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We all know the rear brakes on the Hilux are not the best but I have a problem that has me nearly beaten and sobbing.

It started when I did my first brake replacement on this vehicle.

I replaced the front brake pads and replaced and cleaned the rear brakes

While I had the rear end up in the air i started the ute put it in first and let out the clutch to get the rear wheels moving.
I applied the brakes expecting the rears to start to brake and nothing. I applied as much pressure as i could on the brake pedal and still nothing. I was expecting to stall the ute but no.

So I re-checked every thing and could not find any thing wrong.

Since that day I have bled and re-bled the whole system in including the Rear Load sensing valve.
I have replaced the master cylinder, rear brake pads with a different brand, replaced the rear drums with new ones. made sure the rear load sensing valve is forced up. I even stripped the rear Load sensing valve and it looks as good as the day it was manufactured.

I had assumed that it was the Load sensing valve as that was the only thing I haven't replaced. Except that the hand brake wont hold even on the slightest incline.

I assumed that I must have re-assembled the rear brakes wrong buy have checked against the service manual. and am confident that I have it right.

In frustration I just adjusted the rear brakes up to the point where they were really really dragging thinking that they may need to bed in and I have done this a couple of times.

Well it is 20,000 Kms later and it is only slightly better but the hand brake will still only just hold on medium inclines
I took the drums off and I can see that the brake shoes are now bedded in but not over the entire surface. I estimate that the are bedded in on 60 to 75% of the surface area. I was expecting them to be fully bedded in.

Now I have an older 93 Hilux with the same setup and have had those brakes on and off dozens of times and never had this issue. On my old girl I can lock the rear brakes up under heavy braking.

This issue is driving me up the wall. At this point I really think it is crap brake shoes but given I have tried two brands ( Repco and Bendix) I don't want to spend more money on another set until I have some confidence that another brand will make it better.

I can only think that I could try the Toyota Branded brake shoes. Or that some how I have the rear assembly in wrong some how but I cant see it..

Any one have any suggestions. I have ran out of ideas?

What model? Abs/vsc/traction control may come into play here... If you jack up the rear the abs/vsc sees wheel spin it may play havoc? If you took the drums off and found 60% bedded in you sure you have the correct linings for the drum size? The drum size does vary from model to model

I had the same problem... fixed it by loosening off the handbrake as loose as it goes. then tightened up the rear brakes to the point where I could barely move them by hand, was a bit rough for the first few braking attempts but then they smoothed out and work great now.

Gipsy wrote:What model? Abs/vsc/traction control may come into play here... If you jack up the rear the abs/vsc sees wheel spin it may play havoc? If you took the drums off and found 60% bedded in you sure you have the correct linings for the drum size? The drum size does vary from model to model

It is a 2008 SR5 with ABS and no traction or stability control.

Thanks for the suggestion on the brake shoe size. I bought both sets from Repco. They may have looked up the wrong size. I will check.

Edit;
I have checked and both the drum and shoes are the correct part numbers.

LocalFart wrote:I had the same problem... fixed it by loosening off the handbrake as loose as it goes. then tightened up the rear brakes to the point where I could barely move them by hand, was a bit rough for the first few braking attempts but then they smoothed out and work great now.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have done that a couple of times now and and it hasn't made any difference.

The issue with not being able to lock up the rears whilst idling in the air is normal. The LSPV will prevent this from happening. You need to play with the adjustment to allow more pressure to the rears, essentially telling it that the ute is carrying a load.
I had repco shoes and drums on my hilux and wasn't completely satisfied. I eventually went all genuine and it has been better. However the genuine stuff is all stamped TRW. so you should be able to find that at another auto store. Replace your wheel cylinders too. Apply a light film of copper grease to the backing plate where the shoes rub against.
Your next issue in regards to it appearing to only bee into part of the shoes, when I was going through all this I spoke to a friend who used to own a brake workshop. He said this happens because of the way the shoes are ground. Most old school shops had a radial grinding machine that would grind the shoes to the perfect shape. Hard to find someone worth the machine nowadays as everywhere stopped using it due to asbestos concerns and the improvement of manufacturing of the shoes in the first place. Genuine shoes will tend to be the closest match however.

Also make sure the friction surfaces (shoes/drum) are not glazed or contaminated by mud. Otherwise no matter how hard you tighten it, it just won't bite effectively.

Try sanding back the pad and drum perpendicularly. The surfaces should not be shiny and reflective.

Mine had mud baked into the shoes from going over muddy water.

The handbrake and brake pedal are separate systems (cable & hydraulic) so if you find your handbrake also sucks it might not have anything to do with the hydraulics/LSPV.

Hi All I have problems with my hilux kun26 d4d the park brake dosnt hold. I adjusted the brakes and ajusted the park brake cable seems to have weight on the handbrake lever but not much at the wheels. What else could it be? On a hill they wont hold. All other brakes are good.

Pull the drums off and clean them out with a scraper and water.
While your at it get a flap disk and grind the lip off the drum as it holds all the dirt in.
Also give the pads and drum a light sand to get any glazing off.

Hi banksy i had one drum off yesterday it was clean.