Drum brake help

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SirFoxx
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My tercel:: 1981 Toyota Tercel w/ 7age

Drum brake help

Post by SirFoxx »

Hello--

I need some advice with the drums on my 7age wagon.

Ever since like day 15 of owning my wagon, the brake pedal has complete ass -- no pressure, car nose dives when you hit the pedal. I've dealt with it, and tried remedying the issue by changing boosters, masters, and wheel cylinders to no avail. The issue continued when switching to a known working 1st gen tercel booster and a ford probe master (used for clearance with the 7age swap), so I know the issue isnt at the brake pedal. When I did some investigating some time back, I found that one, or both, cant remember, of the drums arent doing anything. After a vigorous readjustment session, I got the pedal feeling alright, with the drums having slight drag when rotated. A quick drive around the block aaaand its back to feeling like ass.

I've ordered all new brake hardware (minus the adjusters cause they are discontinued everywhere for the 4wd's) to see if I can fix this. My drums are fairly worn, so it wont be a complete parts cannon.

Before I tear into this, I have two questions:

1. Can someone post a clear picture with the drums off for reference?

2. I know the adjusters are CW and CCW. Which side is CW and CCW? Ive had the adjusters out and want to make sure they went back in on their correct side.
1988 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon w/ weber (RIP)
1985 4wd Tercel SR5 (RIP)
1986 Base 2dr Hatch (RIP / PARTS)
1986 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon with ???
1985 DLX 2dr Tercel Hatch w/manual swap
1981 2dr Toyota Tercel w/7age (RIP)
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel w/Turbo 4AGE
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel SR-5
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SirFoxx
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Posts: 335
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:42 pm
My tercel:: 1981 Toyota Tercel w/ 7age

Re: Drum brake help

Post by SirFoxx »

bump
1988 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon w/ weber (RIP)
1985 4wd Tercel SR5 (RIP)
1986 Base 2dr Hatch (RIP / PARTS)
1986 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon with ???
1985 DLX 2dr Tercel Hatch w/manual swap
1981 2dr Toyota Tercel w/7age (RIP)
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel w/Turbo 4AGE
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel SR-5
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NWMO
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Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 1:08 pm

Re: Drum brake help

Post by NWMO »

Hey Keegan,

I can pull a wheel this weekend if you don’t have a pic yet. If you would like a hand some Saturday or Sunday afternoon, let me know.

The “keeper” stops them from spinning upwards correct? If so AND the threaded portion of the spacer goes to the rear, then it would be driver’s side “reverse” thread and passenger’s side would be “normal” thread.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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SirFoxx
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Posts: 335
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:42 pm
My tercel:: 1981 Toyota Tercel w/ 7age

Re: Drum brake help

Post by SirFoxx »

NWMO wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 6:43 am Hey Keegan,

I can pull a wheel this weekend if you don’t have a pic yet. If you would like a hand some Saturday or Sunday afternoon, let me know.

The “keeper” stops them from spinning upwards correct? If so AND the threaded portion of the spacer goes to the rear, then it would be driver’s side “reverse” thread and passenger’s side would be “normal” thread.

Chris
a picture would be nice, as well as 100% confirming which way the adjusters go. mrwrench gave conflicting info, but isnt sure as he only did one side at a time.
1988 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon w/ weber (RIP)
1985 4wd Tercel SR5 (RIP)
1986 Base 2dr Hatch (RIP / PARTS)
1986 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon with ???
1985 DLX 2dr Tercel Hatch w/manual swap
1981 2dr Toyota Tercel w/7age (RIP)
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel w/Turbo 4AGE
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel SR-5
User avatar
NWMO
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Posts: 1615
Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 1:08 pm

Re: Drum brake help

Post by NWMO »

Will do.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Nordical25
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My tercel:: 2 4wd 1987's. One with 4a, other with 3a
Location: Finland

Re: Drum brake help

Post by Nordical25 »

Hi,

I visited my garage today and took these pictures of my loose spare parts. This is my spare left side since cable is on bottom and cable goes towards front of car:
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Nordical25
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Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:49 pm
My tercel:: 2 4wd 1987's. One with 4a, other with 3a
Location: Finland

Re: Drum brake help

Post by Nordical25 »

And this is my spare right side. However these are only loose spare parts so maybe it is better that NVMO pulls out drums if he has well working system during weekend.
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xirdneh
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My tercel:: 87 tercel 4x4 wagon w/reringed engine, 83 tercel 4x4 wagon w/salvaged engine and 4.1 Diff's
Location: seabeck, washington, USA

Re: Drum brake help

Post by xirdneh »

I am wondering if master cylinder was not bench bled. Or not bench bled properly. Or bench bled improperly and is now damaged
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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SirFoxx
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Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:42 pm
My tercel:: 1981 Toyota Tercel w/ 7age

Re: Drum brake help

Post by SirFoxx »

xirdneh wrote: Sun Dec 11, 2022 3:07 pm I am wondering if master cylinder was not bench bled. Or not bench bled properly. Or bench bled improperly and is now damaged
not the case. i rebuilt the drums with fresh hardware, and got everything set. i kept having a weird false set with the adjusters where i would get them set where the drums were snug, i would pull the drum off, put it back on and it was loose again. got it to a point where it wasnt doing that and now everything is fixed!
1988 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon w/ weber (RIP)
1985 4wd Tercel SR5 (RIP)
1986 Base 2dr Hatch (RIP / PARTS)
1986 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon with ???
1985 DLX 2dr Tercel Hatch w/manual swap
1981 2dr Toyota Tercel w/7age (RIP)
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel w/Turbo 4AGE
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel SR-5
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