WARNING: Possible defective Toyota brake pad (rear) (1 Viewer)

[notathomie]

I am still trying to get to the bottom of what happened, but I am 95% sure the friction material on one of my rear brake pads crumbled and fell apart. They were Toyota pads. Inspect yours. See photo below.

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I bought this batch of rear brake pads from Toyota in November 2017.

I checked the rear brake pads ten days ago - November 3rd 2018.

They are a bitch to check, so I took photos. They was plenty of material there (see below) but I noticed the crack on the outside pad. (zoom in)

Fast forward to Sunday and my brakes blew out on the coast. I stopped at my surf beach, removed the hard line for the leaky caliper, and screwed in a plug to eliminate that caliper from the system. (Put a brake line plug in your glove box if you have not already).

I just took everything apart and the only argument that makes sense is the friction material failed.

Arguments against defective friction material:

1) I am driving on extreme roads everyday here, but in 10 years of driving a Hilux on these same roads, I have never had a brake pad crumble on me. And I use aftermarket on the Hilux.

2) Maybe I rebuilt the rear caliper incorrectly and uneven pressure of the piston on the pads cracked them. I doubt it.

3) When I rebuilt the caliper, I could not get the rear dust seals installed properly. So I just placed them on the piston without fitting the inner part of the dust seal into the caliper body. Perhaps that caused uneven pressure on the pads and caused the cracking. But I doubt that caused the failure. I do not see how they could have worked themselves in between the piston and the brake pad. (I know this was stupid. Dust in the piston bushing is not good. But the piston chamber in the caliper was remarkably clean despite my hack dust seal install)

4) The brake disc / drum was rectified (machined flat) when I rebuilt the parking brake. You can see from the picture there is uneven wear on the rotor. Perhaps this contributed to friction material failure. But my other rear rotor is worn unevenly and those brake pads look fine.

Anyway, if you see cracks in your Toyota brake pads from late 2017, switch them out.

I did a quick search online and did not see recall info. Poorhouse had a brake pad separation issue in 2016 And if I read it correctly, these were Toyota parts with 37,000 miles. My pads had about 7000 miles on them.

 

[COYS]

I also had premature rear brake wear with all new OEM pads and rotors. The rear disc was totally rutted out in less than 3K miles. Thanks for bringing this up - I wasn't alone. I'll keep an eye out on this new set of, again, OEM parts.

 

[notathomie]

I bought these direct from the agency - for roughly US$60 per pair. Double aftermarket.

Wonder if the uneven wear on my rotor is contributing to this?

Or is this a stoned bro on the production line in Thailand?

Viva Japan made parts.

 

[JeepinPete]

Sound like the inner pad was dragging, wore prematurely, and likely overheated many times in its year of service. Heat will destroy the friction material in time.

 

[notathomie]

What causes a dragging inner pad?

A piston which will not disengage when brakes are not applied? Maybe my poor dust seal installation prevented the piston from backing off all the way?

There was indication of excessive heat. No smoking and no funky smell.

 

[Qtonic]

I also had premature rear brake wear with all new OEM pads and rotors. The rear disc was totally rutted out in less than 3K miles. Thanks for bringing this up - I wasn't alone. I'll keep an eye out on this new set of, again, OEM parts.

This youtube video also describes nearly new rutted rotors. Not sure if it will help, but might provide some extra evidence or context.

 

[notathomie]

CORRECTION: There was NO indication of excessive heat. No smoking and no funky smell

 

[bigredmachine]

CORRECTION: There was NO indication of excessive heat. No smoking and no funky smell

just because you don't see smoke or smell any burning dosnt mean that they didn't overheat. pads hanging in the bracket and dragging can cause excessive heat, sticking or seized slider pins can also cause issues. the only time that ive seen pads crack like that is when they are either overheated or 10 years old and dried out.

 

[whitrzac]

Your calipers were hanging up and dragging on the rotor. Not defective pads. Defective user.

 

[george_tlc]

Not seen pads (even cheap junk) fail on any vehicles I've owned.

Yes, stuck piston on a caliper and also pins that don't allow the pads to 're-center' when brakes are released. So, agree with many folk ^ that are telling you that the pads aren't likely to be the culprits in this case.

I'd be pointing the finger at issues that prevent the pads from freely moving on the pins and pistons stuck/sticking in the caliper before I'd blame pads for 'crumbling' to pieces.

Time to do some real maintenance and rebuilding of your brake system - including cleaning all moving/sliding bits. New pins, anti-rattle springs etc wouldn't be a bad idea. And then apply some high temp brake grease in all the appropriate areas.

cheers,
george.

 

[White Stripe]

Lack of proper lubrication on moving brake parts and you have excessive corrosion build up not allowing the pad to return correctly. That's why the pad wore so fast. I see it all the time.

 

[Tedward]

Calipers need love too!
I call it a brake caliper tune up. Wire brush, clean, remove old and apply fresh brake grease stuff. Worth the effort in my opinion.

 

[notathomie]

Thanks to the responses above.

I think this is a case of a defective user. This was my first rebuild.

I remember having trouble inserting the rubber bushing / dust guard that mounts inside the pins.

Also, I did not grease the pins.

So I not only failed to lubricate the pin, I may have immobilized the pin with the rubber bushing / dust guard.

Ahem.

Thank god I only live in the mountains.

What high temp brake grease are you using?

Do you just use the small packet of pink grease that comes with the rebuild kit?

Or is there a better option?

 

[notathomie]

Also, check out the top left corner of the picture above.

One corner of the caliper was grinded off. So there is no way to seal the chamber the pin slides in.

So even with a good installation of dust guard and grease, dust will contaminate the pin lubricant prematurely

I need to replace this part of the caliper

 

[RFB]

napa eclipse and EBC pads and OEM brake lines and all is well.

 

[george_tlc]

For grease on pins and for the appropriate areas on the brake pad body (e.g. where the pad body runs against the caliper guides) etc., I use a permatex product -> product pic etc -> https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-24125-Ceramic-Extreme-Lubricant/dp/B0018PSASU

Been using it for a few years now and seems to hold up well, doesn't run and doesn't dry out (quite 'sticky').

Others may have their recommendations too.

cheers,
george.