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Owners of other Toyota, Lexus, Scion orrelated Pontiac vehicles with rear drum brakes such as the Camry,Sienna, Tercel, Tacoma, Hilux, X-Runner, RAV4, Solara, 4Runner, LandCruiser, Yaris, Matrix, Prius, Celica, Tundra, Paseo, Echo, Pickupand Vibe may also find these DIY instructions to be helpful.

The tools needed to complete this rearbrake job include a floor jack, jack stands, a lug nut wrench ortire iron, pliers, needle nose pliers or brake spring pliers, brakecaliper grease, brake cleaner spray, and a flathead screwdriver.

You'll need a new set of rear brakeshoes and I'd also recommend buying a drum brake 'spring kit'or 'hardware kit' such as the Wagner H17254 so that you can replace the worn out old springs.

Please note that some of these brake shoes arespecific to Corolla models built in Japan which have VIN numbers that startwith a 'J'. Most of them are for USA/Canada built Corollas which have VINnumbers that start with a '1'.

Please use the Amazon Part Finder website toverify the correct replacement part numbers.

Two other compatible 'brake hardware' spring kitsinclude the RaybestosH17378 and Beck Arnley084-1560.

Then spin off the lug nuts, remove the rearwheels and mark the relationship of the rear brake drum to the wheel hub(center circle) with a Sharpie marker.

This is done so that you canre-install the drum in the same position without changing the dynamicbalance of the assembly.

You may be able to just pull offthe drum, but chances are it won't be that easy due to corrosion and rust.

First try tapping the brake drum with a rubbermallet or a hammer and a piece of wood to break it free from the hub.

Spraying the area where the hub meets the drum with WD-40 can also help.

If that doesn't work, remove the 12mm sparetire hold-down screw from the trunk and insert it into one of the two holeson the front of the brake drum.

Slowly turn the screw in clockwise until youhear the drum begin to make popping noises.

Please note, we used a regular 12mm hex headbolt with a socket and ratcheting wrench.

If you use the spare tire holddown screw, turn it by hand as far as possible and then use a pair oflocking pliers or regular pliers to continue turning it clockwise.

Thoroughlyclean off the rear brake assembly with some brake cleaner spray and allow itto dry for a few minutes.

Place some shop rags or a pan below the assemblyto catch the fluids.

Do not usecompressed air to clean off the brakes to help avoid inhaling the brakedust.

It's also a good idea to remove the drum on the other sideof the car to have that assembly as a reference when installing the newbrake shoes.

Release the two hold downsprings/cups with a pair of needle nose pliers.

Push in on the cup tocompress the spring and rotate it until the flat part of the pin can bepassed through the small rectangular hole in the cup.

Place the old parts down on the floor or arag in the same position as they were installed on the assembly to helpyourself with the re-assembly later.

Next remove the rubber capfrom the rear of the backing plate and use a short flathead screwdriver toturn the splines on the automatic adjuster mechanism until it retracts andthe tension on the two upper springs is reduced.

Remove the smallmetal automatic adjuster lever.

Releasethe inner top spring and pull the front shoe away from the backing plate.

Pop the parking brake cable outof the hook on the parking brake lever. Open the old 'C' washer with a pairof pliers and separate the parking brake lever from the old rear brake shoe.

Pop the parkingbrake cable back into the hook at the end of the parking brake lever.

Push the hold down pin through the rear of thebacking plate and through the middle of the new rear brake shoe.

Place the spring and cup over the shoe untilthe flat tip of the pin passes through the rectangular hole in the cup.

Rotate the cup 90 degrees or 1/4 turn to secure the pin in place.

Test fit the automatic adjusteron to the rear brake shoe using the other side or the picture above as areference.

Please note, there may be some minor differencesbetween 2003-2004 and 2005-2008 Corolla models.

Always use the other side ofyour vehicle as the definitive point of reference when re-assembling thedrum brakes.

Install the inner topspring on the brake shoes by first hooking it into the front shoe and thenpulling it to the rear shoe with a pair of needle nose pliers or springpliers.

Double check that you have installed it into the correct holes byreferencing the other side of the car.

If you have trouble installing the inner topspring, try temporarily removing the automatic adjuster to give yourselfmore working room.

Double check that youhave installed the two top springs and one lower spring in the correctpositions by referencing the drum brake assembly on the other side of thecar.

Expand the adjuster mechanism until there issome tension on the two upper springs.

You will be using this side as a referencefor completing the procedure correctly on the other side of the vehicle.

If you'd like to replace the brake drums, check out the optionsavailable at Amazon.com.

Go into the passengercabin of the vehicle and pull on the emergency / parking brake handleseveral times.

The automatic adjuster mechanism should make the handle a bitharder to pull each time and have less travel.

It would be best to use a torque wrench or an electric impactwrench with a torque stick to properly tighten the lug nuts.

Lower the vehicle from the jack stands andremove the chocks from the front wheels.

Sit in the driver seat of the vehicle andpump the brake pedal a few times to ensure that there is adequate brake linepressure.

If the pedal is overly soft or 'mushy', you may need to bleed thebrake lines.

For more, check out my other 2003-2008 Toyota Corolla Repair & Maintenance Guides.

If you have a newer model check out my2009-2013 Toyota Corolla Repair & Maintenance Guides.

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