JohnS

Can anyone tell me the proper procedure for adjusting the rear drum brakes for a 2004 Corolla? I read somewhere that you just needed to pull the parking brake up several times and this would work the self adjuster. I have worked the parking brake several hundred times and it seems to have had no effect. I just noticed that one cylinder is leaking brake fluid so I am going to have to go back into that wheel and fix that while I am in there I am going to see if the self adjuster is adjusting out at all. If not then I need to know if I am not properly adjusting or if I have not replaced parts correctly. Thanks in advance for replies!

Hi all, I am John Shrum and I live in Birmingham Alabama. I am really glad I found this forum. The forum has been a great help in repairing my 2004 Corolla. Forget about the suggestion. I just figured out it was already there. If it had been a snake I would have been bit.

Rotors replaced, topic can be closed. Having reviewed all the input I could get, reading numerous articles and watching multiple videos I determined the following, since I was replacing the rotors anyway the use of a ball peen hammer would not matter as far as damaging the rotor since it would be replaced anyway, Continued use of the penetrating catalyst was appropriate and judicial use of the jaw puller in combination with pounding on the rotor with the ball peen hammer would be the best way to get the rotor off. After a 16 hour hiatus I gathered the necessary tools and got in a position to work. After spraying the catalyst liberally I hit the back of the rotor hard several times. I could now see that the rotor gave just a little. The more I hit it the more I could tell it was wiggling. I put the gear puller in position and put some pressure on the rotor. I alternated between some good taps on the back of the rotor and all around the hat of the rotor and would then tighten the puller a half turn and spray a little more penetrating catalyst. I had repeated this procedure several times and was reaching for the catalyst when the rotor popped off, flew about 2 feet and hit my thigh with a good deal of force (thank God it was not 3 inches to the left!). Now knowing the right way to get these off I had little issue in removing the other. The rotors and brake pads have been replaced and the car stops as it should with no squealing. I am a happy man! Thanks dapqam for your input!

I have a 2004 Toyota Corolla LE that I am attempting to replace the front rotors. according to everything I have seen the rotors do not require the removal of the "Hub nut", The rotor should simply slide off. I have not been able to make this happen. I have used penetrating oil, Tapped on the rotor with a mallet and attempted to use a 5 ton gear puller. Nothing even makes it budge a little. I have not attempted to max the pressure on the gear puller as I am afraid I will really mess something up. In my opinion, the pressure I have exerted would have caused anything that might have given to give if it was ever supposed to give. There are no holes in the current rotors other than the ones for the "Hub" and the 5 lug nuts. I have rechecked this multiple times. There are no holes that have been filled in by anything (rust, grease ETC). Taking another look at the "Hub Nut" it would appear that it does have to be removed for the rotor to be removed. but there is an indentation in the hub and the sleeve on the nut has been bent into that indentation so the nut cannot loosen up (See pictures) Has anyone ever seen anything like this and does anyone have any suggestions? I am at a loss. Update, after much research I have found multiple other people who thought the same thing I did. It turned out they were wrong and I guess I am too. Several managed to get the rotors off by using bolts, washers and nuts to go through the caliper mounting bolt holes on the back side of the rotor and push on the rotor. I am going to give that a try next. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.