CRowe14

Good job on jumping right on the return process.
Just an FYI, from my personal experience, that function on Amazon, the "this fits your vehicle" function, isn't always accurate (as you've experienced).
I almost always find out who the distributor is and locate the contact information to call and speak to them to assure there is a common understanding between what I need versus what they are sending me.
Regarding the link for the rotors I purchased, I'll have to look in my eBay history and get it to you in a few...
That is, if Roadfrog or Double don't get it to you first...lol
Oh, btw, I don't have Centric rotors though, I have Bendix brand.

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

If you could get me the exact part number for the rotors you bought that would be great. I'm going to try and call Centric and figure out what happened.

EDIT: I went to Centric's website and found out I need the Centric Parts 121.44148 C-Tek Standard Brake Rotor. This rotor is good for either front side I believe and it's only $36 on amazon prime. The rotors I bought it looks like are for the touring package...so maybe for the sport model with the brembo brakes? They were $100/each vs. $36 for the 121.44148.

I would still like to get confirmation from Centric that these are the rotors I need.

CRowe14

Yeah, that's what I thought, especially after seeing the photo of the rotors side by side, and being able to immediately identify the diameter differential between the two.
When you were saying they didn't fit, I didn't realize you were speaking about the diameter.
I thought you meant they weren't sitting flush against the hub, and were "poking out" further than they were supposed to.
That's why I had mentioned that yesterday in my initial response to your situation, wondering if they sent you the Touring rotors.
Also, just to be sure, you may want to check your pads to make sure that they have the grove for the placement of the brake sensor.
I had to specify that I had brake sensors to assure I was being sent the correct pads, because there is a possibility that you will be sent pads that do not have a dedicated slot for the OEM sensor. The sensors are on the F and R passenger side.
I'll get those numbers for you shortly, sorry about the delay.

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

That's a good point about the brake pads, I have no idea. I ordered the Akebono ACT1282 & ACT1283. I'll have to figure that out.

I called Centric and sure enough they confirmed that got the wrong rotors. They directed me to a local store that carries Centric rotors. I gave them a call and I have two options, either the 121.44148/9 which are the standard rotors. They are considered the OE replacement and they run about $45 each for the front and $35 each for the rear. Then they have what they call their premium rotors which apparently have a special finish where the rotor contacts the hub, etc. These are about 60-70% more expensive. I think I'm just going to go for the standard rotors 121.44148/9.

CRowe14

Nothing wrong with the standards at all, and those number(s) are the numbers I was able to gather for you:
Front: 120.44148
Rear: 120.44149
I also verified (as you probably did) that the front rotors are the same size (D and P side) as well as the rears.

Regarding the slot for the sensors, just look at the pads on the pad side, and you'll see a small square-ish shaped cut-out near the top of the pad, right where that grove is that's between the two large pad surface area's.

roadfrog

I installed these on my LS. Price works out to less than 25 bucks per rotor with free shipping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rear-315-mm-Quality-OE-Brake-Rotors-LEXUS-LS460-2007-2008-/111839769541?vxp=mtr

CRowe14

I find it funny how the cost of rotors (and other items) can vary so much from not only site to site, but more specifically, the same manufacturer on site to site, vendor to vendor.
Im not talking about different lines within a brand either. I mean apples to apples.
For example, the baseline Centric rotor for the LS...
I've seen it for as low as $28.98 to $64.99 per rotor.
Depending on my mood, I find it comical.

roadfrog

Bwhahaha, That made me LOL...literally.

Yeah, I agree. For example, that very listing I posted was 3 dollars cheaper last week. I find that in other listings as well. Even in the same day, the same vendor with the same part, two listings down, is a different price.

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info guys...

I actually ended up going with the Front: 121.44148 / Rear: 121.44149. The 121 series is the C-Tek standard model while the 120 series is the premium. I'm getting them locally. Will I be fine with the C-Tek standard series?

CRowe14

Hell, I think you'll be excellent with that choice!
They're a well known brand so I'd like to believe that there's much less possibility that they'll come out of the box, defective/slightly un uniform/warped.
Your not going for any type of performance or anything like that, so a traditional rotor should be perfectly fine.
Without getting into the metallurgy/coating element of rotors...slotted, drilled and all of that, a good baseline rotor from a known manufacturer should serve well for its intended purpose.
Im sure, maybe there may be some added characteristic of the 120 series to justify the price hike, im just not sure what it is.
But I think you'll be fine with the purchase you made.
Just my $.02 though...

CRowe14

Now that...
Simply.
Ridiculous.

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

So I just finished the front rotors and pads, in just under 2 hours start to finish. Very straight forward and the little practice run I had the other day with the wrong size rotors definitely helped.

I do have a couple questions though:

1. The new pads just barely fit when put into the calipers with the top shim from the old pad. But they went in with a little wiggling. When I turned the rotor with the new pads in, there was a rubbing sound of the pads rubbing against the rotors. And once tires were back on and I took it for a little tester around the block, I can faintly hear the pads rubbing the rotors. Is this normal? Will it go away as the pads wear down? The sound is more prominent when applying the brakes.

2. I haven't done any bedding procedures yet but the brakes, just going around the block, seem a little faint. Like they aren't stopping as quick. But I think I read this is normal until the pads break in.

3. When starting the car for the first time after finishing, it died immediately. I heard a little pop sound but I think that was the caliper pistons, I heard something similar when putting everything together the last time. Every seems to be running fine after firing it back up and taking for a test drive.

CRowe14

[QUOTE=sdwtchlvr;9286187]So I just finished the front rotors and pads, in just under 2 hours start to finish. Very straight forward and the little practice run I had the other day with the wrong size rotors definitely helped.

I do have a couple questions though:

1. The new pads just barely fit when put into the calipers with the top shim from the old pad. But they went in with a little wiggling. When I turned the rotor with the new pads in, there was a rubbing sound of the pads rubbing against the rotors. And once tires were back on and I took it for a little tester around the block, I can faintly hear the pads rubbing the rotors. Is this normal? Will it go away as the pads wear down? The sound is more prominent when applying the brakes.
I do remember experiencing the same thing, regarding it seeming like there wasn't enough room to get the new pads in.
I used a small screw driver to push in the pistons while wiggling the new pads in. Took a lot of wiggling though!
I didn't have any rubbing noise after I completed my brakes-front or rear, so im honestly not sure.
Perhaps they need to be re-aligned. I thought that was a foolish shop item charge that Lexus said they had to perform, but apparently it something that some vehicles need to be done after a brake change out. Just my guess though.
I addressed why I went to Lexus after my brake job earlier in this thread.


2. I haven't done any bedding procedures yet but the brakes, just going around the block, seem a little faint. Like they aren't stopping as quick. But I think I read this is normal until the pads break in.
I personally didn't perform any bedding, but here is a thread from Ascari_2 detailing his process:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...missing-2.html

Go to entry #30, but the entire thread is a good read if you haven't looked at it already.


3. When starting the car for the first time after finishing, it died immediately. I heard a little pop sound but I think that was the caliper pistons, I heard something similar when putting everything together the last time. Every seems to be running fine after firing it back up and taking for a test drive. Did you remove your negative battery cable?
I think mine did the same thing but I cant recall, and I for sure didn't remove my cable for the brakes.
When I recently installed my PS module, I did disconnect my negative terminal and once I re-connected it and started the car, it did nearly shut off, but it stayed running and was fine after that.
So many computers in this car regarding the start-up procedure/vehicle checks, it needed to quickly do a confirmation/"re-boot-up" process.

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

Thanks or the reply. I did a bedding procedure on the pads and they seem fine now. I googled pad rubbing on rotor after brake job and quite a few people said bedding the pads would take care of it and it seems like it did. I'm doing the rear brakes Thursday morning.

I have to say that the car drives totally different. Since owning the car (3 months), the brakes have had this grind when slowing at slow speeds that could be felt in the brake pedal and a terrible shudder at highway speeds. My son who sits in the back seat likes to hear his voice shake when I brake on the highway so he's constantly humming back there and it was adding insult to injury.

The car felt heavy and clumsy. I took it on the highway yesterday and it brakes quiet and quickly, as it should. And with the new (correct) rotors I picked up, the parts ran me a smidgen over $200 and probably another $100 for tools that I didn't have.

I will say that the impact wrench for $60 was money well spent. Even with WD-40 and liquid wrench, my caliber bolts weren't budging. I sat there for 20 minutes trying to break loose a couple bolts and my hand slipped at one point and I banged it pretty good. Just seemed a little dangerous considering the tight spot too. I thought it was a good buy.

Thank you to all the guys who chimed in! Will definitely be doing this job on every car I own going forward.

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

Quick update, brakes have been working just fine. But after a big storm here in San Diego, my rotor caps are completely rusted over and look like hell. I went with the Centric C-tek rotors. The cap was NOT painted but now it's painted rust color.

Other than getting new rotors with a proper painted hat, is there anything I can do to treat the cap? Sand the rust off and paint it with caliper paint of something?