My 05 LS430 w/ 55k miles every now and then will shudder when I hit the brakes at speed. It did this for most of my long drive to Odessa a few weeks ago, but once there it was gone or greatly reduced. I don't think it's a warped rotor since that would be constant, right? No squeaks or anything, the steering wheel shakes and you can feel a little shimmy in the car while braking when this happens.

 

its the rotors, minor shimmy goes away as you apply the brakes harder.

brake lightly you may feel a small pulsation in the brake pedal.

 

^ ^ ^ yep yep, you said it...

 

Had the same problem. Had the front rotors machined and it didnt help. Turned out to be a back rotor.

 

Ya that's it then. Seemed odd it would come and go.

Honey, the steering wheel shimmied and it was the back rotor?

How hard is it to remove the rotors? I think Autozone or whoever can machine them for me.

 

Found a thread on rotor removal. So easy! Didn't even have to take the pads off to reinstall the calipers. Autozone doesn't turn rotors anymore, heard they used to do it for $5. O'Reilly does it for $12 each and now my car brakes as smooth as it drives. Thanks guys!

 

can you provide the link? i may have to do this for my ride too.

 

Have the same thing on my 01 LS430. It's definitely the fronts as the steering wheel shake does not go away upon braking. Do you guys recommend using OEM pads when doing a replacement?

 

I recommend and use OEM pads. Changed the pads myself a few months ago - fairly easy job.

I get minor steering wheel wobble and pedal pulsating on the highway after my brakes have been brought up to operating temperature and I brake down from highway speeds. I believe my front rotors are warped a bit. Lexus recommends using an on-car lathe to machine the rotors, as opposed to removing them from the vehicle:

Resurfacing of rotors with an on-car brake lathe is the recommended operation to correct rotor run-out and thickness variation. The on-car lathe is installed in the same position as the caliper, ensuring that the rotors will be machined absolutely parallel to the brake pad and caliper assembly. An on-car lathe is designed to take into account all of the variations in the bearings, hub and rotor assembly and provides the greatest accuracy by eliminating virtually all run-out.

 

Th whole car had a slight shake to it. Glad you found an easy fix.

 

I spent $24 and had O'Reilly do it. The calipers are held on with two bolts, the passenger side caliper has a sensor to unplug before you remove it. Not a big deal at all.

You can see the two bolts in this thread:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-w-photos.html

This is about removing the rotor, there are two threaded holes you use to pop the rotor off after the caliper is removed:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...for-rotor.html

If your rear rotor is warped this thread explains how to remove the rear rotor, you have to turn a 'star' gear to adjust the parking brake so the disc will come off:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-question.html