pmiller

Well, I installed the Centric rotors and Akebono pads this weekend. Spent about 10 hours over 2 days doing it. I did the front yesterday and the rear today. I made some mistakes, broke a tool, borrowed tools from a neighbor, and worked my *** off. All the squatting, lifting, moving, etc. is too much for a 41 year old man. Not sure I will do it again, but I am glad I did it. I learned a lot and now understand brakes a whole lot better. So, I finished around 3:30 today. I took it for a test drive and all works well. I did some hard braking on the freeway. The vibration that I had before is gone. I think the Akebono pads stop the car better. Not sure exactly, but it feels like it. Overall, I am satisfied with the change. I will report back in a few days, weeks, and months as to how everything is. Thanks to everyone for the tips and suggestions. FWIW, I spent $160 on rotors, $150 on pads, and $25 on miscellaneous parts, lub, etc. So, instead of Lexus resurfacing the rotors for $550, I got new rotors and better pads for $335. Not a bad deal.

pmiller

Lesson I learned today is to take pictures as you take things apart so you know how they go back together. I referred to my pictures several times. I learned this trick when working on my stereo equipment.

09LS460

How did you get all 4 rotors for $160?

Even their basic Centric rotors are $188 and change. plus shipping of about $25 to UT from wherever they are.....

pmiller

I bought the rotors from parts geek and the pads at Advanced Auto. I looked on line for the pads and didn't even think I could get Akebono pads for the front, but Advanced Auto had them.

09LS460

Sorry, I didn't explain that I had added all 4 wheels to my cart on Parts Geek and my pricing was the $188 plus the shipping.......oh well.....was just curious.

mdorn98

@pmiller did you uncap the brake master cylinder before doing the job? Also how did you compress the pistons? I had planned on using a c clamp and one of the old pads. Sorry about all the questions but also how and where did you jack up your car? Also did you have any trouble with the metal spring clips on the calipers and did you clean the hub after you took off the old caliper? Ive been told to do this to get rid of corrosion but I don't drive the car in the rain so Im not sure it applies. Any photos would be Fantastic. Thanks, Mike

pmiller

mdorn98, I would suggest watching some YouTube videos. Yes, I uncapped the brake fluid reservoir to release the pressure. Yes, I used a c-clamp to push the piston in on most of them. On a couple, I just wedged a screw driver in there and pushed them in. There were 4 on each front caliper and 2 on each rear caliper. I used the jack that came with the car and then put jack stands under the car. I did the front and then the back as I only had 2 stands. I didn't clean the hub. Didn't really think about it. I did take the opportunity to clean back of the wheel to remove most of the dust. Some wouldn't come off easily and I didn't feel like scrubbing too hard. The whole process is exhausting work. No trouble with the metal springs. That is where I would take pictures as you take it apart to reference when you put them back together. I realized while doing the rear pads, that I installed the front springs incorrectly. I looked back at my picture when I took the front wheels off again. Sure enough, I did it wrong. So, yes I took the wheels off the front twice. My son asked me when I started to take the front off again, "Dad, I thought you already finished with those". I had to admit my mistake. I took some photos but not sure they'd do much good. Watching a video is the best thing to do. I searched for Lexus LS brakes on YouTube, I believe, and found one for an LS 430. It turned out to be very similar to the 460. The springs are different, but the rest is about the same. I also watched some other videos just on brake rotors and pads to get tips such as applying caliper and break grease, using brake cleaner to clean the part,s and maybe a couple of other things. I spent about a week doing research before taking the plunge.
Feel free to ask me any other questions. I'm more than willing to provide advice.

pmiller

09LS460, maybe mine were on sale because I bought all 4 rotors too.

mdorn98

@ pmiller thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate that you took the time to answer everything and you cleared up quite a bit of stuff for me. Ive watched those videos on the LS 430 and they were helpful. I think when I do mine I will use my go pro for in wheel arch and my dslr for out of wheel arch footage to capture what I did and create a tutorial since there really isn't one for the ls460. Hopefully then it will help anyone else who wants to try it.

williakz

I'm buying some popcorn for the show. Then new rotors and pads along with copious quantities of blood, sweat, swearing, and tears. Can't wait...

pmiller

Willakz, plenty of sweat and swearing. I didn't remember much blood, but I see several nice cuts on my calf. Gotta be from the weekend. Not too many tears...hahaha!!! All worth it so far. Brakes are doing well.

miamigs400

There is a company called EBC. I used to have them on a g35 and they were pretty awesome. Want to put them on my GS soon.

pmiller

Well, it's been a week and all is still good on my brake job. Just wanted to report an update.
Thanks.

pmiller

It's been 2 weeks or so and all is good.

Tee

Great! I just replaced the front and rear pads along with re-surfacing the rotors last Sat, the Akebono pads defiantly/perform are better than the OEM ones and love the minimum to almost no dust build up.