Lexmex

This particular DIY goes with the Brake Pads DIY here, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...-pads-diy.html

Over time I often add on to these DIYs with new photos of procedures.

As always, comments, criticisms and improvements are welcome

Note: if you are coming from doing your brake pads, you don't need to replace the rubber pieces unless you find them torn, ripped, rotted, etc. and follow just the pin lubrication procedures.

The importance of lubricating the pins on the brakes are self-evident. No lubrication, and the eventually they can seize, be slow, you can get some hopping when you accelerate. I recommend doing this every time you do your brakes. However, if your brakes ever feel sticky, this is a good thing to check on. It is a relatively simple procedure, but some areas can be more tricky than others.

In addition, the rubber pieces that I am replacing around the slide pins and on the caliper itself, the dust boots, are also important, because any ripe or tear and contamination can get in and seize the pins and/or calipers.

What you will need (most you will already need when you do your brake pads)

A jack and and some platform stands
A 14 mm wrench (for the front pads)
A 12 mm wrench (for the rear pads)
Lubricant for slide pins, dielectric grease (Permatex sells this in many auto parts stores and there is also a good one from 3M).
For the caliper after you clean it out, you can use a bit of Permatex Ultra Disc Caliper lube on the exposed area of the caliper piston.
Cleaner, since you will be taking the rubber boots off, you may find that a brake cleaner may not be sufficient to remove crud. I used Monster cleaner to clean out the affected areas, but degrease will help here also. If you are not replacing the rubber parts, then a brake cleaner is to be used.
A C-Clamp and a break spreader tool
A 5/32 socket extension (I will show you why later as it has an unconventional use for a tricky situation).
Paper towel
Cotton Swabs
Flathead screwdriver
Hammer
24mm socket

For the rubber dust boots, rings, etc. (known as a caliper rebuild kit) there are non-OEM options that may be cheaper (I got the rubbers parts shown at Advance Auto). Lexus sells a kit that includes all of the pieces necessary (dust boots for slide pins, dust boot for caliper piston including ring and seal (seal won't be necessary if you are not removing the piston which is not recommended if you don't have an air compressor). You will have to inquire on pricing, but I found that it was cheaper to buy everything aftermarket by about $10 to $15 per wheel.

Note: I am not going to be removing the pistons from the calipers. This requires an air compression tool (and no we aren't talking about a bicycle pump).

Lexmex

Let us start out with the front pads. This is the front, driver's side pads. You will need the 14mm wrench to remove the two bolts that go here shown here. Keep in mind to take a look at the DIY brake pad procedure as this overlaps.

Lexmex

Next, pull out each of the sliding pins. These are where the bolts screw into. You may have to twist and turn and pull a bit to get them out if they are stuck. Be sure not to pull on the rubber dust boots yet, but do examine them for any rips or tears.

Lexmex

Next you will want to pull out some cleaner/degreaser and some paper towel and clean the pins thoroughly.

Note: there is a small rubber bushing known as a sliding bushing on the top bolt, remove that bushing and clean thoroughly underneath it.

Let them dry as we will get to their lubrication a bit later.

Lexmex

Now, you will need to get the dust boots out. You need to use a flat head screw driver and a hammer. You will probably need to approach at different angles (i.e. 0, 90, 180, 270 degrees) in order to get the boot out bit by bit as it won't come off easily).

Lexmex

Now we want to clean out the two holes where these dust boots fit into.

This is where the paper towel and cotton swabs also come in. Some people like to use a small wire brush. That's fine, too.

You need to tightly wind a piece of paper towel as shown and coat it in some cleaner and then stick it into the hole (one on the top of the and one on the bottom where the other dust boot is).

A cotton swab can also help get out junk at the at the back end. With the picture with the cotton swab you will notice the dust boot is still on. It is a major pain to clean with the boot on and the swab is one of the few ways without a wire brush to get at the back end as a paper towel with the boot still on there will just get squished up.

Lexmex

Now tap in the 2 new dust boots using a 24mm socket and a hammer. The socket goes over the boot as shown. You may have some issues with this. It is also possible if you are careful to take your 14mm (15mm may work better) wrench and wrap the open end of the wrench around the boot and tap on the handle of the wrench to get this into place.

Lexmex

Now on to the dust boots for the caliper piston.

I apologize here, because I was not able to take the photos right of the removal (but I did better shots on the rear pistons for you to see). It's the same procedure regardless.

We are not going to remove the piston here, but these boots can get really old, cruddy and dirty. Removing the piston requires air compression and that means get a real air compressor. Do not use a contraption like a bicycle pump or something else (it's not a joke and you can get hurt if you don't do it right even if you have an air compressor).

All we are doing here is removing the rubber dust boot and ring, cleaning the area, and then putting on a new boot and ring.

Yes, you can remove the caliper and I actually did that for this particular piece (requires tying up the brake line with some plyers), but if you can use a coat hanger or other wire to hold the caliper in air (from the shock tower) or have an assistant hold it, that is the right procedure). Barring that, you can carefully sit the caliper on top of the brake rotor if you really don't have any help. A small step stool may also come handy if you can put it in place just right.

I am going to show this step in more detail on the rear calipers, so bear with me.

The idea is to get a flathead screwdriver (tape up the end of it if this is the first time you are doing this) and carefully stick it in and lift up and you should be able to grab a piece of the rubber and pull it out. Try not to touch the piston area (to avoid scratching it). There will also be a boot ring that you will have to get the top of the screwdriver on and carefully pull toward the piston to get it up through the crack to pull it out.

Lexmex

It's very hard to take photos and do this procedure at the same time. (I had no one to help me on this).

What you need to do is take some cleaner, a cotton swab and some paper towel and thoroughly clean the piston as much as possible on the surfaces shown with the yellow lines. This can take some time. The cotton swab will work fine on the front pistons, but not on the rears (too tight for clearance reasons). Then thoroughly make sure this is dry.

Once complete you want to coat this same area with Permatex Ultra Disc Brake Caliper Lube. It will only be a tiny area that will be applied (same as the yellow area outlined).

Lexmex

Then you need to slide the new piston boot on the piston. This can take some effort but you need to basically use both hands and expand the boot as much as possible on each side so that it can be pushed in. The outside edge of the boot (you will note when you remove the old one), goes in and then expands outward inside a crevice that runs around the circumference of the piston. You push it in with your flathead screwdriver until it is completely flush inside and then put the boot ring on. The boot ring you can put it in by hand and tuck in with a screwdriver until you can no longer visibly see it as shown in the final photo. Note at the bottom of the second photo how the boot ring tucks in as far as possible toward the wall. It will then go in and lock down the inside the same crevice where the outside edge of the boot ring is.

Lexmex

Now lube up the two slide pins with dielectric grease.

Make sure the pin with the small rubber bushing (known as a sliding bushing) goes in the top hole. Do not put an excessive amount of grease on the pin (clear excess should not be visible, i.e., you should be able to see the pin clearly through the grease and not that opaque color of the grease masking any visibility of the pin). Then slid the pins back in and make sure the rubber edge of the dust boot (shown by arrow) tucks over the back edge of the pin. You will note this when you initially removed the pin. Put the caliper and pads back on and put back in the 14mm bolts.

One final thing, clean off these pad support plates shown in the final photo with some cleaner and paper towel.

Lexmex

Now on to the rears.

There is one 12mm bolt to remove at the bottom.

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To pull the caliper off you will need to pull it toward the vehicle as shown by the bottom arrow and jerk it back and forth as shown by the top arrows. Once off you can hang it with a coat hanger, sit it on platform of some kind or an assistant can hold it. If you don't have that, you can carefully sit it on top of the rotor (don't recommend this, but that's sometimes all you have when you work alone).

Lexmex

At the bottom of the caliper are two rubber dust boots and and a sliding bushing into which the 12mm bolt goes in.

It may not be easy to pull the two rubber boots off or even get the sliding bushing out.

For this you can use a c-clamp and 5/32 socket.

Lexmex

One final thing, clean these pad support plates with paper towel and cleaner on both sides.