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Brake Shims Breaking

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by alex rodriguez, Mar 21, 2019.

  1. alex rodriguez

    alex rodriguez Junior Member

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    Does anyone know why my front driver brake shims keep breaking? I have replaced them about 6 times since owning the car. They cause a loud rattling noise at low speed that bothers me. Is there a brand I should get or is this normal for the gen2?
     
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    They rust out?

    I always put a thin coat of anti-seize, at all the points of contact, pad back, to shim, to caliper. They last a long time, little clips finally start to rust out.
     
  3. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    Try to have the caliper disassembled and carefully inspect it and the hardware. Shouldn’t be making that unusual noise...

    AutoZone Duralast DGC990 have a nitrile shim on top of a steel one....
     
    #3 jzchen, Mar 21, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2019
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  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I can't say this is normal as I have not experienced this issue. My 2004 logged 231K miles before I sold it, and the front brake pads were replaced once during that ownership. My 2007 currently is at 130K miles and I have not serviced the brakes yet.

    What brand are you buying? If you are having repeated issues I would suggest you try sourcing from a Toyota dealer parts department.
     
  5. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    I'd like to understand what you mean by "keep breaking", as I have not experienced any problems with the shims.
    The brand I use is Toyota as I figure I will only do them once in my ownership. It is not normal for them to break, in my experience.
     
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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  7. alex rodriguez

    alex rodriguez Junior Member

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    I believe they are the anti squeal shims in your photo. They just break and cause a lot of rattling noise while driving
     
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  8. alex rodriguez

    alex rodriguez Junior Member

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    The photo above shows them as the anti squeal shims. Those are the ones in the front drivers side that periodically break. When I have free time I order a new pair and just replace them but eventually they just break again :(
     
  9. alex rodriguez

    alex rodriguez Junior Member

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    Raybestos H15961A Professional Grade Disc Brake Caliper Hardware Kit


    These are them!
     
  10. alex rodriguez

    alex rodriguez Junior Member

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    I’ve bought various brands but I think I will give the Toyota ones another try
     
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  11. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Those items are not the anti-squeal shims, they are a set caliper pin dust boots and the brake pad support clips that clip into the top and bottom of the caliper bracket. So, are you saying the support clips are breaking?
     
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  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah that's a good first step, could be inferior aftermarket, ill-fitting or something.
     
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  13. alex rodriguez

    alex rodriguez Junior Member

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    Yes those are what I keep replacing. I’ve bought them from Napa, o’reily, auto zone, Amazon. I will pick some up from the dealer! So when I ask the dealer (just to clarify) I will ask for brake pad support clips? Thank you for your help :)
     
  14. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    So, how much have you spent on all those clips from those places?
    They are actually called "Fitting Kit, Disc". Part# 04947-47010. They are the brackets only. The dust boots are part of the "Cylinder Kit, Fr Disc" part# 04478-47070

    I'm still having a hard time trying to visualise how they break. o_O

    Do you have a picture of a broken one?
     
  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Maybe the aftermarket brake shoes aren't fitting??
     
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  16. alex rodriguez

    alex rodriguez Junior Member

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    I will post one when I replace them. Been a busy time these past couple of weeks but will be replacing them this month and include a picture. They break like if you grab one and snap it and have two different pieces :(
     
  17. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    NO surprises if the aftermarket supplies are of poor quality/construction/materials, and fit poorly.

    Are you doing the brake job correctly? Brake grease onto shims, and contact points of pad support plate. Lubricating the caliper slide pin. Check for minimum rotor thickness and runout. Check pad thickness.
     
  18. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The Toyota pad support plates come with a dry, Teflon-like coating, and no recommendation in the manual to apply grease (which would tend to be a grit magnet).

    The dry lube coating does not last forever.
     
  19. Solman636

    Solman636 Member

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    It took me 3 hours to figure out the FU means flange up..haha I just installed my second set of shims on the 08 Prius. First time it just didn't look right, and sure enough when I came back to lube pins I found that I had sheared off an "ear" on the black shim on the inner side. That's because I thought it went on like the others with the little fingers grasping the pad. But on part 04945-20210 Toyota Disc Brake Pad Shims the little "ears" on the black shim on inner pad go up around the silver shim that is placed over it. In this picture I have it on upside down. If I flipped it over then it would fit beautifully under the silver shim with ears pointing up away from the pad vs. all others you see in diagrams. This pic is WRONG way. I'll try to get one of the right after the rain stops. Note how the little "ear" is wrapped around the upper part of pad body that fits in the slide? Not only does that ear get bent or torn off and prevent the shim from floating properly, but it also has the other parts poking out over the pad and hits the caliper frame impeding movement.

    upload_2022-7-29_12-40-34.png

    This is how the black fits together with the silver correctly on the inner pad shim on 08 gen 2...OR please correct me if wrong, but there is no option I can find.

    upload_2022-7-29_12-49-56.png

    Of course then you flip it over and the silver latches on to the pad trapping the little black piece underneath in all the right places.. Notice the black tabs pointing UP away from the pad but locking into the silver shim.

    upload_2022-7-29_12-51-38.png
     

    Attached Files:

    #19 Solman636, Jul 29, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2022