Brake Pads

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Hi all

Just a quick one, at my last Toyota Health Check Up with the dealers in September, i was informed my front pads are 70% worn or 30% remaining...but the car brakes fine...should i replace them now??? OR how many more miles do you think they will last?

Also the discs look a likkle rusty to me, should i just replace them anyway, or just the pads???

I've just had a quote for Blue Print front and rear discs and all pads for £120 all in......is that good value?

[Jamesbelfast]

Hiow long is a piece of string!!

Pad wear will depend very much on driving conditions and style.

It may be no bad thing to get the brakes sorted before Winter conditions arrive.

Personally in my experience I have found Bluepoint brake components to be of poor quality but have found that Apec to be that much better but not overly expensive.

[Pezza4u]

Look in the other brake thread for the link to the Mintex boxset for roughly the same price. They're the ones I'm going to get, I love Mintex, highly recommended.

[wayneio]

as mentioned by Pezza4u take a look at the other brake thread for the eBay link. I'm not sure how much they will cost for your model but for the 1.8 sport it was £123 for mintex disc and pads(front and rear), so I would imagine they should be cheaper for your 1.6 model. Probably looking at 2 hours at a garage to fit, I'd say around £100 + vat maximum to have fitted.

[oldcodger]

Hi all

Just a quick one, at my last Toyota Health Check Up with the dealers in September, i was informed my front pads are 70% worn or 30% remaining...but the car brakes fine...should i replace them now??? OR how many more miles do you think they will last?

Also the discs look a likkle rusty to me, should i just replace them anyway, or just the pads???

I've just had a quote for Blue Print front and rear discs and all pads for £120 all in......is that good value?

Hey Sammy,

Afraid I'm very disappointed - you had not checked your brakes for yourself on a regular basis !

You ought to check them at least every 6 months or more, measuring the pad thickness is easy enough - down to 30% well why risk it !!

The discs, well there is a minimum thickness measurement for them too, but also what the contact surface is like is equally important, a badly scored or uneven surface needs to be skimmed or replaced. A bit of surface rust on the contact face is just under use.

£120 for a full set of BluePrints sounds very cheap, generally found them quite dear in respect of other aftermarket ones, though the quality is usually OEM.

Did mine 2 months ago, with my preferred Ferodos , cost £170 which compared well against ECPs Padgits for £220.

Just check that you get the right parts, some catalogues seem to confuse the suppliers and they need the diameter of the rear discs to get the right type ( aparently 2 possible sizes )

[ormi]

as mentioned by Pezza4u take a look at the other brake thread for the ebay link. I'm not sure how much they will cost for your model but for the 1.8 sport it was £123 for mintex disc and pads(front and rear), so I would imagine they should be cheaper for your 1.6 model. Probably looking at 2 hours at a garage to fit, I'd say around £100 + vat maximum to have fitted.

if you go to a dealership your £90 plus vat per hour and front and rear disks and pads labour time is 3 hours 1.5hrs front and 1.5hrs rear

[acetip]

as mentioned by Pezza4u take a look at the other brake thread for the ebay link. I'm not sure how much they will cost for your model but for the 1.8 sport it was £123 for mintex disc and pads(front and rear), so I would imagine they should be cheaper for your 1.6 model. Probably looking at 2 hours at a garage to fit, I'd say around £100 + vat maximum to have fitted.

if you go to a dealership your £90 plus vat per hour and front and rear disks and pads labour time is 3 hours 1.5hrs front and 1.5hrs rear

Time must include tea break.

[mr-p]

as mentioned by Pezza4u take a look at the other brake thread for the ebay link. I'm not sure how much they will cost for your model but for the 1.8 sport it was £123 for mintex disc and pads(front and rear), so I would imagine they should be cheaper for your 1.6 model. Probably looking at 2 hours at a garage to fit, I'd say around £100 + vat maximum to have fitted.

if you go to a dealership your £90 plus vat per hour and front and rear disks and pads labour time is 3 hours 1.5hrs front and 1.5hrs rear

3 hours to do discs and pads all round! i need a new job i had an engine out in less than that today

[chachy zed]

Don't buy blueprint whatever you do you will be wasting your money, mintex pads squeak I wouldn't from personnel experience, APEC discs & pads are good quality iv been using those for the last 5years no problems at all and they are about the same price or just a little bit more than that can't remember but I can check for u if you want I changed the front / rear discs& pads with APEC. No problems at all I payed 40quid for fitting why do u want too pay a dealer waste off money.

[Bong Water]

So this was a little over a month ago.

They would not have worn by anywhere near 30% in that time unless you've been on a trip around Europe.

When is the car next due an MOT/Service?

[Jamesbelfast]

See the attached link for APEC braking.

Their catlogue gives dimensions, etc. Quit a handy tool when checking fitting, etc.

http://www.apecbraking.co.uk/search.php?cat=friction

[CorollaD4D]

Sam please please please do not buy any blueprint rubbish! mintex pads squeal and since they shifted production to the east their quality has dropped majorly, mintex simply aren't the same anymore. even though (to the best of my knowledge) Apec and mintex are part of the same group I would say get yourself some mintex discs and Apec pads, that's probably the best "oem replacement" brake setup you could go with, at a very reasonable cost.

when i quickly scanned down this topic i picked up exotic names like pagid and the other stuff but remember you drive a corolla it's no rocketship so balance cost with performance of the brake setup you choose. for example it would be silly to upgrade to a 6 pot brake setup when the oem brakes do a reasonable job of stopping the car. (i know that's a silly exaggerated example but you get the point).

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Okay so going by all your lots comments (which are highly appreciated!) Blue print seem to be..well...CRAP...basically...however Toyota dealers use them and i only ever see Blue print in their parts department! Anyhooo...where can i get Mintex or Apec at around £120ish for the whole set up??? I have a few T Sport owners comment on prices etc but i have a standard 1.6 SR.

I should have time to shop around and research as im sure 30% remaining wil get me through a few months i would have thought!?! Next service and mot due September 2012

[chachy zed]

Blue man is the best place round in midlands that's were I got mine from. Were are you from..?

[mr-p]

blue print is adl and there is nothing wrong with them for every day driving! i have mintex pads all round on the t sport with grooved discs on the front and adl discs on the rear and have had no problems. the stopping power is immense! pads only squeek because the have not been installed properly ie not enough copper slip on the back of the pads or slider pins so they dont come away from the disc enough or the pad carrier has not been cleaned well enough. if you do change your brakes id suggest new slider pins just as a matter of course, if they are anything like mine were they will be useless to use again

[CorollaD4D]

Dealers use blueprint? Omg somebody come shoot me or the man in toyota who decided this was a good idea! Anyway I agree with mr-p that you should change the slider pins (depending on mileage on the car) they only cost around £35 for a kit from the dealers. If this is the first time you're changing discs and pads on the car since you bought it then i would suggest letting the mechanic give the whole brake system a good clean rather than simply swapping the discs and pads. in the least let them regrease the sliders if they do not need changing.

[Norfolk n Chance]

Mintex pads squeek??

Been rocking Mintex for the past few years and have never had any noise from them!

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Thanks again guys for all your advice BUT im gonna go with OldCodger, Mr P, and corollaD4D on this one...and give them BluePrints a try! They are what Toyota use and i have heard a lot of good things about them...As im planning to do the ENTIRE job myself...so long as i do it properly...a thorough clean using some brake cleaner & the right amounts of copper grease in all the right places...i think i should be okay...and at £120 all in i don't think i can go wrong! I hope to pick them up Tomorrow.

Only thing that worries me is the rear brake disc size, the fronts are standard apparently, but the rears come in 2 sizes, the guy im buying them from said he'll order me the most "COMMON" size...so hey fingers crossed there! Unless Oldcodger still has his old discs that he could measure up for me??? I would have thought all 2006 models regardless of specs would use the same disc size??? I hope it is the LUCAS brake system that i have !!!

[Gasmater]

HiSam

On the t-sport when the brakes need changing thy squeak which happened to me.

I bought Mytec dics (grooved & drilled)mintex pads all round £160 it took.

Just over an hour to fit (ex mr t)this was august up to now no probs.

And no squeaks mr ts standard brakes are rubbish hope this helps

[CorollaD4D]

Mintex pads squeek??

Been rocking Mintex for the past few years and have never had any noise from them!

I know mate you've mentioned this before, but whenever I've used Mintex I get the squeak. Probably the mechanic not fitting them properly.

BUT im gonna go with OldCodger, Mr P, and corollaD4D on this one...and give them BluePrints a try!

I said I disagree with the use of blueprint parts. They don't make their own as far as I know. E.g. I bought a blueprint clutch kit. Inside the clutch plate was made by NKK, the clutch cover was LUK and the bearing a different company all together, just thrown in a blueprint box and sold as blueprint! Go with Mintex discs and Apec or Ferodo Premier pads!

Only thing that worries me is the rear brake disc size, the fronts are standard apparently, but the rears come in 2 sizes, the guy im buying them from said he'll order me the most "COMMON" size...so hey fingers crossed there! Unless Oldcodger still has his old discs that he could measure up for me??? I would have thought all 2006 models regardless of specs would use the same disc size??? I hope it is the LUCAS brake system that i have !!!

If I'm not mistaken the t-sport and diesel corolla use the larger of the 2 disc sizes on the rear. This would lead me to assume all other petrol variants use the smaller diameter disc?

Put your REG in at euro car parts website and then browse the brake disc section. click on more info and it should give you the diameter of the disc for your car? alternatively ring the dealer and give them your reg?

[oldcodger]

...so hey fingers crossed there! Unless Oldcodger still has his old discs that he could measure up for me??? I would have thought all 2006 models regardless of specs would use the same disc size??? I hope it is the LUCAS brake system that i have !!!

Hey Sam,

Think you better whip a wheel off and measure the Rears diameter to be sure, your SR could be different from my CCs which were 258mm and the EMB type not Lucas.

EMB is stamped on the exposed side of the caliper body - defo the fronts anyway.

You can see from this catalogue there are several sizes, for my CC they were 258mm or 279mm so shoud be easy enough to measure the difference.

You have to have the matching pads as well.

Make sure you goto to right ZZE type.

My link

[CorollaD4D]

isn't 258mm or 279mm the two sizes for the front discs?

[Gasmater]

Hi front disc 275 rear 279 from MTEC for ts i think for 2.0 d4d front 255 rear 266 ?

Hope this helps