Anyone know how the XA 0r XB adjusts the rear drum brakes?

Is it the old put her in reverse go about 5-10mph then apply the brakes hard ?
Is it the emergency brake use that keeps the rear brakes adjusted ?
Is it all automatic and no need to bother ?

When I first picked-up the car it seemed to just want to roll past where I thought the car should stop, sometimes leaving the car 10 or so feet into the intersection. Now the car stops much better - could just be getting used to the brakes though. Brakes in general grab very well - haven't seen the ABS kick in yet.

Anyone know how the XA 0r XB adjusts the rear drum brakes?

Is it the old put her in reverse go about 5-10mph then apply the brakes hard ?
Is it the emergency brake use that keeps the rear brakes adjusted ?
Is it all automatic and no need to bother ?

When I first picked-up the car it seemed to just want to roll past where I thought the car should stop, sometimes leaving the car 10 or so feet into the intersection. Now the car stops much better - could just be getting used to the brakes though. Brakes in general grab very well - haven't seen the ABS kick in yet.

I'm not sure if the rear drums are self adjusting but the reason your brakes are grabbing better is that they are broken in.

They are definitely not self adjusting. You need to take a screwdriver and turn the start wheel inside. I never did one on a Scion before but there is a rubber plug on either the front of the drum or on the back of the backing plate which you pop out to access the starwheel. You just turn that star wheel and turn the drum to see how tight it gets. Once it is fairly tight and you can feel drag on it is ok. Adjusting them makes a big difference in brake feel on cars with rear drums.

Thanks for the replies. Seems that turning "the star" adjustment usually is when you install new shoes and its a raw adjust, usually the star self-adjusts as the pads wear down with use, if not we would have to adjust them constantly every 500 or so miles. With my Fiero (disc-disc) the emergency brake keeps the rears tight. Hopefully the brakes on the XA will last for a decent amount of time......wish it had bigger drums in the rear though .

i felt my drums were a but weak when i first got my xa. telling toyota that, they tuned it for me free of charge.

Trust me they are not self adjusting. They would not require adjustment every 500 miles. The interval is usually 15,000 miles between rear brake services.

Thanks - OK I believe you, just seems that they in some way should self-adjust. Not going to worry about it unless I'm stopping only on the front discs ! Thanks again - John

Well, the last time I had that drum off it sure seemed to have a self-adjusting mechinism in there!

George

they are self adjusting because there is a star adjuster on the bottom and everytime you pull the Emergency brake or press/depress the brake pedal the star adjust moves and exspandes the leading and fallowing brake shoe out to a certain extent. do a brake adustment if you feel any slip when the emergency/park brake is pulled up to its maxed. good luck

-Mark 8)

bringing this back from the dead...searched around this seems to be the most appropriate thread.

trying to figure out why my fiancee's xA is pulling to the right. had it aligned, still pulls (and it's not a gradual pull, it will drift even when going slow). dont hear any grinding or rubbing noises while coasting, either.

so i pulled the wheels off, front brakes were serviced about 6 months ago and they seemed fine, nothing loose or grabbing. pulled the right rear off, and the wheel doesnt spin freely, you can hear a slight rubbing noise every rotation or so. the left rear spins completely free. would this be enough to cause the car to pull? does this signify the drum brakes needing an adjustment? i pulled the drum off, cylinder does not appear to be leaking. car has 66k miles, drum brakes have never been serviced i don't think

THIA.

bringing this back from the dead...searched around this seems to be the most appropriate thread.

trying to figure out why my fiancee's xA is pulling to the right. had it aligned, still pulls (and it's not a gradual pull, it will drift even when going slow). dont hear any grinding or rubbing noises while coasting, either.

so i pulled the wheels off, front brakes were serviced about 6 months ago and they seemed fine, nothing loose or grabbing. pulled the right rear off, and the wheel doesnt spin freely, you can hear a slight rubbing noise every rotation or so. the left rear spins completely free. would this be enough to cause the car to pull? does this signify the drum brakes needing an adjustment? i pulled the drum off, cylinder does not appear to be leaking. car has 66k miles, drum brakes have never been serviced i don't think

THIA.

I have a B, but.........

Have it aligned, again, by another dealer if you have one close to you.

I had my alignment set twice, both times before 500 miles, by two different dealers, and it went out of alignment within 2 days.

Took it to Kearny Mesa Scion, and was told my toe-in was out of spec and was not adjusted by the other two dealers

If you are out of warranty, Icant help ya.

yeah, like i said, it has 66k miles so we're going to be out of luck with warranties. but firestone does lifetime alignment so i will just take it back there and make them get it right.

what are the odds one of the suspension pieces has worn out this early, causing it not to hold proper alignment?

what are the odds one of the suspension pieces has worn out this early, causing it not to hold proper alignment?

too hard to say for sure....depends on your ladies driving habits. Im sure to take some heat for this, but as a generalization, women tend to overestimate what a car is capable of and underestimate the damage driving over a curb can cause.

if all it has experienced is normal, or normale, conditions, then I doubt it is a part failure.

bringing this back from the dead...searched around this seems to be the most appropriate thread.

trying to figure out why my fiancee's xA is pulling to the right. had it aligned, still pulls (and it's not a gradual pull, it will drift even when going slow). dont hear any grinding or rubbing noises while coasting, either.

so i pulled the wheels off, front brakes were serviced about 6 months ago and they seemed fine, nothing loose or grabbing. pulled the right rear off, and the wheel doesnt spin freely, you can hear a slight rubbing noise every rotation or so. the left rear spins completely free. would this be enough to cause the car to pull? does this signify the drum brakes needing an adjustment? i pulled the drum off, cylinder does not appear to be leaking. car has 66k miles, drum brakes have never been serviced i don't think

THIA.
Take is to a dealership or somewhere where you can have the rear brakes clean and adjusted, If the right rear is not spinning freely and left rear does it could cause the car to pull, not by much but it can if the right rear is tight enogh. this might not fix the pull entirely by it wil help, especially if you never had the rear brakes serviced with 66k miles.

When your alignment is out, your tires wear uneven. The tires wear to follow the road correctly and not pull. If your tires are worn uneven and you have your alignment done then the tires are no longer following the road bacause they were worn to the road with the alignment out. What usually fixes it is to swap the front tires left to right. This will usually even out the drag and it will stop pulling instantly.

If you try this and it doesn't help then atleast it didn't cost you much time or money.

Good Luck.