The Prius is a small hatchback sedan made by Toyota. The Prius is powered by a small gasoline engine and an electric motor although only one mode of power works at a time. The switching from one mode of power to the other happens automatically, depending on speed and other conditions. The Prius is marketed as a hybrid vehicle due to its dual power plants. The front brakes on your Prius, however, look similar to braking systems on other small sedans. You can replace your worn out brake pads in just a few minutes with mechanic’s tools.
Apply the parking brake. Raise the front of the car with a hydraulic jack and place jack stands under the front frame rails. Lower the jack, placing the weight of your car solely on the jack stands.
Remove the front wheel lug nuts with a lug wrench turned in a counterclockwise direction. Lift the wheels off of the wheel hubs and roll them out of your working space. Set the lug nuts aside.
Remove the two bolts from the brake caliper with an adjustable wrench turned in a counterclockwise direction. Set the bolts aside. Pull the caliper off of the rotor and hang it onto the strut in the upper wheelwell with a bungee cord. Be careful with the caliper as the rubber brake line will still be attached to it.
Pull the two brake pads straight out of the caliper and discard them. Use a C-clamp to compress the piston back into the caliper to make room for the new thicker brake pads. Slide two new pads back into the caliper, making sure the lining of each pad faces the other. Spray brake cleaner onto the caliper, if it is dirty, before reinstalling it.
Unhook the bungee cord from the caliper. Slide the caliper over the rotor, lining up the mounting holes in the caliper with the holes in the caliper bracket. Thread the caliper holding bolts back into the holes and tighten them with an adjustable wrench in a clockwise direction.
Repeat the above steps to replace the pads on the other front wheel.
Replace the wheels and tighten the lug nuts in a clockwise direction with the lug wrench. Raise the car with the hydraulic jack and remove the jack stands from underneath. Lower the hydraulic jack until the car is on the ground.
