wmj259

Hi all,

I have a 2001 ES300. My tires began to wear out as their end of usage. They wore out pretty evenly. I also have to get brakes and pads as on the passenger side one pad and rotor side had grooves in it. While I had my car on the lift, I did a few pry bar tests on all bushings, control arm, motor mounts, frame bushings, and noticed that both control arm bushings are quite shot.
I was wondering where you guys get your parts for these things from.

Control Arm:Front Brake Pads:Front Rotors:Tire:Any suggestions or improvements is greatly appreciated.

nsghtbrwry

Sweet, I just did all this! Got all the parts from RockAuto and Amazon. A lot of the time, I use RockAuto's catalog to look stuff up, and order from Amazon because free two-day shipping (part doesn't cost that much more) and pretty hassle-free returns.

I did this on a '99. Used the Beck/Arnley control arms w/ball joints, looked very well made. Japan.
Also used Beck/Arnley inner and outer tie rods, made by Triple-5 (which I think is Sankei, AKA, the OEM). Also very high quality parts.
For brakes, I used the Powerstop front ceramic kit (pads, hardware, rotors). I usually go for these because they last a long time the way I drive (60-90k), rotors are so cheap they're not worth resurfacing, and the ceramic pads are quiet and generate very little dust.

You can also check out the Advics, Akebono, or Sumitomo pads (all OEMs used by Toyota, Subaru, Honda, etc.)...the Beck/Arnley "OE Pads" line is the OEM part, just in a BA box.
Centric rotors are great, you shouldn't need anything more than the cheapo Economy ones listed on RockAuto.

HTH

Oro

For pads, looking at that list I would get the Raybestos service ceramic. I have these pads on one vehicle now and they are excellent. They are a ridiculous good value at $13. Did you check the rear discs and pad thickness, too? Whatever you do, do NOT buy any non-ceramic pads. And bleed the brakes now and every 2 years.

No experience with those discs, but this is a place you do not want to go cheap; cheap steel will warp in normal usage so avoid any Chinese stuff. Where is Centric made? Too bad there is only one of the Brembo! Can you get your current ones resurfaced? Call Napa, etc. Don't junk good steel if you don't have to. I would pay $40 more to have OE discs resurfaced vs. putting on off brand replacements. This is a critical place material quality matters. E.G., I would pay $100 to have OE rotors resurfaced vs. $60 for off brand new rotors. Really. It is that important.

Tires: currently we are runing a Cooper tire, "Mastercraft Strategy." Close to the CS5 if not identical. It has shocked me in quality and looks to live up to the 60k warranty (25k so far). Good wet performance (I am in Seattle so believe it). Acceptable snow for an all season (acceptable, not great). 3 of 4 went out of balance in 15k. Do not know if that is the tire or the shop, so have them mounted somewhere with a warranty. I got them at Les Schwab so all rotations, balances, re-balances, punctures/repairs are free. Very worth it if you are keeping the car for a substantial life of the tire. So if you are keeping the car a while, be willng to pay more for a local shop with service guarantee, it pays off in spades within 2 years.

wmj259

@nsghtbrwry
@Oro
I want to first say thank you for your time, and help.

Control Arms: Will go with BeckArnley for the control arms, as they look solid metal versus the bent sheet metal used in the other control arms.
Brake Pads: @Oro you mentioned going with ceramics. I am looking at these:
https://www.carid.com/2000-lexus-es-...-52492929.html
Rotors: As for the rotors I will have to do some shopping then, as I can't get a price below $40-50 without a huge shipping cost.
Tires will definetely be CS5 Ultra Tourings then.

wmj259

So these are the parts I went with.
Individually each part was a lot cheaper than buying them from Amazon. By about $15-20

wmj259

After about 2 months seems that the centric rotors I got have warped since it vibrates at 40-20moh when braking.
Will get them machined and see how that works. Hopefully the brake pads didn't take a shape. The rotors do look flat.

nsghtbrwry

Yikes. Did you bed them properly before putting them into service?

LeX2K

$20 pads, can't expect much.