New Brake Discs - Finally. Not Without A F*** Up

[nrgizerbunny]

Well my brake woes are finally over, 3G and ebc's are on. The different is HUGE!

However, this was not without lots of swearing explitifs etc. I had no problem withe the fronts but the backs were a bleeding nightmare.

I ended up bending the pins that hold the shoes on and deforming the shield slightly, anyway i hammered it back and its okay now but the design of the rear brakes on this car is really really cack. If you are over 50k+ or nearing it, i would strongly suggest you get your shoes checked out. Either some plank put my shoes on or there is a a bit of a design flaw.

[Norfolk n Chance]

Care to elaborate on the shoes?

I've just passed 50k.

[cabcurtains]

If where talking about the handbrake shoes, then yeah its a bit tricky till you get the hang of it.

If where not talking about the handbrake then ignore me

[nrgizerbunny]

well its kind of linked to the handbrake shoes. Basically the handbrake in the corolla "Floats" on 2 pins, it is designed to rub ever so slightly on the inside of the brake disc to keep it centered .Where this causes a problem is either through heat or age. THis usually leads the adjuster to seize, so when you try and take the brake disc off, you end up bending the pins holding the shoes on. It doesn't help that at each service the toyota mechanic tightens the handbrake cable up either without doing it on the adjuster.

The other probelm is as the car ages and the adjuster has to move the shoes outwards, this will *probably* end up bending the pins and causing them to fail through fatigue. Its not a life threatening problem if the part breaks and you probably wouldn't notice it but it will cause brake drag. i'll post some pictures up to show.

[fuzzwaldo]

hi

how much did you pay for the discs and pads and where did you get them from.

i am due a new set for my car

cheers

[nrgizerbunny]

£388 from 3G. Just a word of warning though. the ceramic pads seem to squeak like crazy. not sure if its cos i've only done 50 miles on them but they are bad!

[nrgizerbunny]

here's the back brake disc, the shoes were rubbing and caused a stress fracture through the draw off holes. when i drew it off it sheared in half

here's my cracked black diamond brake discs, it just looks like brake dust in this picture but believe me they were multiple cracks

[Wakey-T-Sport]

do you mean the hand brake shoes or the brake pads?

cos i wrk for toyota and dont know of any probs

[nrgizerbunny]

shoes,

*I think* the guy that serviced my car had left the brake shoes either too tight or too lose, don't know at this point. This caused them to either heat up by rubbing or moving up and down - don't know which as i didn't check when i took the discs off.

The heat caused the pins at the back to bend slightly which made the problem worse and the local hot spot trashed the disc. I was told rightly or wrongly by the local toyota garage that there has been a TSB about it - different spring and pin assembly? not sure if they are trying to fob me off but i've compiled a report and off to send it to toyota GB.

Incidentally the replacement pins and springs i got are of a different colour and they are much harder and less likely to neck. I had them checked over by the materials boys at work.