Can changing from shoes to pads affect the car?

Tiny
ONYEMA
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 TOYOTA RAV4
  • 131,000 MILES
How would changing the rear brake shoes to pads affect the vehicle? Is it okay to do so or do I leave it the way it was originally manufactured?
Saturday, June 16th, 2012 AT 5:22 AM

3 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
I would just leave it the way it came from the factory it would be costly to change it. If it was even a option to have rear discs drums work just fine.
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Saturday, June 16th, 2012 AT 5:27 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Changing from shoes to disc does not make braking efficiency improve under normal circumstances.

The brakes are well calibrated and you should not be changing the rear to disc hoping that it would improve efficiency. The reason for disc is that it dissipates heat faster so the only time it would be different in efficiency is it does not fade as fast as a drum brake system and this occurs only when the brakes are used excessively.

If you are planning to use the car for racing purposes, then it would be the thing to do.
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Saturday, June 16th, 2012 AT 1:02 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
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Also make sure you keep the rear shoes properly adjusted.
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Saturday, June 16th, 2012 AT 1:34 PM

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