Service The Parking Brake..

[lemon]

Just a reminder that you should service your parking brake when you have your rear brakes serviced.

Pulled my rear rotors off today because the parking brake was not holding. Wow. I guess the winters (salt, slush, water etc.) really take a toll on these things.

The regular brakes - I had two seized caliper sliding pins on the driver's side. Freed and lubed these up. The parking brakes - Driver's side was seized, and the passenger side, while working was really really rusty. The passenger side also made a really loud squeeking sound when applied.

Checked the shop manual - turns out there are several spots where the shoes rub against the backing plate and those spots are supposed to be lubed with high temp grease. Vehicle is a 2006 and I'm guessing the parking brake had never been serviced.

Anyhow, freed up the driver's side, lubed both sides, loud squeeking gone and both wheels lock now when the parking brake is applied. There was a hell of a groove in the driver's rotor on the inside of the hat where some dummy (I bought my 400h used, so I know it wasn't me) drove with the parking brake applied. Don't know how, since there is a loud and visible warning in the dash if you drive with the brake applied. Either that or it was seized prior in the 'parked' position, and had at some point released and then seized again in the off position.

Guessing new rear rotors, pads and parking brake shoes are in my near future.

Just as an aside, I really hate these parking brakes that use the drum in the hat of the disc. Much prefer the other style where the parking brake is actually a mechanism that applies force to the caliper and hence the pads, thus preventing the rotor from turning. I know there are drawbacks to this system as well, but I think it's easier to work on with less parts involved.

[RX400h]

I guess I really don't know what you are talking about, being in a climate where it nevers snows, after all.........

Seriously, I lived and drove in that type of environment for many years and it does accelerate the rate of having to replace parts, especially brake components. I think at least lubing the slides would be prudent when your vehicle's brake pads last so long. I haven't looked at my pads in a while, so the next time I rotate the tires, I'll take a good look.

Thanks for the warning.

[lemon]

I guess I really don't know what you are talking about, being in a climate where it nevers snows, after all.........

Seriously, I lived and drove in that type of environment for many years and it does accelerate the rate of having to replace parts, especially brake components. I think at least lubing the slides would be prudent when your vehicle's brake pads last so long. I haven't looked at my pads in a while, so the next time I rotate the tires, I'll take a good look.

Thanks for the warning.

Dunno why, but in my experience (with all my vehicles), the rears are always in worse shape than the fronts. Must be the spray off the wheels. I always take apart my rears after winter and lube the pins, and contact points of the pads. This is the first time I've had a vehicle with the drum in disc parking brake, so it was a new and messy experience with lots of hybrid (two profanities combined) cuss words.

I would have taken some pics, but my hands were absolutely caked in grime.

[RX400h]

I'm getting to the point where I base my DUI vs shop upon the length of time it would take. As I get older, my time becomes more valuable. For the price that my local shop charges, I may not be doing any more brake jobs.

[lemon]

My problem is, what I estimate to be a 1 hour job, usually ends up taking 3 or 4 (the first time anyway, I get faster the more I do it). Nice thing about a shop, is they've done it many times, so it's usually a piece of cake for them.