Brake Pads Questions

Our brakes are usually very durable and will last about 150k miles before needing to be changed. So $76 for 150k miles isn't too bad. If money is tight, you probably only want to do it one time. Not buy something cheaper and realize it didn't work and have to buy the $76 to do it right a second time.

 

Yeah it wouldn’t occur to me to use other than Toyota pads. That said, The Car Care Nut (Toyota-centric YouTuber) had a video discussing pads, was saying there were two quality levels of Toyota pads, food for thought.

 

If things are tight and you're not changing rotors too, just get aftermarket while saving up to get a full OEM brake kit. That is how I did it. But I pulled the front calipers and rotors first so I could see the conditions I'd be working with before I decided which way to go at it.

If the pads on the car now are original factory, I'd recommend you take pics before and while you disassemble, That is if you plan to go back to OEM eventually or decide to go OEM pads even though they are more expensive. There are a couple of things that are not in the instructions and pics can help fill in those blank spaces.

 

And the generation 3 the least of your problems in this world will be your brake pads ever by any kind of asian-made ceramic-based disc brake pads for the four places on your car and forget about it You are not wasting time with mulling over brake pads it is not worth your trouble at all as long as they stay on these cars shoot 15 minutes to slide them in whether you're changing the rotors or not You got to be kidding me It is not worth giving lots of thought to save your brain power for what's coming down the road You're going to need it and your wallet too The brake pads will make no difference in your life at all I would venture to say if I wanted to I could stick a set of $16 brake pads in any of these Prius and they would last close to 10 years they don't get hot they don't do anything in a Prius hardly until you're ready to have an accident.. so I would quickly say get your $36 Raybestos purple label ceramic pads they're like 36 bucks and never look back I have them on four cars and they're liable to outlast me on the Prius. I have worn the same brand and labeled pads out on a few Corollas like down to the metal backing plate took a while

 

Aftermarket pad usually have shims that are glued onto the pads. OEM pads have 4 shims and a wear clip for each pad.
If a Prius is driven hard, it's brakes can wear just as fast as any other cars brakes.
Knowing the condition of the brakes being worked on is important, only because it gives the installer an idea of when the brakes condition should be checked next.
If only slapping pads on, for whatever reasons, it doesn't matter if they're aftermarket or OEM.

 

Concur about knowing the condition. Have you simply inspected your brakes yet? What is the condition and thickness of the current pads? If budget is a concern, I would start there. I inspect mine a couple times a year and the most common result of my inspection is that nothing needs to be replaced. When something does, it will often be the "fitting kit" (the little spring clips that hold the ears of the pads, around $16) and nothing else.

I did see rear pads and rotors deserving replacement a year or so ago, and did that. Fronts will still be fine for a long while yet.

 

Quick question: You mentioned the little spring clips that hold the ears of the pads. Mine has those.

What I don't have is the V shaped springs that apparently help hold the pads away from the rotor when not braking. They too come in the "fitting kit"? Does yours have those?

 

Rears on a gen 3 have those. Fronts do not.

There's one "fitting kit" for the fronts (does both sides) and one for the rears. The one for the rears includes the springs.

 

Thanks! So someone messed up and didn't put them on my rear brakes. I think I'll check the front and see if they are up front by accident

 

Yes Toyota's use those triangle shaped little thinner than a paper clip springs to help spread the pads at the rear of the pads for a long time some of my older cars had them that had rear discs at matter of fact some of my cars with akebono brakes had the same triangular shaped springs on the front right under the caliper I used to never put those back on without any problems still had even pad wear and all that.

 

@Tombukt2 I think it's mostly for avoiding scraping noises / squeals

 

Back in the old days I'd lose them all the time and they didn't have brake hardware kits in the late '70s and early '80s you'd have to go to the junkyard and snag them off another car if they hadn't lost theirs doing a brake job.

 

I bet the front pads don't have the little holes to poke the spring ends into. (Also, with the thicker front rotors and pads, you'd probably have to stretch those rear springs to make 'em fit; then they'd be springing the wrong way.)

 

Some of the pads that go on the Corollas and other models still have the little tiny holes in the back of them for those funny springs I think they just put them there because some models may have something like that that go in those things there's other springy things that have gone in those holes too that do the same thing but shaped a little different or what have you like I say I've usually left them all for forgot them and then didn't take the caliper back off to put them on as long as the clips were in for the ears on the other end in the curve we're good no issues those are your anti rattle do dads.

 

Those springs have almost enough oomph to pull the pads away from the rotor just as you're trying to get the caliper on.

 

If the fitting-kit clips holding the pad ears are in good shape (still have the dry, Teflon-like coating from the factory) then the springs definitely have enough oomph, and it takes a bit of coordination to hold the pads together with one hand while slipping the caliper over.

Once the clips have gotten a little less slippery, it doesn't take as much coordination.

 

Or temporary employment of a clamp of some sort. Think I used a C-clamp once, but a spring clamp of like this may be better: