life of and replacement type for brake pads/shoes

I have 189k on the originals front and rear on my 08. I will probably change them at 200k whether it needs it or not!

 

Wow. I have a Gen III and my front pads have 5mm remaining after 68k.

My friend's Gen II had 5mm remaining after 103k.


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The key is to keep track of the pad/shoe wear and how it is progressing. If you are rotating the tires on a regular basis, its pretty easy to check. I never would have imagined I would be able to go over 100k on the original brakes, but I keep checking them every 8k, and so far there is still sufficient pad left. Sometimes mechanics get caught up in thinking about Prius brake pad thickness as if it was a normal vehicle. Prii just don't wear the pads as quickly. With bonded linings (no rivets), it's pretty easy to catch pad/shoe wear before it goes metal to metal.

 

The brakes on the Gen II are lifetime as are the struts.

 

I would not say so. The Gen II struts do not have the best track record for durability - and this is clearly evident by the number of topics we get about strut replacement.


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I guess it depends upon what your idea of "lifetime" is. If you think vehicle lifetime should be more than 60K miles then I would agree that Prius struts/shocks are not "lifetime".

I had the front brake pads replaced on the 2004 at 130K miles because the inner pads wore more than the outer pads. I suggest that Prius owners that have logged more than 100K miles need to remove the front wheels and get a good look at the inner pad thickness, not just rely on looking at the outer pad through the wheel holes to decide that all is well.

Regarding the OP's question, I have no problem with the quality and service life of the original equipment brake pads and would continue to use those.

The rear brakes are easy to inspect merely by pulling off the drums when the parking brake is released and the tires removed. 1 mm is the minimum rear brake shoe thickness.

 

I have a 2007 Prius with 125,000 miles.
The front pads still have 7mm of the original 11mm and the rear shoes have 4mm of the original 4mm.
The REASON is that Prius uses the Motor Generator number 2 to do all but the most extreme braking, regenerating electricity to recharge the HV battery as it does so. See the results on your consumption display. The more you brake (or GLIDE), the more little 50Wh cars of electricity regenerated appear for each 5-minute interval.
Prius uses Motor Generator Number 1 to also recharge the HV battery and it is what starts the gasoline engine so quickly when you accelerate, using electricity from the hybrid battery.
This is why discs, pads drums, shoes last so long. on Toyota Hybrids.
I just had the brakes cleaned and lubricated at 125,000 miles and parking brake adjusted. They are still exposed to dust and moisture.
I may have to change brake components at 200,000 miles.
Isn't it great!!

 

The main point with the Prius is under normal braking down to 7 mph the front brake pads and rear shoes for those in the US "the rest of the world gets discs and pads" are not used.
Regen braking is used on the front wheels only to slow the car down storing the energy recovered in the high voltage battery for future use. So there is no use of the brake friction surfaces, this is what makes the pads last so long. Only below 7 mph do the "normal brakes" come into operation.

John (Britprius)

 

190k and still on factory pads, tech said they are fine and thinks I drive extremely slow, haha. Will change at 200k just to get sure. I believe ceramics are best.

 

If the OEM pads last till 200k why change to ceramic pads? The Prius does not use the brakes as a normal car the very reason they last so long. So called performance pads are a waste of time and money on a Prius.
The only alteration to the brake pads I would make "and this only applies to non North American Prius" is to use more abrasive pads on the rears to combat the problem of disc rust. This is a problem even for those like myself that force the use of the "normal" brakes on a regular basis to try and keep the discs clean.

John (Britprius)