I'm ready to do a rear brake job on my Gen3. I'll very likely use genuine Toyota parts but would also like to see what the various oem suppliers in Japan have to offer. But I can't find any suppliers except Akebono and Tokico, and Tokico after-market offering seems to be primarily for Kawasaki bikes. It's easy to identify suppliers in US and Europe, but I'm coming up short for Japan.
FWIW, when I replaced the rear pads (long story) I used Toyota parts, thought they were quite reasonably price, well by Canadian standards: 04466-76012 PAD SET, BRAKE $99.69 04946-47070 SHIM KIT, BRAKE $16.77 A couple of cautions: 1. To be safest: disconnect the 12 volt battery negative cable before starting, to avoid possible accidental activation of the brake pressurizing system while the caliper's off the disc. Also, before reconnecting, press brake pedal multiple times, to ensure pads are well seated. 2. Be sure to rotate caliper piston so that pin on inside pad back falls between it's spokes (pattern on piston face). Also ensure the pads are well seated with multiple brake pedal depressions(per number 1), and that the pin remains locked between the piston spokes. (the long story, in my case)
Many thanks for the hints and manual excerpt! I subscribe to alldata.com and I can say that your excerpt has much better integration of images and text. Prius rear caliper system seems very similar to the Lockeheed/Girling systems that I have serviced. Question: Do I have to simultaneously press and rotate the piston to retract it? Or just rotate it?
It's threaded, so as you turn (clockwise) it screws in. Still, you grip it by pressing against the spoke pattern, so pressure is needed to avoid slipping. There's a cube shaped ratchet wrench attachment that really helps, or in a pinch you can use pliers tips. The cube thing is readily available, around $5.
The name is kind of confusing. It's really for rear disc brakes, the kind with parking brake integrated: Front brakes you just push, say with a C-clamp. Do be careful doing Prius front brakes though, they have plastic pistons (Toyota calls it "resin"): make sure to place plywood scrap or similar across the full face, spread the load.
Thanks, I have at least one of these cube things plus a Schwaben brake kit, so piston retraction shouldn't be a problem. Your comment about resin pistons is most interesting. Since Prius's don't produce a lot of brake dust, I assume that the original brake pads are organic, ceramic or some blend there of. I would highly recommend that everyone use these pads as replacement, given that the front pistons are resin. Having looked at aftermarket pads, I've seen some semi-metallic ones. An issue is that semi-metallic pads conduct heat back to the piston more readily than organic or ceramic pads, and enough heat might damage the resin piston. You'll notice that vehicles that use semi-metallic pads (European mostly, as evidenced by brake dust) specify DOT4 brake fluid that has a higher boiling point. Because of regenerative braking, Prius's may be immune from this heat problem, but why conduct an experiment. I'll be using genuine Toyota brake parts.
