by induction1, December 16, 2004
i just noticed today that my parking brake has a little bit of lateral play. it only moves about a total of one centimeter (half a cm left or right), but i cannot recall as to whether it has always done this or if it was completely rigid. i only use this brake about 5-10% of the time. it does not move when engaged. ????
2004
Mine has a little play only in the unengaged position - haven't had any problems with the parking brake. My other cars (auto/manual) did the same thing as well.
My CE has play of about 3/16 inch when disengaged and other cars have had it, too. I think it's a fairly simple cable winch.
I actually like it because if the brake flops back and forth, I know it's not engaged, and that's a good thing if the car is moving. Years ago I burned the living crap out of the brakes on a rented pick-up truck by leaving the parking brake on for a trip through the mountains. I noticed I had screwed up when I got out and smoke was coming out of the wheels. Not too cool a move. 
My LE05 parking brake also has a slight play when disengaged. I asked the same question at the time I noticed the play, but based on the responses, I guess it's normal.
The parking brake lever on my '03 Corolla LE automatic has a bit of play in the released (all the way down) position, but mine seems to be tighter than the rest reported here; the play is no more than 1/8" or less -- total left/right lateral movement. The variations are obviously just sample anomolies, and wouldn't seem to mean anything as far as the proper function of the parking brake lever is concerned. It is not a precision made component, all it has to do is winch up the slack in the parking brake cable, latch in place, and release. Tolerances aren't critical in a component doing such a simple task, durability would be more important. I'm sure, in true Toyota fashion, the parking brake mechanism is designed and tested to function way beyond the demands of normal service. Don't worry about it.
