So it's time for me to do pads and rotors, and I admittedly don't know as much about brakes as I do other components. I don't love the quote my mechanic got from Lexus on OEM parts so I'm thinking of going aftermarket, like many people on the forums do.

I go out of town to have the work done at a mechanic I trust, so I just don't want to be stuck with an unexpected delay since they had to source components I didn't know I needed.

Right now I'm thinking of getting Project Mu pads and possibly some R1 Concepts rotors, but if I'm bringing the equipment to my mechanic and asking them to install, what else do I need to buy? The quote for Lexus OE pads also came with an additional charge for shims, would I need something like that for aftermarket pads? Do I need to buy wear censors or new hardware to go with the pads as well?

 

Tom's performance pads. Has it for a few years. Solid

 

Just need rotors and pads for your mechanic. I'm running Project MU PS pads, they are perfect for the street, good bite, very very low dust, rotor friendly and no squeals.

 

Depends. Did the brake pad wear sensor light the warning light? If it did, you'll need new sensors or something like that. I shorted mine since I'm not worried about pad wear and there are plenty of warnings for pad wear without the sensors. But if you want to retain the wear sensors, you'll need to replace at least one of them. They come with the OEM pads if you buy OEM. They're idiotically expensive from Lexus if you don't buy the pads.

 

No light has come on yet. The pads are still fine but I believe the rotors are at 31 and need to be replaced; I'm not going to put new rotors on and leave the old pads on there. I'm guessing i'll need a new one of these for each wheel?

https://www.modinjapan.com/centric-d...rc-f-gs-f.html

Anyone know if I have to buy centric rotors in order for those to work, or are they a universal OE replacement regardless of pad & rotor manufacturer?

 

If the light didn't come on, you don't need new sensors. Don't waste your money on them. There is a very simple way to determine how much rotor is left. When the slot is gone, the rotor is worn out. If there is slot left, the rotor is good.

In the brake world, you're better off with used pads and new rotors or new pads and used rotors. Both new is never preferred. I run pads down to 1mm. I've tracked down to even thinner. It's not a big deal at all.

 

Perfect, thank you! Any chance you can educate me on why used/new or new/used is preferable over new/new? Does it have to do with bedding in being more difficult?

 

Yes. Pads that are already bedded work better bedding in new rotors and vice-versa.

 

Question: i have 50% front and 30% back. Once the back wears off I was thinkin of replacing both as the front in theory should be around 20%.

is that a bad idea and waste of money?

 

IME, the rear pads and rotors wear out at the same time (OEM pads). The fronts took two sets of pads before the rotors wore out. The real question is, what do you mean by 20%? The wear sensors trigger at about 3mm, and you can't shut off the warning. The pads are good to 1mm according to the service manual. The pads are 9.75mm new, so you have 8.75mm allowed by the manual, except the wear sensors will only let you have 6.75mm before the light comes on. It's not rocket science to take your mileage and figure out (roughly) how many miles you should get from a set of brake pads. The 2mm the wear sensors take away means when the light comes on you still have about 20% life left in the pads. This is why I disabled them. They don't bring value to me, but they definitely bring value to your service advisor if you have your brakes serviced at the dealer when their SA says, "You only have 3mm left." I recently had the car at the dealer for a warranty repair on the driver's side mirror. He advised me the brakes were thin and I chuckled. Yeah, sure, they're just fine. You're just looking for me to spend a stupid amount of money on brake service. I'm stunned at how many people get suckered into unnecessary brake work at dealerships. For reference, these are fully worn out race pads from my IS F. Believe it or not, I didn't know there was a problem until I got in the car after the session to refuel for the next session and heard the metal on metal clank when I applied the brakes to shift into D.

 

Great advice. Oh man I didn't know I had to change the rotors too, that is going to cost an arm or a leg.

my garage buddy told me it was around 30% rear so maybe 3mm, but he told me not to change the fronts till they were gone.

 

I'm in the same dilemma as you.
I bought new rotors and pads from Project Mu.

My braking is really bad and when I went into the workshop, the mechanic showed me my pads and they had 80% life in them. So my rotors are not up to par after the dealer faced them back in 2019.

 

Never resurface these rotors. They're not thick enough to waste all the metal resurfacing takes. I literally slap new pads in and bed them. I never turn rotors anymore.

For good quality aftermarket rotors with all the same features as OEM, go to Rock Auto. That's what I did, and I have a full set sitting on the shelf for the next brake job, that's how cheap they are. As they should be.

 

I have a pair of centric rotors from Rock Auto along with new PM NS pads waiting.
You think I should go ahead with the rotors and use existing pads?

I haven't ordered the rear rotors for some reason... I think I will do that today.

 

I did the same. I found these and bought the rotors for all four corners mid 2020 for under $150. I found brembo pads and sensors another time so I’m ready to go. Mine is a garage queen so some day I might need these.