Do the brakes need adjusting?

My dealer adjusted and cleaned mine every 15k while under warranty. I could tell a big difference in the braking afterward, BUT.... I also lost gas mileage until they got looser again. Pro's and con's of adjusting self adjusting brakes. Self adjusters aren't perfect.....

 

no response needed

 

And conveniently I have just read through Hobbit's brake pages. The problem now is that his dissection and testing of how the rear brakes adjust is in DIRECT opposition to what was written here. Hobbit's write up shows they adjust NOT with the parking brake but with the regular hydraulic piston. In short, every time the shoes are pushed out by the hydraulics (but NOT when activated by the parking brake) a lever will click the adjuster IF the shoes move far enough out (which they will do occasionally as they wear).

So NOW what do we do? We have the much trusted Galaxee (and DH) saying it is the parking brake and Hobbit, with detailed pictures, (including a not so comfortable 'testing' position ) saying just use the brakes, the rears self adjust.

 

toyota didn't tell their techs that this was a new brake adjustment mechanism. hobbit provided the evidence, DH saw and said ok that must be it. i tried to edit my post above to eliminate some of the confusion.

 

You mean early Prius models had non-self adjusting breaks?

 

i mean it's different from their usual mechanism which is linked to the parking brake.

 

I have a 2014 and a 2004 Prius. The 2004 had 174,000 miles on it, so I decided to replace the pads and shoes. When I disassembled them, they were both only worn about 1/2. I replaced them anyway, as I had already bought the parts. Neither the rotors nor the drums were stepped or grooved, and measuremens showed they had ever been turned. I consider that a fantastic brake life. They were probably worth another 25,000 miles (?)