Handbrake question and spacer question Options

[Random_Stranger]

Ok, I changed out my rotors and on one side in the rear, (i have discs all around) I have noticed when I put my hand brake up, I heard something that sounded like a spring popping something off. Since then, I literally have to pull my handbrake all the way up just to keep my car in place. So my question is, for anyone who has changed out rotors before... Where the heck do I assemble those two springs? I am going to describe it as best as I can.

On the last rear rotor I did, I noticed a spot for the little retainer part to sit upon, and then you have the pin that goes from behind that hub that faces you, and it appears the spring goes on the outside (the part facing you) over the pin, and there is a button that you position to hold the spring in place that is secured by turned to lock onto the pin. The first one that I did (which I am guessing is my problem), I sort of just placed those behind the hub, yet assembled. So I was just wondering if all were to be assembled outside the hub or behind it near where the pins come out? Since this is my only car and daily driver at the moment, I have not time to let it sit and examine all this, which is why I am asking. It is really bothering me because when I drive, sometimes it seems I hear something rubbing making a scraping sound on that side.

Another thing I have noticed, was that since my offset is +48 on my wheels and having gone from 215/40/17 to 225/45/17s, would spacers be a good option (meaning trustworthy, because honestly the thought of using spacers kind of scares me or any type of "Adapters" for that matter on anything) for me at this point, avoiding getting new rims with a better offset for the moment? I noticed when I make a real sharp turn, I can hear them rub. I look under and can see some tire markings on my rear struts, although there is good clearance for just driving straight (Maybe it has to do with the springs and needing tighter suspension like coilovers maybe?).

Anyways, if you read this far, I thank you and if you have experience on this to shed some light, I am really eager to hear how I can correct my issue.

[GriffGirl]

The rubbing/scraping sound you hear is one of your e-brake shoe retainer rings rubbing against your rotor. Been there, done that. Trust me, get it taken care of. It won't go away, and could SERIOUSLY damage your rotor.

You will probably need to order a new retainer spring - there are a lot of little parts to those springs though, so it TOTALLY depends on which one popped out. My guess is that it's one of the little ones that's on the outside of the shoe assembly, facing outward. There's a little "cup" thing, about the size of a dime, that holds the spring in place. The cup slides in and out of a groove on the shoe assembly thing. You're gonna have to get in there though to see for sure what popped out, but in the meantime, avoid parking on hills, because in all likelihood you're only operating on one e-brake side, and it's not enough to hold the car on a hill, even if the car is parked in gear.

[Random_Stranger]

The rubbing/scraping sound you hear is one of your e-brake shoe retainer rings rubbing against your rotor. Been there, done that. Trust me, get it taken care of. It won't go away, and could SERIOUSLY damage your rotor.

You will probably need to order a new retainer spring - there are a lot of little parts to those springs though, so it TOTALLY depends on which one popped out. My guess is that it's one of the little ones that's on the outside of the shoe assembly, facing outward. There's a little "cup" thing, about the size of a dime, that holds the spring in place. The cup slides in and out of a groove on the shoe assembly thing. You're gonna have to get in there though to see for sure what popped out, but in the meantime, avoid parking on hills, because in all likelihood you're only operating on one e-brake side, and it's not enough to hold the car on a hill, even if the car is parked in gear.

Thanks Michelle, that is what I figured is what happened. What surprised me is as soon as I did that side (incorrectly of course before I got to the other side) my handbrake worked better than before. Then when I did the other side, it gave a little more way (even though according to what I suspected along with your reply since they are on par). It wasn't until the side I did incorrectly came undone, that it now is needed to pull even further. So I guess I will go in there and fix it tonight then. Thanks

[samir0189]

alot of the other pins and springs and junk in there get bent (and unbent) over time, i'd say its worth changing a few other things while you are in there.

Like... 47447F/E. When i went to change mine, that pin that is supposed to be bent was basically straight, and it was very loose cause of that.


This post has been edited by samir0189: Nov 3, 2009 - 4:32 PM

[Random_Stranger]

alot of the other pins and springs and junk in there get bent (and unbent) over time, i'd say its worth changing a few other things while you are in there.

Like... 47447F/E. When i went to change mine, that pin that is supposed to be bent was basically straight, and it was very loose cause of that.

So you are saying from that example, that there are two pins per side (total 4 pins) per rear rotor? Because I have only seen two.

[samir0189]

yup that pic is from toyoDIY. there is one straight pin and one curved/bent pin per rotor, 2 for each rotor. The various springs and such in mine were all bent out of shape as well, depends on the condition of yours what you wanna do there, i pretty much redid my entire handbrake assembly.\

and if you dont already have it, look into a drum brake tool kit, it has all the weird shaped pliers, and tools to help you put those things on back there, like a little ................ handle(?) to help put back on those retaining springs and cup that holds those pins.

This post has been edited by samir0189: Nov 3, 2009 - 5:14 PM

[GriffGirl]

The parts I was referring to above in my post are 47449a (x2) and 47447D. In my case, my "outter" 47449a was damaged, causing the whole spring to come apart, which in turn made that side of the e-brake shoe not be held in or clamped down properly (hence the extra give in the e-brake handle). IIRC the replacement for all 3 pieces was like twelve bucks or something at Toyota. No biggie.

Now here's another thing to consider— IF you get in there, and find that all is well (although if you hear something in there, I'm almost POSITIVE you'll find some part of your e-brake shoe spring assembly floating around in the ebrake drum), then you need to check that the e-brake cable itself hasn't come dislodged from its retainer bracket. You'll find the bracket in question up under the car, above the exhaust heat shield. You'll need to remove the heat shield in order to get to it and see it. There's a crappy little bracket, U shaped IIRC, that hold the cable in place. The bracket can be bent fairly easily— in your case, since you say the ebrake worked better at first, it's possible that extra slack was taken up somehow initially, and when you pulled the ebrake up, one of the cables came dislodged from that bracket since there was too much slack. There are two brackets, one for each cable that comes off the wheels. (they join together in another little bracket thingie further up, but you really shouldn't need to worry about that one)

[Tigawoods]

holy reading batman!

[Random_Stranger]

That sounds good, thanks. That is what I had figured. I see what you mean there Samir. I guess the last one I did, I did right, the first one I need to go back and do. The wheels should never be hung up a bit either, right? According to the Haynes manual, you should turn the spring down until it doesn't go any more, and then a few clicks up (roughly 8) and then that is done for the shoe part. But when I did that on the one I did correctly, the wheel did get hung up a bit when I would spin the wheel, so I adjusted up a bit and then it was fine. I think on the first one, it did kind of hang up just a tad, but not bad enough for me to grow any concern. I am so new to all this, so forgive me if my questions or what I did sounds a bit... n00bish, and I am really glad you all know what I am talking about, I thought this was going to become a hairy topic.


So the rubbing sound I hear might not be my tires then? Probably just this issue? Because driving in a place where I mostly make right hand turns, that just happens to be the side I hear it on as well. But even when I turn left, I hear it on that side too. Like when I drive into a gas station, when I go from street to cement, I hear a nasty rubbing sound. Anyone deal with spacers here too?

This post has been edited by Random_Stranger: Nov 3, 2009 - 11:52 PM

[samir0189]

That sounds good, thanks. That is what I had figured. I see what you mean there Samir. I guess the last one I did, I did right, the first one I need to go back and do. The wheels should never be hung up a bit either, right? According to the Haynes manual, you should turn the spring down until it doesn't go any more, and then a few clicks up (roughly 8) and then that is done for the shoe part. But when I did that on the one I did correctly, the wheel did get hung up a bit when I would spin the wheel, so I adjusted up a bit and then it was fine. I think on the first one, it did kind of hang up just a tad, but not bad enough for me to grow any concern. I am so new to all this, so forgive me if my questions or what I did sounds a bit... n00bish, and I am really glad you all know what I am talking about, I thought this was going to become a hairy topic.


So the rubbing sound I hear might not be my tires then? Probably just this issue? Because driving in a place where I mostly make right hand turns, that just happens to be the side I hear it on as well. But even when I turn left, I hear it on that side too. Like when I drive into a gas station, when I go from street to cement, I hear a nasty rubbing sound. Anyone deal with spacers here too?

The wheels should never be hung up, no. the way that i adjust it- turn the screw until the wheel is stuck, then undo it notch by notch until the wheel JUST begins to move freely. This IMO is the ideal way to adjust the drum cause the distance for the shoe to travel to the drum is at a minimum, so that as soon as you begin to pull up that handbrake, the shoes are already grabbing. I hope that makes sense. That is the way that i have my adjusted anyway, i need/like the quick response.

As for the rubbing, make sure all of the rotor backing plate things aren't rubbing on the rotor in the front or back.. besides that im not sure...
and ive got no spacers...

[Random_Stranger]

That sounds good, thanks. That is what I had figured. I see what you mean there Samir. I guess the last one I did, I did right, the first one I need to go back and do. The wheels should never be hung up a bit either, right? According to the Haynes manual, you should turn the spring down until it doesn't go any more, and then a few clicks up (roughly 8) and then that is done for the shoe part. But when I did that on the one I did correctly, the wheel did get hung up a bit when I would spin the wheel, so I adjusted up a bit and then it was fine. I think on the first one, it did kind of hang up just a tad, but not bad enough for me to grow any concern. I am so new to all this, so forgive me if my questions or what I did sounds a bit... n00bish, and I am really glad you all know what I am talking about, I thought this was going to become a hairy topic.


So the rubbing sound I hear might not be my tires then? Probably just this issue? Because driving in a place where I mostly make right hand turns, that just happens to be the side I hear it on as well. But even when I turn left, I hear it on that side too. Like when I drive into a gas station, when I go from street to cement, I hear a nasty rubbing sound. Anyone deal with spacers here too?

The wheels should never be hung up, no. the way that i adjust it- turn the screw until the wheel is stuck, then undo it notch by notch until the wheel JUST begins to move freely. This IMO is the ideal way to adjust the drum cause the distance for the shoe to travel to the drum is at a minimum, so that as soon as you begin to pull up that handbrake, the shoes are already grabbing. I hope that makes sense. That is the way that i have my adjusted anyway, i need/like the quick response.

As for the rubbing, make sure all of the rotor backing plate things aren't rubbing on the rotor in the front or back.. besides that im not sure...
and ive got no spacers...

Yeah you are right. Would you happen to know where I can get those lil pins that you mentioned earlier, 47447E and 47447F at? I have the other parts as they fell in the horseshoe, although I do not have those pins. I have called all the shops and no one knows what I am talking about and those numbers are not working on their computer. Please, I need to know ASAP because I have it sitting halfway in my garage and I need to have this back together by tomorrow.

[samir0189]

i got it at the dealer, hang on let me get the real part numbers for you... BUT they had to order it for me, wasn't something they kept in stock..

"E"= 47447-20030

"F"= 47447-22020

and i dont know if anyone else aftermarket makes such a weird little thing...

This post has been edited by samir0189: Nov 4, 2009 - 7:29 PM

[Random_Stranger]

i got it at the dealer, hang on let me get the real part numbers for you... BUT they had to order it for me, wasn't something they kept in stock..

"E"= 47447-20030

"F"= 47447-22020

and i dont know if anyone else aftermarket makes such a weird little thing...

Thank you so much! This is a HUGE help! I greatly appreciate it

[samir0189]

no problem Faust, glad i can help!

[Random_Stranger]

no problem Faust, glad i can help!

Ok, I know I have already thanked you but I wanted to thank you again. With your information, I was able to call and find out that my dealership can get those by the next day if I prepay today. Again, many thanks! You are right, my shoes because of not having those pins, were rubbing up on the rotor creating that noise.

[samir0189]

Woo! +1 for me! lol. You're welcome.