least the handle was down and the light was off. The truck wouldn't coast at all. I got home and let it sit for a bit. I hopped in a tried to replicate the problem in front of our house, and everything felt fine. It has just been used for short trips since then, and no issues.

However, this afternoon, my wife calls and describes the exact problem I was having is now happening to her. Any ideas?

I haven't done any brake work on the truck yet, since we've only had it for a month now.

Thanks for the help.

More info:

- what year?
- how many miles?

I can't believe you did not inspect the rear brakes when it happened the 1st time. You NEED to STOP driving it and inspect the brakes.

 

[khoi911]

The brake lever that the parking brake wire connects to that connects to the brake shoes on the inner part of the wheel is notorious for rusting to a point of seizing in the on position. I just did my brakes saturday and found that my drivers side parking brake lever at the drum was rusted in the halfway on position. if you think it may be on get a hammer and hammer the lever so that the threaded stop is closest to the brake shield and dont pull the parking brake lever in the vehicle until it's fixed.

Or it could be his rear caliper starting to stick.

Stevesnj ... you went with rear rotors from Brakeperformance.com correct? How do you like them?

 

[skinnyhb]

1996
186k miles

Honestly, it was subtle enough and the truck is new enough to the family that I thought it might be my imagination. There was no smell coming from the rear and when I drove it again, there were no issues, so I chalked it up to me being unfamiliar with the vehicle. Sounds silly I know, but it is what it is.

 

[Stevesnj]

Stevesnj ... you went with rear rotors from Brakeperformance.com correct? How do you like them?

Awesome, iI am going to post up pics of them when i do the fronts. But i like the rotor quality. I rebuilt the calipers myself. very easy. Don't buy the caliper kit from them, it's just the boot and seal for $20, no pin boots. I got Toyota OEM rebuild kit for $25 with all boots and seals and assembly lube.

BTW, I had a frozen passenger side caliper too. That will mimick a stuck parking brake.

 

[skinnyhb]

Awesome, iI am going to post up pics of them when i do the fronts. But i like the rotor quality. I rebuilt the calipers myself. very easy. Don't buy the caliper kit from them, it's just the boot and seal for $20, no pin boots. I got Toyota OEM rebuild kit for $25 with all boots and seals and assembly lube.

BTW, I had a frozen passenger side caliper too. That will mimick a stuck parking brake.

Which rotors did you go with? Pads?

 

[Stevesnj]

Which rotors did you go with? Pads?

I got the Zinc Plated Slotted and the premium semi-metalics. I also got the pad hardware kit from Toyota.

Skinny I have a brand new set of parking brake shoes for sale if you will need them. $35 shipped in the lower 48.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/sale-parts/555209-parking-brake-shoes-80-series-lx450-470-a.html

 

[Ebag333]

My money is on sticking caliper.

Keep in mind that what you do to the one side, you need to do to the other. So if you replace parts, replace the other side as well. Otherwise you can get pulling or other issues when braking.

I don't like drilled or slotted rotors. If you see any mud or dust at all, the holes and slots can collect it which then causes the pad and rotor to wear faster. If it's a street queen, you can get away with it, but if it sees any off road use at all I'd avoid it. Plus, these aren't sports cars. You shouldn't be experiencing brake fade anyway, so what advantage does drilled and slotted rotors give you (besides maybe saving you gas money because your wallet weighs less)?

I used Brembo rotors on the truck. They were a bit cheaper than OEM, and pretty close to the same quality. I don't use anything other than OEM for pads and calipers as I haven't been real impressed with the quality of aftermarket calipers, and OEM pads are cheap (and good). Premium pads won't stop you any faster than OEM, so again, what benefit?

If your calipers are good, but just sticking, you can purchase a rebuild kit (very cheap). IIRC you can also purchase individual pistons if you have just one or two that need to be replaced. IMHO the price of the rebuilt calipers from Cdan is pretty good, and that's the route I've always gone in the past (lot quicker to swap in, don't have to mess with rebuilding them).

 

[Stevesnj]

My money is on sticking caliper.

Keep in mind that what you do to the one side, you need to do to the other. So if you replace parts, replace the other side as well. Otherwise you can get pulling or other issues when braking.

I don't like drilled or slotted rotors. If you see any mud or dust at all, the holes and slots can collect it which then causes the pad and rotor to wear faster. If it's a street queen, you can get away with it, but if it sees any off road use at all I'd avoid it. Plus, these aren't sports cars. You shouldn't be experiencing brake fade anyway, so what advantage does drilled and slotted rotors give you (besides maybe saving you gas money because your wallet weighs less)?

I used Brembo rotors on the truck. They were a bit cheaper than OEM, and pretty close to the same quality. I don't use anything other than OEM for pads and calipers as I haven't been real impressed with the quality of aftermarket calipers, and OEM pads are cheap (and good). Premium pads won't stop you any faster than OEM, so again, what benefit?

If your calipers are good, but just sticking, you can purchase a rebuild kit (very cheap). IIRC you can also purchase individual pistons if you have just one or two that need to be replaced. IMHO the price of the rebuilt calipers from Cdan is pretty good, and that's the route I've always gone in the past (lot quicker to swap in, don't have to mess with rebuilding them).

Sloted rotors and premium pads were recommended on this forum thats why i chose them.

 

[Ebag333]

Sloted rotors and premium pads were recommended on this forum thats why i chose them.

By some, yeah, but IMHO they're still solving a problem that doesn't exist.

Completely stock, an 80 (with the later disk brakes) will stop every bit as fast as any other vehicle in it's class and many in small classes (such as sedans). Improving the braking system doesn't make you stop any faster.

More than a few people have shown that they can lock up the tires even rolling 37's. If you can lock the tires (assuming ABS is disabled), then your braking system is performing as good as it gets.

Typically drilled/slotted rotors and premium pads are installed to solve a need. Brake fade is the most common reason. Some vehicles have cheap/crappy braking systems, stop poorly unless it's improved. Neither of those are the case with an 80, it has a quite over sized braking system that's really top of the line, so adding premium parts is just a waste of money.

IMHO, YMMV, etc.

 

[Stevesnj]

By some, yeah, but IMHO they're still solving a problem that doesn't exist.

Completely stock, an 80 (with the later disk brakes) will stop every bit as fast as any other vehicle in it's class and many in small classes (such as sedans). Improving the braking system doesn't make you stop any faster.

More than a few people have shown that they can lock up the tires even rolling 37's. If you can lock the tires (assuming ABS is disabled), then your braking system is performing as good as it gets.

Typically drilled/slotted rotors and premium pads are installed to solve a need. Brake fade is the most common reason. Some vehicles have cheap/crappy braking systems, stop poorly unless it's improved. Neither of those are the case with an 80, it has a quite over sized braking system that's really top of the line, so adding premium parts is just a waste of money.

IMHO, YMMV, etc.

I understand your point, I feel better with sloted rotors and premium pads. I live in jersey/philly area where every bit of extra braking performance is needed. $132 for a set of slotted and plated rotors. Good price so not a waste of money. IMHO

 

[skinnyhb]

I understand your point, I feel better with sloted rotors and premium pads. I live in jersey/philly area where every bit of extra braking performance is needed. $132 for a set of slotted and plated rotors. Good price so not a waste of money. IMHO

Awesome, thanks guys.

 

[Michael Hanson]

If the rear seals are leaking, they will lock up the rear brakes, has happened to me. This esp. happens when the cruiser sits. MIke

 

[greenseaman]

I've got a bad rear caliper too. So if I replace one I need to replace both? sorry to hijack the thread!

 

[Stevesnj]

I've got a bad rear caliper too. So if I replace one I need to replace both? sorry to hijack the thread!

I would suggest you replace both, also flush out the brake system, dirty brake fluid is one of the causes of a caliper going bad.

 

[Ebag333]

I've got a bad rear caliper too. So if I replace one I need to replace both? sorry to hijack the thread!

Do you need to? Do you need to wear a seat belt or not text and drive at the same time?

It's a good idea. If one caliper is new (reman. new new, or even rebuilt) and the other old (say 150k plus miles), they will not apply braking pressure evenly. At best you will have uneven pad wear, which means one side will wear more quickly than the other. At worst you will have pulling when braking or issues with caliper dragging, such as ruining your rotors or wearing the pad down to the point where it slips out of the caliper...ruining the caliper (or at least the pistons).

You want your braking to be as even as possible. It's a bad thing when one tire wants to lock up and the other hardly brakes at all, especially in the rear when you have ABS. The rear ABS is activated off either tire, unlike the front which is individual. This means if one tire wants to lock up, ABS activates for both tires. This can effectively mean you have almost no rear braking force, which makes a surprisingly large difference on the distance it takes to stop.

I experienced something similar once due to not adjusting my LSPV after the lift. It's pretty scary when you just know you're going to rear end the guy in front of you because the ABS is engaging and keeping the rear from doing any work on braking. I got lucky, but left a nice shark fin in the seat and drove straight home and adjusted the LSPV.

The really dangerous part about it is you won't even notice it under normal braking situations. You'll only experience it when panic braking. That's the most dangerous of all, because you have no idea how the vehicle will react until it's too late.


TL;DR doing both sides actually saves you money in the long run, gives you better braking performance, and could keep you out of an accident. Out of any system on the vehicle, is the brakes the one to skimp on?

 

[greenseaman]

Thanks! I really appreciate the insight! What you said makes a lot of sense!

 

[skinnyhb]

Finally got it to replicate tonight. Was fine driving around the block. Turned it off. E-brake on. Left it for 15 minutes. Turned it on, e-brake off. Drove fine halfway back. Then I hit a red light and slowed from 45. It started happening again after that. Truck felt like the brakes remained partially on. It would move, but slow. I stopped, put it in park tried to re-release the parking brake. No noticeable difference. It would idle slowly forward, but like the brakes were still partially on. I could pull the parking brake on and off while idling forward and I could feel the difference between on and off, so I think parking brake is ruled out. I stopped, put it in park and then drive again. The pedal was completely stiff, the system had full pressure in it. I turned it off and let it sit for a few minutes and it got better the longer it sat, the pressure seemed to relieve from the system. Eventually, it relieved enough that it drove normal the rest of the way back.

Bad caliper?

 

[Stevesnj]

Probably a sticking, frozen caliper piston. Could be more than on the back too, could be front sticking/frozen. When you get it done if you get someone to do it or do it yourself make sure you get the brake fluid flushed.