Toyota-Lexus-Subaru-Honda Brake Wheel Cylinders

Toyota Brake Wheel Cylinders When replacing rear brake shoes, we routinely replace the wheel cylinders along with the shoes, even if there’s no evidence that the wheel cylinders are failing.

We do this because we’ve seen too much of a pattern of the wheel cylinders (that weren’t leaking prior to the brake job) leaking brake fluid after the internal pistons and seals are repositioned due to the new brake shoes putting them back in the center of the wheel cylinder.

When this happens, the fluid fouls the shoes and ruins them, and you end up having to do the entire brake job over again. Of course brake wheel cylinders can leak in other circumstances as well.

In the very early stages, a leaking wheel cylinder may often be replaced without requiring new brake shoes. As they continue to leak, however, they foul your brake shoes.
This decreases your braking ability and requires new shoes as well.

Continued leaking of a single wheel cylinder will eventually deplete the brake fluid supply to half of the brake system, which dramatically decreases your braking ability.