MadMax96

I went to do my brakes this past weekend since the temps were in the upper 50s in Chicago

For the front I was going to do rotors & pads and for the back I was just going to do pads.

Off to a slow start - I didn't get too far with the front - I went to a friend's place who has a larger garage to do the work figuring it would be easier. Nope - we couldn't get the front calipers off to save our lives. Breaker bar and slick-50 spray lube AND a torch didn't help. He didn't have air tools (I do) and they didn't look too bad since there was a decent amount of pad material left so I figure I'd just try again at home with my impact gun at a later date.

On to the back - oh man, these rotors look like crap, and I only purchased pads! I knew I couldn't find a Brembo back rotor at a local parts store, but any new rotor had to be better than what was on the car. I figure we should try to see if we could first get the rotor off. Well we tried to get that hub nut off with a breaker bar, but it wouldn't budge (I was shocked he had a large socket for it! We weren't sure if it was normal thread or reverse thread so didn't want to risk damage to anything, so we didn't really pound on it.

The pads were toast and the back sensor was the one that tripped. I tried the solder technique but the solder didn't stick for crap - so I snipped the wire and soldered them together to avoid seeing the warning message on the dash. I plan on replacing the rotors soon, but it sucks since I'll have to chuck these almost-new pads so soon. I got Satisfied Ceramic front and back from Tirerack FYI - they've always done well for me. I'll also replace the sensor next time I'm back there.

On to the left side - figuring pads would be a snap and we could finish up quick. NOPE! One of the caliper bolts was boogered up good, it wouldn't budge. The sad thing is that up until now, the car had ALWAYS been serviced by the Lexus dealer from the 2 previous owners. So this HAD to have been done by a careless tech who probably put the bolt on with a impact gun... bastids! We got the other bolt off w/o any drama and I was able to pivot the caliper off the rotor to do the pads.

Sorry for the long story - but it was nothing but frustrating to spend 3-1/2 hrs and getting almost nothing done. Between my friend and myself, we've probably done 30+ brake jobs - this shouldn't have been this bad!

So, uh, anyone have any tips/tricks for the rear rotor replacement? I'm curious to see how the drum parking brake looks underneath too.

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

no need to undo the main bolt it does not hold the rotors in.
Apply some heat and pb blaster to the bolts to remove them as wd 40 only displaces water.
Hopefully the caliper is only stuck and not the rotor to the hub as well.

MadMax96

The caliper was stuck on the front - I know it's just a matter of getting a impact gun on that sucker.

But the rotor was stuck on the rear axle . So you're saying after I remove the two phillips screws it should pop right off? I didn't try smacking it with a mallet or anything.

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

Both front and rear rotors should have 2 holes on the hub face between the studs with threads to screw in a bolt and pop them off. I think the rear caliper bolts are the right thread pitch and size for both.

steveski

Even with all bolts removed I had to whack mine with a mallet to release the rear rotors. They were very tight and getting them to release was tough.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

theres 2 bolt holes on the face of the rotor that you insert a screw into to "push" the rotor off the hub.

MadMax96

Ok cool - I get the use of the bolts pushing the rotor off, but when my friend and I looked at it, it appeared attached at the hub. Since I didn't have the replacement rotors handy, I wasn't about to wail on the old ones with a mallet or anything.

Thanks for the help guys.

19psi

make sure you release the ebrake too, the inner shoes in the rear will hold that rotor on. pull hte rubber plug and turn the adjuster to loosen the tension on the ebrake shoes.

cire

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/brake/rbrotor.html

i know it's for 90-94. but, it's pretty close. are the 98-00 rear calipers still floating or fixed like the ls430s?

i'd also advise to back off the parking brake adjustment to make it easier for removing the rotor.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=224819

same process as the front, just make sure the ebrake is off.