additude

I have a 1997 LS 400 and I am changing the pads, rotors and putting new tires on the car. Is there anything I need to know that might surprise me when putting on the new rotors?

Anything I have to be careful of? Any tricks? Special tools?

I also posted this in the Brakes forum.

Thanks,

Wes

saustin

One thing that happened to me on a front break job was that the mechanic "broke" the sensor on one side. It was about a $80 part best I can remember. (If it wasn't replaced it left a warning light on...)

ychachad

Rear rotors are a B*tch to take off as they involve the park brake. I would recommend ceramic pads, the std semi-metallic won't cut it. Bendix, Raybestos are easy to get and work great.
No special tools are required, but a nail tapper is good to have to push out the pins on the front calipers. Finally, torque your lugs to about 80 ft-lb. Ask your tire mech to follow that, or risk breaking your lugs bolts. Have a bottle of DOT4 fluid handy, better yet, bleed your brakes while you are at it.

Tammy

Torque the lug nuts carefully, Lexus spec has been 76 Ft Lbs, dry (no Grease) or 71 Ft Lbs., wet (Greased) ... over the spec too much and you could warp your new rotors, in addition to twisting off the lug studs.. My lug nuts use a 21 MM, deep ½ socket. If you don't have one, a 150 Ft Lb MAX ratchet torque wrench is handy.

A thin coat of brake anti-squeel is used between the pad and shims, if installed...

If you have anti-lock brakes with a brake pump, you may need to "dealer" for a brake bleeding, since the service computer is needed to activate the various valves in the pump while running the pump stand alone. Toyota standard uses DOT 3 Fluid.

Lastly, take your time and check your work as you perform each step. Good Luck !

additude

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I have now completed one side, front and rear. Learning experience. The next side will go smoother...maybe.

Here are some challenging points I learned so far.

1. Have some of that squeel grease handy, or don't wipe off the metal shims, etc. when you take them off the old pads and you can scrape some of the grease off the old pads and wipe it on the new ones.

2. Be very careful when removing the two phillips head screws that hold the rotor on. Use a new #2 phillips screw driver (A good one that will not damage/strip the screw end) and put some force and pressure into taking those screws out. Mine were pretty frozen in....they cracked loose and had I not leaned into it keeping the point of the screw driver into the phillips screw slot I would have stripped the screw slot...that would have been a *****....and it almost happened to me twice even though I was being cautious.

3. My rotors were rusted inside where they touch the spindle hub and I had to use a small 2 pound sledge and "work" them off. Bang the rotor area around the hub, bang the backside of the rotor disk, rotating the disk as you go. If you are going to replace the rotor then no need to worry about damaging the rotor. You don't need hard blows, but hard enough to crack/fracture the rust.

4. The back brakes/rotors are more difficult. You can't rotoate the disk and can only work from one end. 2 hammers work well, one ball peen banging the hub and the 2 pound sledge banging the back of the rotor. Took me about 5-10 minutes to get it off.

5. The back disk pads have a set (2) of spreader springs that are a bear to get back in. The two springs have upward ends that fit into small holes on one side of the pad. It's tough to get the springs in those holes across both pads while trying to get them into the housing then into the cutouts for the pad ends. I managed to get both springs into one pad, the caliper piston side, slide that pad in and then work on the brace side pad. It took some fine manuevering and a bit of luck, but they went in. It may be possible to put the pads together (face to face), slide the springs in the holes and drop the whole thing into the opening then fit the pads into the end slots. I'll try that on side two when I do it later today.

6. I recommend getting a stainless steel brush to clean the hubs off of the rust and some scratch pads to clean the area up before putting the rotors back on.

So far, that's what I know...

Now on to side two..

Wes

additude

Alright, it's all done. But I found out I should have started the right side first because that's the side with the sensors. It's not a big problem for the front as all 4 pads have the cutout the sensor slips in, however for the rear, only 2 pads have the opening correctly orientated for the sensor, and of course I put both those pads on the left side.

But that was fine because I was able to go back and use some Anti-Sieze lube I had just bought and was able to grease the pad shims, bolts, etc.

All in all it wasn't to hard. If you want to save your rotors, then you'll need a puller. Smacking them with a 2 pound sledge isn't good if you want to reuse them.

But my wheels look nice, I painted the calipers flat black and the rotors "Aluminum" (Rust Oleum High Performance Enamel) to make them look silver.

Next is getting the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires mounted......

Wes

Tammy

Great that it went well... Thanks For the valuable feedback !

Brandicus

iTrader: (6)

Youch That sucks, The mechanic who did mine broke the sensor as well but he replaced it for no cost... did you take it to the dealer?