hoonami

My rear driver side brake was making scraping noise when i come to a stop which was not loud but last night it's gotten real loud sounded like my wheels were falling off lol... not sure if it's the pad/rotor or caliper issue. anyway to tell my looking at the caliper to see if it's gone bad or not? i didn't have any issues when i was braking, i thought pads had at least 40% left. also noticed that rotor is all scrapped and warped due to this. i would like to know if it's the caliper before i change the pads/rotors. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

BDSL

To check the brake caliper, jack up the vehicle and spin the wheel. If the wheel does NOT spin freely, the caliper is probably seized.

To check the brake pad, jack up the vehicle and remove the wheel. Look at the inner and outer brake pads. Replace if one of the pads has less than 1mm. Those scraping noise is probably the brake wear indicator scraping against the brake rotor.

Sammm

iTrader: (1)

I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's not the caliper. It sounds like this was caused by worn pads. Get some new brembo standard rotors and hawk hps pads. ~300 for all four corners if you shop around - and easy to install.

zppeacock

pads are most likey shot, new pads and rotors, I did pads and rotors on my 94 es300 both front and back for about 230.

hoonami

thanks guys, i will try to check it tomorrow hope it's not the caliper

zppeacock, what brand rotors/pads did you use?

zppeacock

the highest quality pads, and the standered rotors. They were the house brand

hoonami

anyone know much about wagner thermo quite pads? and their rotors?
advanceautoparts sells rear rotors for 35/pc and 46 for the pads

Sammm

iTrader: (1)

don't go cheap on pads and rotors. get brembo standards and hawk hps or go oem. oem will cost you about 400 where the brembo and hawks will cost about 280.

llcoolpass

DONT BUT THE AA ROTORS. DO NOT BUY THE TQ's. [I once worked there, that pads that AA used to have that were decent were bendix, but the very best pads for a jap car like this is the akebono, actually for most cars out there today] I recommend you buy good quality rotors and akebono pads. one place that have a good deal is tirerack.com. but feel free to check around.

also, do what bdsl said, then let us know and one of us will help you with next step

hoonami

thanks guys, and bdsl when you say turn the wheel to see if it moves freely you mean without making any noise? is it okay with some resistance? and rotor i looked at from AA was made by WAGNER, so i shouldn't get these? and go with brembo plain with hawk pads? i care less about high perfomance stuff, as long as it doesn't make noise and stops. thank you

BDSL

When you turn the wheels, there will be some resistances. More resistance should be on the front wheels because it is connected to axles. You should able to turn the wheel with one hand.

You will heard some slight noise when turning the wheels.

As for pads, I found some of the cheap pads make slight squeaking noise when braking on cold days. If noise is your #1 concern, stick with OEM $$$ pads.

llcoolpass

akebono == oem

zppeacock

The autozone/advanced rotors work just fine, you dont need any fancy rotors. But I would not get cheap pads they squeek, Ive used standered rotors on over 20 personal cars and never had a problem.

I dont see why everyone is pushing the performance pad/rotors, when 80% of these cars are still stock.

llcoolpass

The AAP and the AUTOZONE cheapo rotors are horrible. Only Autozone has premium ones in stock. They are ok, but they cost more , than Tirerack's.
" I don't see why everyone is pushing the performance pad/rotors, when 80% of these cars are still stock. "
100% of Lexus Cars have premium high performance brakes. You don't just put crap on there. It's a finely tuned machine. you want to have bad braking that the car wasn't designed for? you want to have vibration and noise? fine -- if you have a 1993 ford escort, but not if you have a 2002 Lexus es 300.
I mean seriously, get real zppeacock. I have used their crap, and it is crap and I did work there so I do have a feel for what was crap and what was not, and I'm telling you to get the rotors that tirerack sells they are a great deal performance/$, or just go get really expensive rotors, but don't get the cheapies at AAP and Autozone. Don't get cheap pads. GET AKEBONO or TOYOTA/LEXUS ; they are same performance. Don't forget to lube the calipers with synthetic brake grease.
And always remember to bring a towel!


but anyway, we're not even sure what's wrong with this person's car or brakes yet.

but if you need pads/rotors,

centric rotors and akebono proact = you'll be good to stop

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/resul...2&autoModClar=

zppeacock

I never said to get cheap pads, but the Parts House rotors will be fine for your application 90% of the time. Unless you are planing to do a lot of mountain climbing, or racing, there is really no need to by expensive rotors.

When you bring in a toyota/lexus for a brake job most dealers/shops will turn the factory rotors or replace them with the standard rotors and use standard pads. The es300 was never made to be a race car, its just a glorified Camry with a lot of nice interior/exterior features, and duel piston calipers in the front.

Its just my opinion, no one has to go by it or believe it, but I think its a waste of money to put all these upgraded rotors... on a stock car.