Bendix Ultimate 4WD Brake Upgrade Kit Review

It’s been a few months since I had the front and rear Bendix Ultimate 4WD Brake Upgrade Kits fitted to my 2007 Toyota Prado, and I’ve done a good stretch of driving since then to assess the gear’s impact. While the majority of those kilometres have been on sealed roads in and around Melbourne, I’ve also hooked up the family camper trailer and spent some time off-road in my local state forest, as well as a stint in Victoria's High Country for good measure.

By way of a brief recap, the Prado’s OEM brake rotors were up for replacement and the crew at Bendix offered caravancampingsales a front and rear brake upgrade kit for assessment. Replacing the rotors with aftermarket gear would have cost around $1300 while new OEM gear would have pushed the bill to roughly $2000, so the cost of the Bendix hardware, at $2094 plus fitting ($1295 for the front kit; $799 for the rear), makes pretty good sense should the performance claims stack up.

Normally you would order the Bendix kits (either online or via a stockist) and then have the gear fitted at your local workshop. Of course, there’s nothing stopping home mechanics from fitting these kits themselves but, having now observed the process first-hand, I was happy to leave it to the experts at Bendix partner Fulcrum Suspensions, and the trusty team at Fulcrum’s Pakenham (Vic) outlet.

The front kit comes neatly packaged in a 60L Bendix icebox, which is a nice bonus. Inside is everything you need to upgrade your front brakes, including:
• 2 x Bendix Ultimate 4WD brake rotors
• 2 x pairs of Bendix Ultimate 4WD ceramic brake pads
• Ultimate braided brake hoses
• Brake fluid
• 1 x spray can of brake clean-up fluid
• 1 x packet of rotor wipes
• 1 x tube of Ceramasil Brake Part Lubricant

Rear kits comprise the same, minus the icebox. Check out our previous article on fitting these Bendix kits for more on the nitty-gritty on the benefits offered by the various Bendix components.

The Prado’s factory brakes were generally fine when getting about town, but they quickly reached their limits when the Prado was loaded up for a family off-road adventure, and especially when towing our (admittedly light, at 500kg tare) camper trailer. Add in the usual array of weighty 4x4 accessories, tools, and camping and recovery gear, and those standard brakes were starting to feel pretty average, both in terms of power and feel, and of course stopping distance.

So, what difference has the Bendix upgrade made? To establish a yardstick of sorts, I conducted some brake tests both before and after the changeover. Okay, so we’re not talking about precision lab testing, but the tests were done on two days with near identical weather (sunny) on the same sealed (private) road, with an identical load (and a full tank of fuel – not insignificant in the 120 Series diesel Prado, at 180 litres).

I should also highlight that while I've also recently had my Prado fitted with new Formula 4x4 off-road suspension, the brake testing I carried out occurred before the new suspension went on.

After conducting multiple emergency stops from both 60km/h and 80km/h, the difference with the Bendix gear fitted was clear: the average stopping distance decreased by 13.5 per cent from 60km/h and by 21.8% from 80km/h.

Those figures were backed up by the seat-of-pants feel when behind the wheel. While the brakes have maintained their nice, progressive nature – there wasn’t a heap of initial bite before and that aspect hasn’t really changed – there is a higher level of feedback at the pedal and the brakes in general do feel appreciably stronger.

While of course the Bendix rotors and pads do their bit here, a significant piece of the puzzle is down to the new Bendix braided brake lines, which eliminate the flex you can get in standard lines. Add all these aspects together and you’ve got stronger, more confident braking.

While this lift in braking performance is very welcome for everyday driving, the most impressive bit for me is when I’m towing our camper trailer. Now this camper is light enough to not need its own trailer brakes, but it can still weigh in at up to 750kg and that's all extra pressure on the Prado's anchors.

Previously I’d had some oh-my-god, buttock-clenching moments when I’d had to pull up the rig – and a fully loaded car – in a hell of a hurry. A last-second red light, a ’roo bounding across a dirt road, that sort of thing. But the extra power of the Bendix system just pulls things up that bit faster, and with that bit more confidence.

And the extra feel is a benefit for slow-speed technical off-roading, too, with or without the camper. After spending a day in the bush near my place and then more time on some steep and technical tracks in the Victorian High Country, the extra performance of the Bendix setup meant making those tiny braking adjustments as you gently edge over a drop or obstacle was easy and secure.

Again, it’s just an improved sense of control, while the slots and dimples don’t go all the way through the rotors so they don’t trap dirt, mud and debris.

Across all of this, I wouldn't say it's a night-and-day contrast between new and old, but this Bendix upgrade represents an appreciable and significant lift in braking performance nonetheless, and a worthy upgrade when the time comes to replace your 4x4's old and worn rotors. I imagine the difference when drum-to-disc conversions or the six-piston calipers are involved is even more pronounced.

Many people immediately target power and torque upgrades to boost the performance of their 4x4 – engine chips, exhausts, that sort of thing – but to me it makes so much more sense to get the vehicle stopping better first.

The Bendix Ultimate 4WD Brake Upgrade Kit represents an easy and relatively affordable investment that puts safety at the top of the priority list. For family off-roaders like myself, these Bendix kits just makes sense.