Rear brake adjustment Can I adjust the rear brake..the pedal feels a bit spongy...

have had this on different models and makes and what i do is to push brake pedal down and jam it down a length of wood or anything that holds the pedal down a bit not hard down -and leave overnight .if this fails then renew the master cylinder

Did you ensure that the master brake cylinder was topped up properly whilst you bled the back brake shoes?

If you did so and the brakes are free of air in the lines, then you still have to adjust the brake shoes to their operating position. Secure vehicle from movement. Jack back wheels of the ground, support with jack stands. Remove the rubber grommets that covers brake adjustment wheels. Turn star wheel adjuster with special adjustment tool or a wide blade screw driver. Lock the wheels with the adjustments, push in brake pedal until you have pressure, back off adjustments until wheel runs freely. you should have plenty of pedal now. Make sure master is at the right level at all times.

If you don't have pedal now then I would suggest you still have air in the brake lines.. If you pump the brakes until you have pressure and the pedal feels spongy , then you still have air in the line somewhere. Bleed until air is removed.

bleed the brakes so that there is no air
spongy pedal
apply the foot brake and use the hand brake to adjust the thread to the back of the piston
the slots in the pistons are only to screw the piston back along the thread to get the new pads in

Try opening the bleeders and don't pump the pedal,just let gravity flow out the fluid,(master cyl.cap off)keeps the air from being churned into foam. Also try appling the E-brake and see if the pedal feels better,if it does it's just the rear being out of adjustment

loosen of the hand-brake adjustment and press the brake pedal a few times to self adjust the rear brakes.
Re-tighten the handbrake adj last.
Front brake sounds like a seized caliper,If possible remove caliper and clean and lubricate the piston.
This may work but replacement caliper may be the only other solution.Make sure the caliper slides are also clean and lubricated and the brake pads are in good order.(TRY THIS FIRST)
Also new brake shoes can make the pedal feel spongy for a couple of hundred miles until they have been run in.

Hello, and welcome to FixYa. Please allow us to assist you.

It sounds to us like your rear brakes are out of adjustment. This does indeed give you the feeling that you are experiencing.

Here is a quick and easy way to tell if this is indeed the case:

In a safe location, like an empty parking lot, stop, set the park brake, and then give the car a little gas. If the car moves forward at all, your rear brakes are not adjusted properly. If the car moves, you will need to take the car to a professional that is capable of performing a brake adjustment for you.

Thanks for choosing FixYa for assistance today.

Hi. To answer your question, No. The Sequoia has great braking ability, assuming that the brakes have been maintained. Most likely, your rear brake shoes may not be adjusted properly, and that means that the rear brakes are not doing their share of the work. Try this: Put the park brake on, and then drop the trans into drive, and give it a bit of gas. If the vehicle moves at all, the rear brakes need adjusting. This is a very common problem.

Either you did not bleed the brakes properly or they need adjusted. (rear only) Front most likely are disks. If you put pads on the front and spread the caliper pistons, you should pump the brake pedal 10 or 15 times to move the pistons out. Some ABS systems are notoriously hard to bleed.

if the booster is bad the pedal would be hard sounds like the e-brake is stuck take off the drums and make sure the arms are all the way back then did you adjust the rear brakes after changing the shoes

did you change the front, back or both. if it was just the front then you need to put new back brakes in because that's were most of your brake pedal feel comes from. if it was both i would start looking at your brake system to see were the rear brake adjustment valve is and then start fiddling with it till it feels better.