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Parking brake cable replacement

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by vand8, Aug 26, 2023.

  1. vand8

    vand8 Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    III
    Has anyone replaced a parking brake cable? Mine has been sticking. Pulled the rotor off to look at the parking brake, and the job looks quite difficult due to mounting bolt and hardware being located behind the hub. Has anyone tackled this, or have a manual/description to best do the job?
     
  2. Papawrench

    Papawrench Junior Member

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    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    V
    I'm pretty late in getting to this but I just finished this job this weekend. You can remove the mounting bolt from the front but it means removing the hub and the brake shoes as well which is a bit of a pain though that could be since I haven't changed shoes before. On my car, and I am guessing most of a similar age, the brake backing plate had rusted and to remove it you need to pull the hub which likely means changing that too. It's not a huge job with the shoes removed anyway but not a cheap part. The small 10mm bolts mounting the brake cable under the car were all rusted as well. I'd grab replacements before starting since they are really cheap. The first one broke which added a lot of time so be careful with those. The frontmost mounting bolts are above the exhaust heatshield but I was able to reach in with a crescent wrench and take those out without removing the shield. To get at the cables in the car, you need to remove the center console but that is a really easy job. Five 10mm bolts and two pop out rivets and you are good. Be sure to remove the metal bracket the console bolts down to too. I tried to work around it at first but the edges are sharp as hell. It took a bit of frigging around adjusting the cables to get good grab without any drag but it's nothing too complicated. After trying to adjust the old cables that has rusted in place, adjusting the new ones was a breeze!
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Book Cover Judge

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    @vand8 did you use the parking brake regularly? Is NY the city or elsewhere in the State; are you in heavily salted winter conditions?

    I watch a fair bit of South Main Auto, and man, salt is a killer.
     
  4. vand8

    vand8 Junior Member

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    2015 Prius v wagon
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    III
    Just saw these messages. I am in upstate NY, so we get a lot of salt. I did use the parking brake regularly, but am now like 95% of the population and leave it off lol. It's the passenger side that seized. I'm secretly hoping the driver side continues to work so I can pass inspections ;)

    @Papawrench, do you have to remove the hub to replace it? If so, did you need a puller (it's been since August since I looked at it)? I seem to remember seeing somewhere (can't remember if it was this forum or on youtube) where a person worked around the hub to replace the cable ... not convenient, but I think it was doable. I can obtain all the tools to work on drum brakes
     
  5. Papawrench

    Papawrench Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    V
    There is no need to touch the hub for the parking brakes. I installed the cable after my hubs were in. The backing plate is the sticky one if its too rusted to hold the parking brake cable bolt. It can only be changed by removing the hub. The only chance you might have to otherwise is that one of the small pins that passes through the back of the backing plate and then through the shoe can't be removed/installed with the backing plate in place and that means removing the hub. Why that is designed like that I can't understand at all. My old pin was rusted out so when I was initially just changing the shoes I just bent the new pin to be able to curve it in and straightened it after. It held up but when I later decided to change the whole brake shield and hub and tried to reinstall the shoes, the pin ended up snapping where it had been bent and I had to make a trip to the parts store just for that

    I was able to pull the hub just using an air hammer to get it rotating then a pry bar to knock it out. Since my hubs were toast anyway I didn't mind hammering and pulling on it but I'm not sure if they would hold up to being reused after that.
     
  6. vand8

    vand8 Junior Member

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    III
    Well ... I haven't replaced anything yet. If all goes well, I will pass inspection with just my driver side parking brake working (it passed last year since it still holds the car). Then I should be trading in the v for a Maverick hybrid before I need to replace the cable (or need to clean the EGR system ... two big jobs I have no desire to do). I look forward to v level fuel economy around town in a more useful truck (for where we're at in our family) with a lot more power!
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Book Cover Judge

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    ^ Why I always buy new.
     
  8. vand8

    vand8 Junior Member

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    It was a certified used so it had the extended warranty from Toyota, but I wound up outside that warranty period too unfortunately.
     
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  9. vand8

    vand8 Junior Member

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    2015 Prius v wagon
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    I will add though that what's gotten on me for used up here is rust, with many parts replaced due to rust issues (parking brakes, brake backing plates, exhaust flanges, etc). I was looking at the Rav4 hybrid & the Maverick hybrid, and used priced just made no sense on either, so new it was. While I am suspicious of Ford's reliability over 10 years and will likely buy an extended warranty, the high voltage cable design on the Rav4 hybrid is too big of a risk in rust country up here as it's a $6-$8k repair when it goes (and they actually exclude it from the hybrid warranty & powertrain warranty, so you only get 3 years / 36k miles, even though it bricks the car when it fails!). Toyota's "repair" looks like anything but and will likely just delay the failure another year or two.
     
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