Pothole broke my handbrake

[ConnorJames05]

Hey all,

Been scouring the forum for an answer, can’t really find one for me.

Was testing my car out today around the block, probs going max 40kmh, and I hit a shallow pothole and heard a pretty loud clang. Then the sound of something metal dragging. Thought I’d lost my exhaust or something but nothing under the car was dangling. Felt the handbrake was way looser than before and checked the cables on the rears. One had fallen out of its place. I put it back in, there’s lots of play but I can still hear the a very scary metal scraping and clanging when I’m moving.

Any advice is helpful!!
Cheers lads

 

[Aus78Formula]

Mechanic.

 

[ConnorJames05]

Mechanic.

Thanks man. Real helpful.

barring the sarcasm, I would, just don’t have the money. Nor can I drive it like this to the mechanic

 

[Dylan kingswood]

The way that this question has been asked id also suggest a mechanic

 

[J_D 2.0]

I would, just don’t have the money. Nor can I drive it like this to the mechanic

Then spend 60 bucks and start learning. You either pay someone to help you (a mechanic) or you help yourself to either fix the problem or know the right questions to ask on here. We all start off knowing nothing and we all have the capacity to learn.

By the sounds of it you aren’t going to find out what’s wrong without stripping down the rear brakes and you will need a shop manual on hand to put it back together again. Whatever is wrong will smack you in the face when you strip it down and if it doesn’t then you will definitely need a mechanic.

https://haynes.com/en-au/toyota/lexcen/1989-1997

 

[Reg Sharpie]

Thanks man. Real helpful.

what you describe that is all the help you are going to get. I gather you have no tools otherwise you would have jacked the car up and taken the wheel off and had a look. Which is the first thing you should have done .

 

[Ginger Beer]

Adjust you hand brake properly

I don't have my manual handy, but if I recall correctly....

1. Jack up rear, chock front wheels and put some stands under it, ensure all cables are correctly fitted to their brackets (you may have dropped a cable of a bracket as your handbrake cable is to loose (at each disc as well as at the equaliser bracket)
2. Release the hand brake and put the car in neutral
3. Loosen the handbrake adjuster locknut and adjuster nut inside the car all the way
4. Remove the rear wheels and rubber grommets on the rear disc (it is on the disc where the wheel meets the disc) and wind the park brake pad adjustment through the hole with a large flat screw driver until the park break pads just start to drag lightly on both sides, (you need to spin the wheel and look inside for the star shaped adjuster, I cannot recall if it's up or down)
5. Back them both off the same amount until they "just" stop dragging
6. Then adjust/tighten the handbrake adjuster inside the car until it locks up at 4-5 clicks, then tighten the lock nut
7. Replace the grommets and rear wheels and lower the car
8. Test that the car holds with the handbrake when in neutral on a big hill
9. Beer

 

[Dylan kingswood]

Adjust you hand brake properly

I don't have my manual handy, but if I recall correctly....

1. Jack up rear, chock front wheels and put some stands under it, ensure all cables are correctly fitted to their brackets (you may have dropped a cable of a bracket as your handbrake cable is to loose (at each disc as well as at the equaliser bracket)
2. Release the hand brake and put the car in neutral
3. Loosen the handbrake adjuster locknut and adjuster nut inside the car all the way
4. Remove the rear wheels and rubber grommets on the rear disc (it is on the disc where the wheel meets the disc) and wind the park brake pad adjustment through the hole with a large flat screw driver until the park break pads just start to drag lightly on both sides, (you need to spin the wheel and look inside for the star shaped adjuster, I cannot recall if it's up or down)
5. Back them both off the same amount until they "just" stop dragging
6. Then adjust/tighten the handbrake adjuster inside the car until it locks up at 4-5 clicks, then tighten the lock nut
7. Replace the grommets and rear wheels and lower the car
8. Test that the car holds with the handbrake when in neutral on a big hill
9. Beer

No good adjusting it if somethings bent,

 

[rambunctious]

All of the above are sensible answers plus I will add the clips/pins holding the brake shoes (inside the rear disk) may have come out and the scraping may be one of those clips laying in the drum and scraping/damaging the drum and/or the shoe/shoes is/are scraping on the drum outer..


So as above, either mechanic or jack up and get to work but be warned, the shoes inside the drum have a few bits holding everything together, so when/if they fall out, you will probably need to remove the other side to see how they go together, then if a pin is missing you need to be able to source one so that causes more problems.

It is not something I would recommend to a novice, hence mechanic is best start, and I fully understand your no money statement, been there done that but it was in the 60's when friends would come round and help.

 

[Ginger Beer]

No good adjusting it if somethings bent,

I agree, but see point 1 of my post, if a cable has come of the equaliser there's a good chance it will be floating around

Apart from that, spinning the wheel would give you an idea if there is a issue inside the brake drum, I've never seen a disc brake drum assembly collapse though, not saying it hasn't, but I would start at attempting the easy inspection and fix

If the hand brake cable and brackets are fine, and the drum assembly adjusts correctly then it's a simple fix, without worrying about removing the caliper and disc

If the drum does not adjust, then it's time to dig deeper by removing more parts and inspecting the drum assembly

Either way, the hand brake needs to be adjusted correctly

Hopefully the OP gets back with what was causing the issue