WARNING: What follows is a basic HOW-TO guide, showing how to change the front and rear brake pads on a 120 series Prado. Just letting you know I am NOT a mechanic and won't be held responsible for any damage which may result from this procedure. I am just showing how I do it. If you don't believe you have the mechanical knowledge or confidence then I suggest you have the work carried out by a qualified mechanic or brake specialist.
FRONT Brakes:
Before starting, I removed the cap from the brake fluid reservoir, removed the filter / float and removed some brake fluid. Make sure you wipe any dirt and grime from the reservoir and lid BEFORE you open it. While changing the pads I leave the cap off but just place a clean rag over it to stop any dust or debris from falling in.
The front brake pads are held in the caliper by two pins which are secured by a couple of small spring clips. Remove the spring clips with a pair of pliers and then slide the pins out.
At this stage, note that there is another spring clip which the bottom pin goes through. Take note as to how it is placed. Draw yourself a sketch or take a pic if you need to, so that you know how it goes when you put it back together!
Once this clip is removed you can slide the old pads out from the back of the caliper. They might need a bit of encouragement. I just used a large screwdriver to jiggle them around a bit until they came out.
Remove the backing plates from the old pads and install them on the new ones.
Make sure you install the new pads in the correct location. The INNER pad can be identified by a wear indicator. (Or in the case of Bendix pads they actually have inner / outer stamped on the pad.)
In order for you to install the new pads, you'll need to push the brake pistons back into the caliper. You can get brake spreaders from Supercheap or if you're like me, you'll just use a large screwdriver or something similar to wedge in there. Don't rush this as it can be a bit fiddly. Do one side at a time. Because the Prado brakes have 4 piston calipers, you'll find that as you push one in, the other one will want to come out. Push them slowly as you definately DO NOT want a piston to pop out.
At this stage start keeping an eye on the brake fluid level in the reservoir. The reason for this is that as you push on the brake pistons, the fluid level will rise and you don't want it to overflow. That's also why I removed the lid and some of the fluid before I started.
Once you've pushed the inner pistons back you should be able to slide the new pad into place. Then repeat on the outer side. Insert the (large) spring clip at the bottom, then slide the retaining pins into place. Secure them with the little spring clips.
Done!
-----------------------------------------
Now for the REAR brakes:
These are just a little bit more complicated to do but still shouldn't present any major problems.
As the rear brakes are of a floating caliper design, you'll need to actually remove the piston housing from the caliper in order to remove the pads.
Using a 17mm spanner or socket, remove the 2 bolts / sliding bushes and remove the back half of the caliper containg the piston.
It might be possible to just remove one bolt / bush, loosen the other one and just swing the back caliper out of the way but I found it wouldn't quite go far enough for me to remove the outer brake pad.
Once you've removed the brake pads, remove the backing plates and any other clips from the old ones and fit them to the new pads.
Before fitting the new pads to the calipers, make sure any clips or guides are firmly in place. Sometimes they can work loose when removing the old pads.
With the rear brakes there's only one piston which needs to be pushed back and for this I used one of those sliding screw clamps (like a G clamp I suppose). Again keep an eye on the fluid level in the reservoir.
Slip the caliper back over the pads. Before you re-fit the bolts / bushes, clean them thoroughly with a clean rag and coat them with some silicone grease.
Carefully slide them through the back of the caliper making sure the dust boots snap into place. Tighten them up and you're done!
Usually when I change pads, I take the opportunity to change the brake fluid as well so at this stage I'd remove most of the fluid in the reservoir and then fill it up with new fluid. Toyota recommends DOT 3 fluid but I used DOT 4 as that's what I had. The main difference being DOT 4 has a higher boiling point. Under NO circumstances use DOT 5.1 as this is silicone based and DOES NOT mix with DOT3 or 4once in your system.
Replace the cap on the reservoir, start your engine and gently press the brake pedal a couple of times. Don't be surprised if the brake pedal almost hits the floor the first time. This will be due to the pistons having been pushed back when fitting the new pads.
Take it for a gentle drive around the block to make sure everything's working ok.
I'll mention at this stage that when I took mine for a drive for the first time, the ABS warning light came on for a couple of kms. Again I'll put this down to the brake pistons not being in position. As soon as I did a couple of hard stops, the light went out and all was good but I have to admit I did get that sinking feeling for a moment there.
All up, this operation took me about an hour and a half but would have been quicker if I wouldn't have stopped for photos all the time. I didn't remove my discs for machining as they didn't appear at all glazed or scored. If you do a lot of stop-start city driving and your discs are glazed or damaged, I'd suggest you get them machined or replaced. The old pads were genuine Toyota, the new ones are Bendix 4WD. The improvement in pedal feel and stopping power is amazing and I'm very happy with what I've done.
If anyone has any questions or improvements to my little HOW-TO, feel free to contact me. Moderators can you please place this in the Tech section if you feel what I've done here is suitable.
Cheers, Markus.
FRONT Brakes:
Before starting, I removed the cap from the brake fluid reservoir, removed the filter / float and removed some brake fluid. Make sure you wipe any dirt and grime from the reservoir and lid BEFORE you open it. While changing the pads I leave the cap off but just place a clean rag over it to stop any dust or debris from falling in.
The front brake pads are held in the caliper by two pins which are secured by a couple of small spring clips. Remove the spring clips with a pair of pliers and then slide the pins out.
At this stage, note that there is another spring clip which the bottom pin goes through. Take note as to how it is placed. Draw yourself a sketch or take a pic if you need to, so that you know how it goes when you put it back together!
Once this clip is removed you can slide the old pads out from the back of the caliper. They might need a bit of encouragement. I just used a large screwdriver to jiggle them around a bit until they came out.
Remove the backing plates from the old pads and install them on the new ones.
Make sure you install the new pads in the correct location. The INNER pad can be identified by a wear indicator. (Or in the case of Bendix pads they actually have inner / outer stamped on the pad.)
In order for you to install the new pads, you'll need to push the brake pistons back into the caliper. You can get brake spreaders from Supercheap or if you're like me, you'll just use a large screwdriver or something similar to wedge in there. Don't rush this as it can be a bit fiddly. Do one side at a time. Because the Prado brakes have 4 piston calipers, you'll find that as you push one in, the other one will want to come out. Push them slowly as you definately DO NOT want a piston to pop out.
At this stage start keeping an eye on the brake fluid level in the reservoir. The reason for this is that as you push on the brake pistons, the fluid level will rise and you don't want it to overflow. That's also why I removed the lid and some of the fluid before I started.
Once you've pushed the inner pistons back you should be able to slide the new pad into place. Then repeat on the outer side. Insert the (large) spring clip at the bottom, then slide the retaining pins into place. Secure them with the little spring clips.
Done!
-----------------------------------------
Now for the REAR brakes:
These are just a little bit more complicated to do but still shouldn't present any major problems.
As the rear brakes are of a floating caliper design, you'll need to actually remove the piston housing from the caliper in order to remove the pads.
Using a 17mm spanner or socket, remove the 2 bolts / sliding bushes and remove the back half of the caliper containg the piston.
It might be possible to just remove one bolt / bush, loosen the other one and just swing the back caliper out of the way but I found it wouldn't quite go far enough for me to remove the outer brake pad.
Once you've removed the brake pads, remove the backing plates and any other clips from the old ones and fit them to the new pads.
Before fitting the new pads to the calipers, make sure any clips or guides are firmly in place. Sometimes they can work loose when removing the old pads.
With the rear brakes there's only one piston which needs to be pushed back and for this I used one of those sliding screw clamps (like a G clamp I suppose). Again keep an eye on the fluid level in the reservoir.
Slip the caliper back over the pads. Before you re-fit the bolts / bushes, clean them thoroughly with a clean rag and coat them with some silicone grease.
Carefully slide them through the back of the caliper making sure the dust boots snap into place. Tighten them up and you're done!
Usually when I change pads, I take the opportunity to change the brake fluid as well so at this stage I'd remove most of the fluid in the reservoir and then fill it up with new fluid. Toyota recommends DOT 3 fluid but I used DOT 4 as that's what I had. The main difference being DOT 4 has a higher boiling point. Under NO circumstances use DOT 5.1 as this is silicone based and DOES NOT mix with DOT3 or 4once in your system.
Replace the cap on the reservoir, start your engine and gently press the brake pedal a couple of times. Don't be surprised if the brake pedal almost hits the floor the first time. This will be due to the pistons having been pushed back when fitting the new pads.
Take it for a gentle drive around the block to make sure everything's working ok.
I'll mention at this stage that when I took mine for a drive for the first time, the ABS warning light came on for a couple of kms. Again I'll put this down to the brake pistons not being in position. As soon as I did a couple of hard stops, the light went out and all was good but I have to admit I did get that sinking feeling for a moment there.
All up, this operation took me about an hour and a half but would have been quicker if I wouldn't have stopped for photos all the time. I didn't remove my discs for machining as they didn't appear at all glazed or scored. If you do a lot of stop-start city driving and your discs are glazed or damaged, I'd suggest you get them machined or replaced. The old pads were genuine Toyota, the new ones are Bendix 4WD. The improvement in pedal feel and stopping power is amazing and I'm very happy with what I've done.
If anyone has any questions or improvements to my little HOW-TO, feel free to contact me. Moderators can you please place this in the Tech section if you feel what I've done here is suitable.
Cheers, Markus.
Comment