The car is a Toyota 2005 Matrix XR. Disc brakes in the front, drums in the rear. It was left in my driveway in early April, and it turns out, was left with the hand brake on the whole time. A couple weeks ago, I went to move it, and found both rear wheels were frozen.

I was able to free up the passenger size after a while, convincing it with a rubber mallet on and around the drum and back. But the driver's side absolutely would not budge no matter what I did.

Eventually, I put it on jack stands and popped the driver's side wheel and drum off. The drum was hell to get off, with the shoes sticking to it, but eventually I got it off. The drum itself was thoroughly rusty, I accept they tend to look that way after a while no matter what, but my first reaction was still, "Wow." The brake shoes, though worn only about 50%, are discolored with what appeared to be rust holding them onto the drum. The wheel cylinder also had a split in the front side rubber boot.

Everything just looked like hell under so much rust and brake dust, that I decided to replace it all. New drum, new shoes, new wheel cylinder. new hardware (springs, clips, etc). I just didn't want to horse around trying to guess which part is "acceptable" and which is bad.

I also took off and inspected the passenger side; even though I had freed it up without pulling the drum, I figured if I'm doing new shoes on one side, to do them on the other side as well. So, a new drum and new hardware there as well. The passenger side wheel cylinder wasn't leaking and had no obvious damage, so I left that in place.

Rebuild is done, and I've bled the new wheel cylinder on the driver's side.

I also should note that on both, I had to wind the star gear all the way down before the new drum would fit over the new shoes. I mean, it's not out at all Otherwise the drum just wouldn't fit.

So, I'm asking for your advice, because I've got a pulsing brake pedal now on her car. That really confuses me, because that sounds like a symptom of the front discs; I thought that means one or both of the rotors are warped when you get the pulsating feeling through the brake pedal.

Secondary issues are a handbrake that doesn't tighten enough even at the top of its travel, and a light rubbing sound from the new rear brakes (both of them).

I can't believe that the owner says she never noticed anything when she left it with me, but that's the claim. I'm not sure how much I believe in coincidence, either, but I find it very suspicious (and so, very likely) that I did something wrong. I mean, I replaced her rear brakes and now her brake pedal pulsates. The simplest answer is that I did something, but I only understand pulsating brakes appearing on disc brakes.

There's also some adjustment to be made to account for the handbrake and the light rubbing sound, but I'm not sure how I can proceed with that, given that the star gears had to be turned all the way "in" or down to get the drum over the shoes.

A quick visual inspection of the front disc brakes reveals a discs that are slightly bumpy, not grooved, and a bit of rust. I'd probably replace them, but I feel disc brakes might be outside my skill level. I'd like to rule out the rear drums at this point, that there's not something I've overlooked back there that could yield that pulsing feeling.

I would so appreciate your advice, folks.