Can't get drums brakes off!!! 56k warning pics

[lexsmaz]

I agree it is tight, the metal bar i refer to is inside the drum if you look at your circled highlighted area of your picture you can see a grey / silver looking piece of metal just inside the oval cutout in the backing plate, thats the self adjuster / metal bar I'am talking about, nearly takes up half of the oval cut out area ... Some self adjusters are further in, ie on the other side of the star wheel, but your system looks to be just inside the drum backing plate ..

[Serial]

ahhh. i have this problem on my KE30 right now.
though i've sort of left it alone as theres still a lot of other work to do.

i've tried putting a screwdriver through the slot on the inside of that plate thing, but i cant find anything to turn in there by feel. ill have to try it again tommorow night with a torch and back the handbrake lines off as far as possible :\

ahh. ill have to try this self adjuster thing. could that be a spring in my car? (it said something about a spring for self adjusters in my manual)

[lexsmaz]

Serial, there is a spring attached to the self adjusters but its not what you have to move out of the way ... the lever arm of the self adjuster ratchets against the star wheel to adjust up the brakes as the brakes start to wear.. But to back off the brakes, the adjuster lever arm needs to be moved out of the way slightly to allow the adjuster wheel to turn back against its normal direction of travel, ( the lever arm acts like a ratchet arrangement only allowing it to adjust up the brakes, not adjust down. thats why it has to be moved away slightly ) Probably not a bad idea to go to pick a part or some sort of wreckers to check out how the system works on a car with the drums already off so you can see everything ...

[Serial]

ahh ok. thanks for that.
i do have another ke30 , i can probably have a look inside that ones drums if they come off easily.
if not, and something does go wrong along the way atleast i will have some spares.

ill give it a shot tommorow arvo! i can sort of picture how it works now

thanks

[RobertoX]

Yep as others have said, loosen off the star wheel adjuster thing...
When you can get to it try and move it with a flat blade screwdriver, find which way it moves and you will want to turn it the other way. In order to do this you need to release the locking mechanism on the star rachet, I find it is easy to do this by using something long and thin (like the smallest allen key in a hex key set ). Push this against the sprung piece of metal behind the ratchet adjuster and start turning the star in the direction that loosens it off...

once you have the brakes apart you will see how it works, and also the groove that prevents your drum from coming off....

haha... I can't believe how many replies there are that say "get a bigger hammer/lever" etc. Bloody hacks

[deeps]

Just tried it.. I pushed this metal rod thing up, and it appears to be spring loaded or something? I don't want to get under the car because i'm using crap jacks, so i tried adjusting it whilst it was on 4 wheels. I can move this bar upwards but it's going to be an absolute bitch getting two screwdrivers in there etc.

How much would it cost to get the two drums changed at a normal place? Might be the easier option... Would releasing the handbrake cable alone help? Or would i still need to do the star adjustment?

Cheers

[MRMOPARMAN]

yes its held down by a spring, so it doesnt unwind with vibrations from driving.. it will click when adjusting it

heres some pics of a hilux one.. yours will be very similar, just the adjuster on the top instead of the bottom on yours

[deeps]

i actually think at the bottom is easier, there's more space there than at the top

i'll give it another go 2morrow, and if i can't get it, i'll try get it done by someone proper

Will releasing the brake cable help at all? (as in, if i release the handbrake cable, is there a chance it'll come off? or will i have to turn this screw regardless)

And also how much would it cost at a mechanics to get the drums off and new ones on etc.

Thanks heaps btw for the pics, def gives me a much better idea of what i'm up against

[Serial]

Ahhhhh! It took all afternoon, but I've got the drums off my KE30.

I found that if you can turn the drums easy then the obviously the pads aren't touching.

The first one I wound that ratchet thing until it was really loose and sloppy, then loosened the handbrake cable as far as I could with the adjuster next to the handbrake lever itsself, in the cabin.

Then I tried pulling the drums off and it didn't work. By then I was getting sick of it (this is the third day I've tried :\) so I just found a bolt in the engine bay that had the right thread, took two of them out and stuck them into the little holes in the actual drum things. Wound them in a bit, turned one, turned the other, kept turning each one a little bit until "BANG" and it broke the seal between that stud plate thing and the drum. Woot perfect.

used a big screwdriver to lift up this weird plate (the ratchet itsself i guess!), and a tiny one to turn the wheel (it looks a way diff setup to your hilux though. i guess its still the same concept though, right?)

The second one, I only loosened off that star ratchet thing slightly and then the two bolts did the rest of the work. it was good as. (This is what the first guy to reply suggested).

I reckon you should give that a shot if you can loosen the ratchet off a bit, but they still seem stuck.

good luck

[cambelt]

Is that a red back spider in one of the shots, on the backing plate.
Dave

[deeps]

lol yes, yes it is..my pet spider

Thought i'd let him live lol

[HRV-00S]

Hey mate, don't take it to a mechanic unless it's a mate. I just pulled my wheel and drum off and it took 5 min including jacking it up. Took a couple of pic's for you it's a KE70

Rough idea of where everything is (adjuster up top)


Here is the adjuster wheel with the locking plate just behind it


Stick with it mate, once you get it off you'll realise how easy it is and a workshop will probably charge $70ish p/h just for labour

Try pulling one of your guard bolts out and see if that fits, looks like a 6-8mm hole in the drum should be pretty close. Good luck with it mate

Cheers Dan

[deeps]

I tried again and i simply can't! The handbrake cable is slack, i just took the console off and checked. As i said, i can get most of the drum off it just get's stuck at a certain depth and it won't spin, so it definately sounds like a lip.

I just can't get to the adjusting star, i tried again.. the thing is, i can't really see the star coz i can't get my head level with the hole, so i'm putting in a screwdriver, and feeling around for it, but i can't feel it.

Does it matter if the handbrake is on/off when i'm trying to adjust?

I called up midas and its $60 to do it, and RAC said 93 for it... one hours labour.

That's insanely expensive for an hour! Gonna give it another go, and otherwise i'll see if i can get a mate or somthing.

[deeps]

If there is a major lip on the drums, prepare for it to fuck stuff up as you wind it off. Last 2 times I've wound off mega lip drums, they have snapped at least 1 of the little tops on the pistons on the brake cylinder.

Which is why i'm afraid to use the above method... The shoes, and wheel cylinders etc. are all new

[HRV-00S]

Which is why i'm afraid to use the above method... The shoes, and wheel cylinders etc. are all new

If somethings gonna break It'll go whether you do it or you pay someone else to break it for you. Really only one way it's coming off if it's that bad a lip.