Help! How Do I Remove The Handbrake Bracket From The Caliper?

[sianze]

Do anyone know how I can get the handbrake bracket off the caliper?

[smudge-1991]

Hammer

[Aidsy1]

With difficulty, try wd40 or some type of penetrator to get it lose.

[smudge-1991]

An honest answer would be lots of wd40 or similar lots of patience .... and something to keep wiggling it .... And when all the fails ... A HAMMER brute force and much ignorance ...

[Aidsy1]

The Clarkson way xD

[TomdeGuerre]

The handbrake lever engages on the operating shaft with splines which are, of necessity, a very tight fit. You should use a two legged puller to extract it but you might be able to drive two wedges in (eg two screwdriver blades) one at either side of the shaft to provide a balanced force to get it off. The trick is to break the initial seal, once you've done that it will remove quite easily.

You should place a scribe mark across the joint before you disturb it to help in re-assembly. Thoroughly clean all the splines because usually there's some corrosion there, use brass wire brush and fine pointed pick. If there's any play at all in the splines when you try it back together then use Loc-Tite or similar to make sure it won't go loose in service. As you can well appreciate there's a lot of force applied to this joint. If you're doubtful at all about wear or damage in the splines then replace the caliper.

[Devon Aygo]

One question is why? The lever is not a serviceable part ( only available with a new caliper ) and the Toyota repair manual says not to separate the lever from the caliper as it is not possible to refit/adjust correctly once removed.

[TomdeGuerre]

Devon Aygo I'd have used the "quote" button but I'm still not allowed to use it or the multi-quote button or to paste anything into my post or to use BBCode - I must be on some kind of extended probationary period.

Presumably your question was directed at the OP but I'll comment. Toyota probably don't want to get into stocking spare parts for brake calipers because they're slow moving, low profit items but there's nothing to stop more entrepreneurial suppliers from doing so. I've used many of these after market kits on different kinds of calipers with complete success.

You're likely to run into trouble when re-fitting the brake lever if the automatic adjuster assembly has been incorrectly re-assembled or if the handbrake cable has been over-adjusted or if the cable is partially seized. You'll get the lever back on the splined shaft OK but you won't be able to get the right geometry or get it to rest back against the stop.