Prado bad breaks

Hi,

I have owned a 90 series since new in 98. I have run original and DBA rotors but cannot tell the difference. The biggest difference is in the pads. I have tried a number of brands over the years and the BEST by a long shot are TRW/Lucas. They are European made ISO certified and nothing comes close.

The only drawback with them is that they do produce dust, but apart from that I haven't experienced any fade and they are brilliant through water crossings.

Have a look at http://www.4x4galore.com and you will see how involved in the 4WD scene I am and that I speak from experience.

I had a Magna a few years ago with the same problem. Put in a new set of softer grade pads & problem solved.

Like someone said more brake dust & you have to check them for wear more often but thats a small price to pay.

must say I'm surprised as I have the same Prado (no ABS). Brakes are excellent, not sure what disc I have on.
JS.

g'day mate i own a mechanical business and found the same with my 120 series prado when under load it would not like to stop, so i fitted slotted and drilled rotors with hd bendix pads and fitted braided brake hoses and as if by magic it stops like magic especially with unbraked boat on the back
not a cheap fix but if you keep your car for a long time as i do it's a worthwhile fix.
ps. did the same to my old gq patrol
rick

Have had 2 90 series (still have one diesel) and have always used Bendix 4wd pads, never had an issue BUT both my 90's have/had abs. The abs on the petrol 90 I had was a different set up on the diesel 90 I have now, it runs its own pump, doesnt get its vacuum from the engine, I think any thing with traction control is the same even the 120 series petrol or diesel, and boy do they stop, if you wernt wearing a seatbelt and hit the brakes you would end up through the windscreen, fantastic system but apparently expensive to fix if it goes bang, I believe in the vicinity of 3g's to replace it. Regards Steve

Hi,

i have a 90 without ABS and i had the same issue , could step onto the brake pedal and nothing happened.

i paid the money and had ARB replace all the rotors with the slotted once and put the bendix 4 x 4 pads in.

In all honesty , the improvement was small , i still have to always remind myself when i use the Prado after i have not driven it for month that it is not like my commodore , it is heavier and needs a lot longer to stop.

As i said , the new rotors and pads did make a small difference but i am still disappointed with the result.

Hope this will assist you.

To all those people suggesting Bendix pads. If you check the Bendix site you will note that Bendix say their 4WD pads will still work at temperatures of around 380 c where other cheaper pads work at under 300 c.Check out the TRW/Lucas site where their pads operate between 100 c and 650 c.

Better still have a read of this... http://web.ace.net.au/soarer/lucas_trw.html

My Prado gets used a lot in the mountains of Victoria and I can tell you from experience, some of those cheap pads will continually fade on long steep downhill sections, leaving the only option to descend very slowly in 1st low. And water fade with a lot of pads is a real issue.

billborric