2001 Toyota RAV4: Rear drum brakes

Ahh, yes. Drum brakes. 

Before doing this job I sort of dreaded it. After, it honestly wasn't that bad. One of the hardest parts was getting the cover off. I ended up having to run to Stan's to pick up two 8mm x 1.25 pitch bolts to thread into the convenient (thanks Toyota!) holes for the purpose of popping off the cover. Breaking it free from the rust, actually. They worked like a charm.

Once the covers were off, I thoroughly documented the setup before popping off the main spring and taking everything apart. I also only did one at a time, so I'd have one to compare if needed. I needed it. Speaking of Harbor Freight and wobble sockets, when I picked up those I also grabbed a drum brake toolset for $13. It was totally worth it.

The spring pliers made quick work of the main spring and the brake spring remover made twisting off the spring caps a piece of cake.

It was then a matter of removing the hardware from the old pads and assembling it all on the new ones. It was a meticulous job, I'll give it that. On the second set, I missed one tiny spring and had to do it over.

I also hooked the main spring to the wrong hole, but caught it when it seemed something wasn't right. After checking, double-checking, triple-checking and, for good measure, quadruple-checking everything, I adjusted each set of brakes with the cover in place.

Confident, for the most part, I had done everything correctly, I took Luna out for a test drive. Seemed to work. Another job on the books. Our trusty RAV4 should be good for a while. Except I may need to look into replacing the clutch. Or paying someone to do that. We shall see…