Rear Brake Adjustment Question - How Much?

[bufbooth]

Hello All,

Last year I put new rear drums and brake pads on my 1990 Toyota and flushed all the old fluid out of the entire system. The brake pedal was firm and high, so all looked great.

Over the summer I had the "opportunity" to test the brakes, I had to hit them hard and as a result the front brakes lock up (only the front) and I skidded (in a straight line) for a lot longer than I thought I should of. I guessed that the rear brakes were not adjusted as tight as they could, so I jacked the rear tires off the ground and tightened the rear brakes until I could barely hear some rubbing. A couple days later on a wet road I realized at the last second that I needed to make a right hand turn and applied the brakes hard and the front tires locked up for a couple seconds on the wet payment.

So, regarding adjusting the rear brakes, should I be tightening them a little more, that is until I hear/feel more rubbing/dragging? I just do not want to over tighten them.

Also, I do have the rear proportioning valve adjusted to the max.

Thank you, Dennis...

[zero]

Hello All,

Last year I put new rear drums and brake pads on my 1990 Toyota and flushed all the old fluid out of the entire system.

The brake pedal was firm and high, so all looked great.

Over the summer I had the "opportunity" to test the brakes, I had to hit them hard and as a result the front brakes lock up

(only the front) and I skidded (in a straight line) for a lot longer than I thought I should of. I guessed that the rear brakes

were not adjusted as tight as they could, so I jacked the rear tires off the ground and tightened the rear brakes until

I could barely hear some rubbing. A couple days later on a wet road I realized at the last second that I needed to

make a right hand turn and applied the brakes hard and the front tires locked up for a couple seconds on the wet payment.

So, regarding adjusting the rear brakes, should I be tightening them a little more, that is until I hear/feel more rubbing/dragging?

I just do not want to over tighten them.

Also, I do have the rear proportioning valve adjusted to the max.

Thank you, Dennis...

All tightening the brakes with the adjusters does is make the shoes contact the drums a little faster. Won't effect actual brake effect. If it was mine - I'd remove the proportioning valve and see if the brakes work more evenly. If not - for $30 you can buy an aftermarket proportioning valve that is controlled with a thumbwheel adjustment. You install it under the hood next to the master cylinder and keep fooling with it until the brakes work exactly the way you want them. Did you install new front pads recently? I ask because some pad materials are very aggressive and grab more then stock organic or semi-metallic pads do.

[DanAatTheCape]

proportioning valves can be adjusted. there are many copies of the toyota guidelines for doing exactly that.

[bufbooth]

I did not replace the front pads, they were on it when I purchased it (8 years and 20,000 miles ago), they still look like +50% pad life, so I don't know what kind of pads they are. Regarding the rear proportioning valve, yes, it is adjustable. Also, from what I read it sounds like not 100% open, some folks have commented that they had some success by removing it from the adjuster and strapping it to the bottom of the coach floor, to get the valve to open up more, I think I will try that first (since its the quickest), and if that does not help, I will remove it.

Thanks all...

[BobBeery]

I'm one who wired that valve rod to the floor of the house. It worked well for me.

Please post again after you try this so we know how it went.

[sailfritz]

So how did the brakes work after strapping the adj. down?

I was going down a steep hill in Calif. and slowly lost all braking power as I slowed and pulled off pushing the pedal as hard to the floor as possible! I allowed them to cool off an hour and all was ok but after that I geared down and crawled down mountain passes to the anger of those behind me. My 85 dolphin had only 43,000 miles on her when I bought her for a summer trip 2014. Never pulled the wheels or rear drums to see if she needed brakes as it had so few miles. Should I get a full brake job done before 2015's trip?

[Derek up North]

http://ebcbrakes.com/articles/what-is-brake-fade/

[zero]

So how did the brakes work after strapping the adj. down?

I was going down a steep hill in Calif. and slowly lost all braking power as I slowed and pulled off pushing the pedal as hard to the floor as possible! I allowed them to cool off an hour and all was ok but after that I geared down and crawled down mountain passes to the anger of those behind me. My 85 dolphin had only 43,000 miles on her when I bought her for a summer trip 2014. Never pulled the wheels or rear drums to see if she needed brakes as it had so few miles. Should I get a full brake job done before 2015's trip?

I suspect you've got organic brake shoes in back and thus the fade when they get hot. If that's an issue - get some full metallic brake shoes. They will wear drums faster but won't fade or glaze when hot like organic shoes do. I'm surprised though. If you have the FF rear axle it's got pretty big brakes in it, as compared to the SF 5 lug rear axle.

[sailfritz]

My MH is in San Jose, Calif. so where do any of you living in that area would recommend a full brake job front and rear? Not any brake shop can deal with that rear dismantling right? Could any shop screw it up? Go metallic all the way around? Change those brake hoses too I've heard about going bad? Replace rotors and drums as this is a 85' Dolphin with a national rear end. Thanks,...........

[Skydancer2992]

Sailfritz, you can lose braking on a downhill even if your brakes are in brand new condition. If the brakes are used so much that they overheat, the brake fluid begins to bubble and that causes the loss of incompressibility (and resulting loss of braking).

Your drums and rotors do not need to be replaced unless they are out of spec or warped. The way they get out of spec is usually by resurfacing them too many times at brake shops.

Resurfacing has usually caused more problems for me than not resurfacing due to the skills of the technician or the calibration of the machine.

I change my brake pads when the material becomes too thin. I almost never have to change brake shoes.

Use a flash light to check brake pads, usually when rotating tires or other maintenance (shocks, etc.). Shoes are a bit harder but follow the factory shop manual.