I'm baaaaaack! And going to replace front rotors
07-23-14, 05:50 PM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
I'm baaaaaack! And going to replace front rotors
What up gang? For some of you old timers, I say HELLO AGAIN FROM DELAWARE! 
I hope everyone has been well. My last post on here was about 3 years ago maybe? I still have my 2005 LS430 (Modern Lux). The baby is STILL driving smooth as silk and looks like it barely has 40k miles on it, inside & out. LOVE IT! Until I have to apply the brakes...
The baby has 119k on the ticker. At 100k I had my Lex mechanic change the water pump, timing belt, a tensioner/pully thingy, and the plugs. He showed me all the old plugs and said we could have kept them in another 100k miles..lol. All wasvdone for preventive maintenance. My Lex mech does work on the "side" out of his house, so while I'm not able to have it documented on my LS's records, I do have the papertrail/receipts from all the parts I ordered via Sewell. Unfortunately my guy lives almost 45m from my house.
(My Lex mech is AMAZED how much cheaper parts are on Sewell vs my local dealership.)
Anyway, an issue that has slowly developed the last 4 months is a pulsating in the brake pedal when applying the brakes. The car is also felt not stopping smoothly, like there's high spots on the rotors. I am 99% certain it's the brake rotors, and about 99% hopeful it's in the FRONT rotors, because I bought a set from Sewell.
I purchased the car with ~45k miles I believe? I doubt if the previous owner had the rotors cut or replaced, so these are the original rotors 99% chance they've never been cut. Which leads me to my next question...
Has anyone ever heard the rotors are UNABLE to be cut or resurfaced because of the high carbon steel content in them? When I was getting my P.O.S. F150 repaired at a local garage, I asked questions about my LS430, specifically, how much for them to cut or resurface the rotors? They guy is at the computer typing stuff and says "unfortunately, due to the high steel content, your rotors can't be cut. They have to be replaced."
SO...question #1---has anyone been told LS430 rotors can't be cut? (My Lex tech said BS! THEY CAN!)
Question #2---has anyone replaced the front rotors? Any tips/tricks/etc for the replacement process? Would I have to take the pads out of the calipers or could I leave them in? I plan to do them myself because I'm betting it's a really easy process.
On a side note, I called a Lex dealership about 1h away. I'm getting the itch for a LS600h
I hope everyone has been well. My last post on here was about 3 years ago maybe? I still have my 2005 LS430 (Modern Lux). The baby is STILL driving smooth as silk and looks like it barely has 40k miles on it, inside & out. LOVE IT! Until I have to apply the brakes...The baby has 119k on the ticker. At 100k I had my Lex mechanic change the water pump, timing belt, a tensioner/pully thingy, and the plugs. He showed me all the old plugs and said we could have kept them in another 100k miles..lol. All wasvdone for preventive maintenance. My Lex mech does work on the "side" out of his house, so while I'm not able to have it documented on my LS's records, I do have the papertrail/receipts from all the parts I ordered via Sewell. Unfortunately my guy lives almost 45m from my house.
(My Lex mech is AMAZED how much cheaper parts are on Sewell vs my local dealership.)Anyway, an issue that has slowly developed the last 4 months is a pulsating in the brake pedal when applying the brakes. The car is also felt not stopping smoothly, like there's high spots on the rotors. I am 99% certain it's the brake rotors, and about 99% hopeful it's in the FRONT rotors, because I bought a set from Sewell.
I purchased the car with ~45k miles I believe? I doubt if the previous owner had the rotors cut or replaced, so these are the original rotors 99% chance they've never been cut. Which leads me to my next question...
Has anyone ever heard the rotors are UNABLE to be cut or resurfaced because of the high carbon steel content in them? When I was getting my P.O.S. F150 repaired at a local garage, I asked questions about my LS430, specifically, how much for them to cut or resurface the rotors? They guy is at the computer typing stuff and says "unfortunately, due to the high steel content, your rotors can't be cut. They have to be replaced."
SO...question #1---has anyone been told LS430 rotors can't be cut? (My Lex tech said BS! THEY CAN!)
Question #2---has anyone replaced the front rotors? Any tips/tricks/etc for the replacement process? Would I have to take the pads out of the calipers or could I leave them in? I plan to do them myself because I'm betting it's a really easy process.
On a side note, I called a Lex dealership about 1h away. I'm getting the itch for a LS600h
07-23-14, 06:46 PM
#4
Racer
Thread Starter
07-24-14, 02:49 AM
#5
hi sounds like your excited about your car thats what makes this board special,
replacing the rotors instead of cutting them will make a big difference. i had continual issue with cutting them with warping, had the front rotors replaced bought them for about 80/ each with a discount and problem solved. my two cents is replace the fronts and you can cut the back once, our cars are large and heavy and the braking calipers are made to help with our great braking but cutting the rotors up front will impede performance, if the car was new and you cut them once i can understand getting away with it but if there aging and your looking for new car braking and feel no compromise
cheers
replacing the rotors instead of cutting them will make a big difference. i had continual issue with cutting them with warping, had the front rotors replaced bought them for about 80/ each with a discount and problem solved. my two cents is replace the fronts and you can cut the back once, our cars are large and heavy and the braking calipers are made to help with our great braking but cutting the rotors up front will impede performance, if the car was new and you cut them once i can understand getting away with it but if there aging and your looking for new car braking and feel no compromise
cheers
07-24-14, 10:18 PM
#7
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Similar Age Cars with Similar Issue
I have a 2005 LS430 Premium with 125K on it currently. At perhaps 110K the timing belt, water pump and all that was done. Ironically, I have also been away from CL for years, mainly in my cell I call an office, but that's another story Happy to be back and loving the invaluable info from the members here, as always.
I am expericing some pulsating under braking and since the front and back rotors were on the vehicle since I purchased it at 75K, I decided I would simply replace all rotors and all pads, parts courtesy of Sewell (just arrived today)
The braking system on this vehicle is very user friendly to work on. In the DIY section I recall people calling it "Cake" to work on the brakes. I suspect jacking up the car and removing the wheels may be the most difficult part of this job and cleaning up the hub may also be annoying. All things considered, the guides here and some youtube vids give you a good look at how to do this, no problem.
I echo that machining rotors is a gamble. You do it, hope it alleviates the problem and also hope it lasts. Thats a lot of hoping when new OEM rotors from Sewell will take care of it and you can move on. If the steering wheel is pulsating, you have a good chance of clearing it up with a front rotor change. We can PM if you want to compare notes on making this a smooth process for both of us, I have spent a lot of time reading up to prepare.
Spark plugs, throttle body cleaning, new fluids, door lock acutator are all happening in the coming days as well, so I'm not looking at the next gen LS quite yet
Happy to be back and loving the invaluable info from the members here, as always.I am expericing some pulsating under braking and since the front and back rotors were on the vehicle since I purchased it at 75K, I decided I would simply replace all rotors and all pads, parts courtesy of Sewell (just arrived today)
The braking system on this vehicle is very user friendly to work on. In the DIY section I recall people calling it "Cake" to work on the brakes. I suspect jacking up the car and removing the wheels may be the most difficult part of this job and cleaning up the hub may also be annoying. All things considered, the guides here and some youtube vids give you a good look at how to do this, no problem.
I echo that machining rotors is a gamble. You do it, hope it alleviates the problem and also hope it lasts. Thats a lot of hoping when new OEM rotors from Sewell will take care of it and you can move on. If the steering wheel is pulsating, you have a good chance of clearing it up with a front rotor change. We can PM if you want to compare notes on making this a smooth process for both of us, I have spent a lot of time reading up to prepare.
Spark plugs, throttle body cleaning, new fluids, door lock acutator are all happening in the coming days as well, so I'm not looking at the next gen LS quite yet
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07-25-14, 04:02 PM
#8
Racer
Thread Starter
I have a 2005 LS430 Premium with 125K on it currently. At perhaps 110K the timing belt, water pump and all that was done. Ironically, I have also been away from CL for years, mainly in my cell I call an office, but that's another story Happy to be back and loving the invaluable info from the members here, as always.
I am expericing some pulsating under braking and since the front and back rotors were on the vehicle since I purchased it at 75K, I decided I would simply replace all rotors and all pads, parts courtesy of Sewell (just arrived today)
The braking system on this vehicle is very user friendly to work on. In the DIY section I recall people calling it "Cake" to work on the brakes. I suspect jacking up the car and removing the wheels may be the most difficult part of this job and cleaning up the hub may also be annoying. All things considered, the guides here and some youtube vids give you a good look at how to do this, no problem.
I echo that machining rotors is a gamble. You do it, hope it alleviates the problem and also hope it lasts. Thats a lot of hoping when new OEM rotors from Sewell will take care of it and you can move on. If the steering wheel is pulsating, you have a good chance of clearing it up with a front rotor change. We can PM if you want to compare notes on making this a smooth process for both of us, I have spent a lot of time reading up to prepare.
Spark plugs, throttle body cleaning, new fluids, door lock acutator are all happening in the coming days as well, so I'm not looking at the next gen LS quite yet
Happy to be back and loving the invaluable info from the members here, as always.I am expericing some pulsating under braking and since the front and back rotors were on the vehicle since I purchased it at 75K, I decided I would simply replace all rotors and all pads, parts courtesy of Sewell (just arrived today)
The braking system on this vehicle is very user friendly to work on. In the DIY section I recall people calling it "Cake" to work on the brakes. I suspect jacking up the car and removing the wheels may be the most difficult part of this job and cleaning up the hub may also be annoying. All things considered, the guides here and some youtube vids give you a good look at how to do this, no problem.
I echo that machining rotors is a gamble. You do it, hope it alleviates the problem and also hope it lasts. Thats a lot of hoping when new OEM rotors from Sewell will take care of it and you can move on. If the steering wheel is pulsating, you have a good chance of clearing it up with a front rotor change. We can PM if you want to compare notes on making this a smooth process for both of us, I have spent a lot of time reading up to prepare.
Spark plugs, throttle body cleaning, new fluids, door lock acutator are all happening in the coming days as well, so I'm not looking at the next gen LS quite yet
While I have all the confidence that I can replace the front rotors, I just hate touching the brake pads and ESPECIALLY the pistons, if I don't have to. That's my main concern--if the pads need to be removed from the calipers in order to remove the caliper completely. My biggest fear when touching pads/brake pistons is that 25 miles down the road the caliper will SIEZE. I had the unpleasantness & infuriation of smelling HOT METAL & BURNING BRAKE PADS & touching an almost red hot rim a week after I replaced the pads on my 2002 Acura RL back in the day. 
Feel free to PM! If I don't get it done this weekend, it will probably be the 2nd weekend in August that I'll have time to do myself. I'm thinking that IS when I'll have the chance to do it. This forum is just as great as I recall.
07-25-14, 04:25 PM
#9
Racer
Thread Starter
thick n heavy, similar to how i like my women (JK!!!)
07-25-14, 04:31 PM
#10
If the pulsation is in your brake pedal, it's almost always the BACK rotors that either need to be replaced or resurfaced.
When the steering wheel "wobbles" on braking, it usually means it's the front rotors.
And the rotors being "too high in carbon steel" to be turned is BS.
When the steering wheel "wobbles" on braking, it usually means it's the front rotors.
And the rotors being "too high in carbon steel" to be turned is BS.
07-25-14, 08:26 PM
#11
Which rotors are you purchasing? I was thinking of going with the Centric (middle of the centric line) It is not economy and not performance. I was getting it from Rockauto for around $60 each for the fronts.
07-26-14, 06:41 AM
#12
Racer
Thread Starter
07-26-14, 09:02 AM
#13
The centrics I found to be excellent on my last LS not a wobble. These where the ones with the rust coating not the bottom tier one. I think there is a better and best. CAreful shipping will kill ya.
07-26-14, 09:36 AM
#14
Racer
Thread Starter
If the pulsation is in your brake pedal, it's almost always the BACK rotors that either need to be replaced or resurfaced.
When the steering wheel "wobbles" on braking, it usually means it's the front rotors.
And the rotors being "too high in carbon steel" to be turned is BS.
When the steering wheel "wobbles" on braking, it usually means it's the front rotors.
And the rotors being "too high in carbon steel" to be turned is BS.
If replacing the fronts only doesn't cure both ailments 100%, I will not hesitate to buy a rear set from Sewell. I kind of wanted to do that in the first place as my OCD was kicking in at the thought of having a pair of rotors with 120k miles on them, and a set with 0 miles.
Not to mention, I am thinking I'm in the 'prep' mode of making the car 100% pristine (aside from typical chips in the hood/grill area), because I want an LS600! (I'd have to trade the 430).
Last edited by LS430inDE.; 07-26-14 at 09:37 AM. Reason: spelling
07-26-14, 09:52 AM
#15
Pole Position
I saw Centric-made rotors in a box at the Lexus Parts department. I have Centric premium rotors on a Toyota Sienna. Does Centric make rotors for Lexus?
