Is there anything special to do when changing pads on the TCH, and what is the best replacement pad for the car? I have never had a car with rear discs before. Thanks.

 

The TCH factory pads are best but cost more. You must have lots of miles on yours if your needing pads.

I had a slight deep growl sound when backing up slowly just after starting my TCH in the mornings. This happened more during the winter and was occasional. I found toyota has a TSB out for this problem so they installed new rear pads on mine.

I ask the technician to check my fronts for wear. He said the rears had about 95% pad left and the fronts looked similar. My TCH has about 28,000 miles on it. I like the idea of the generator being used for braking till you get down to about 8 mph when the disc brakes takes over. Any heavy or quick braking at speed, it uses the physical brakes.

When I had my 1994 Corolla I did not replace my brakes on that car till 105,000 miles. I was easy on brakes back then due to anticipating stops to improve my gas mileage.

The Toyota dealer quoted me $70 for pads alone. That may have been just for the fronts. I was curious so if I ever needed pads.

They do use a spray behind the pads. I think this helps prevent any vibration noises and may improve heat dissipation of the pads.

 

I've got almost 60,000 miles and am thinking ahead. Need to rotate my tires and will look at my brakes when I rotate them. Do you know if the OEM pads are metallic, ceramic, etc.?

 

Looks like all have abandoned the asbestos mixed in the brake material years ago.

I think this may answer your question about the toyota brakes which are probably ceramic.

http://www.factsaboutfriction.com/reports.107.htm

 

I checked my pads again (front and rear) while rotating the tires last weekend. They barely look used at the 65,000 mile mark so I don't plan on needing to replace them anytime soon. There are several options for ceramic pads besides the OEM option. Some are better than the OEM, some are not as good. CHeck around and find a good option for your needs.

As far as replacing them, they are fairly straight forward and are not any different than other cars (or a non hybrid Camry). Just take your time, watch what you are doing, check the runout on the rotor to see if it needs to be turned and check the caliper condition.

 

Thanks everyone! I think I need a tool which rotates the piston back into the caliper from what I have found.

 

You might need something like these...........
DSCN0992.jpg

There are cheaper options though that look like a cube with the "patterns" on each side

 

I doubt that you need pads yet. They should last about 150,000 miles in a TCH. My Prius is at 178,500 miles and the pads are still original.

JeffD

 

GeorgiaHybrid, I will have to get some of those to rotate the piston back into the caliper, thanks. Approx what does a set cost? Are they universal sets with standard and metric?

 

That Blue Point set is probably a little more than you would want to pay but this set from Tool Topia is just as good unless you are doing a LOT of brake jobs.....

Astro Brake Caliper Tools

If you just plan on doing one or two brake jobs a year, this would be all that you need:

KD Cube Caliper Reset Tool