Pigsy

Hey Guys,

Okay so where to begin.

I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable and confident around cars, and the RX in particular, (having owned four of them) but I have an ongoing issue which is driving me crazy, and certainly isn't your average fault!

I noticed a heavy cast iron sounding rattle noise coming from the rear of the car, when driving on uneven roads, and traced this to both rear calipers which were rattling around, due to what was basically "play" in the slider pins.

So, I replaced the pins, and the rubber bush that goes on the bottom one, as well as the rubber boots that go on each pin at the end.

I greased them up, using the correct grease, and the correct amount, and the fault went away .. for about two weeks, until it then started to come back. What the hell?

I checked, and sure enough, the "play" was back, as the grease had simply acted like a packing agent, and had softened, or dampened the effect.
Now that the pins had battered the grease about, and made themselves a little space, the play was back!

So, I bough two new caliper brackets, which of course have the holes that the pins slide into as part of it. Result!

New caliper brackets, two more new pins for each side, new rubber bushes on the bottom pins on both sides, new rubber boots, and the correct grease used as the correct amount, and the fault went away .. yep, you guessed it, for about .. two weeks!

It's now back

If I "over grease" the pins, it goes away again, so this is 100% the pins that seem to be slightly too loose in the caliper bracket slide holes, allowing the caliper to actually bounce around when driving over uneven roads, making one hell of a noise in the cabin! ...
But how is that possible when the whole setup is brand new?

I've never had this issue before, and I am totally lost as to how to cure it!

Any help is very much appreciated!

smassey321

Your noise goes away when you step on the brake right? I get that rattle every 6 months of so. I over pack with about 4 pea sized dabs of thick brake grease. It got much worse once I moved to CA. The FL roads were never an issue for me. CA roads are full of cracks. Long shot here but did you get the pins back in the right positions? The top and bottom pin are different. I think I had one side reversed and it may have made it worse.

Another thing I did that helped a little was to use the CRC brake quiet. It basically bonds the pads to the caliper which is less to rattle around.

Pigsy

Yeah, the pins are 110% in the correct position, bushed one at the bottom.

Also, the noise does go away when you brake slightly .

It's driving me mad!

Anyone else have any ideas?

I'm somehow coming to the conclusion that O'Reilly's have sold me "new" brackets, that are somehow looser than they should be, hence why the pins rattle around as much as they did with the worn original OEM brackets ..

thomas1

Are the wheel bearings OK?

Pigsy

Yes, wheel bearings are all perfect I've triple checked them

The noise goes away when I brake, but above all that, I can physically grab the caliper and joggle it up and down by a good few millimeters .. this is after replacing the pins, bushings, and caliper bracket (that the pins slide into)

Something is not right somewhere, just wish I knew what!

Next question?

smassey321

Prius also have this issue. It is actually worse as the mechanical brakes don't clamp down nearly as often. Might be worth a search.

robbyk

What about the Shim and Fitting kit?. I would replace them with mounting caliper bracket.

ho0n

How sure are you about the rest of the undercarriage? There are in fact other things that can rattle. I had a weird sound once, too, and traced it back to the spare tire. Turns out it wasn't pulled up all the way.

Pigsy

If it was the spare wheel, I don't think it would stop when I apply the brakes slightly ..

The caliper brackets, pad anti rattle springs and slide pins were purchased through O'Reilly's anyone had any issues with parts from there being sub-standard?

This is the only conclusion I can come to .. faulty replacement parts ..

Wht95scort

If the brackets are reman then it's possible they came off a car with the same issue.

thomas1

I personally don't like O'Reilly parts...just me...I would look at Rock Auto.com or Sewell Lexus which gives a discount for being a member on this site.

thomas1

just looked at RockAuto and they have everything for cheap, pins, shims, spring clips, Just a note I have always been happy with their parts...Sewell of course is Lexus parts and they are great as well.