Hi I have a ? about the brake caliper bolts. I am replacing pads on all 4 wheels on a 2001 LS430. A mechanic friend has offered to do it for pizza and beer. I have read that you can slide out the pads without removing the bolts BUT I want to have them on hand just in case he is not used to doing it that way which may be the case with him and he wants to remove the calipers.

Are the replaceable bolts only on the front or do you have to throw away bolts on the rears too (I can only seem to find them on ebay for the front).

I see a front only kit on ebay with 2 long bolts and 2 small ones in the kit. Is this enough for one side or both sides?

What would happen if the old bolts WERE re-used?

One of the longer bolts in the kit has a small groove near the end of the shaft while the other one is smooth all the way on the shaft. Why?

Here is the bolt kit I found:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BETTER-BRAKE...762f8c&vxp=mtr

 

Caliper DOES NOT need to be removed to replace pads and if your friend needs to remove them to replace them, I would not trust his ability to do the repair... as for the bolt, there are two on each caliper and they are stress bolts so once removed its not safe to reuse.

 

btw pictured bolts have nothing to do with LS430.

 

You don't need to remove the calipers to change the pads. All you need are replacement pads for the front & rear, some high-temp disc brake grease for the shims, and two little metal retainer clips for the brake wear sensor (right front and right rear). The pads are easy to remove...just remove the anti-rattle springs and pins, then pull the pads right out! The fronts are the same on all the Toyotas I've worked on (trucks/SUV's), rears are the same as the front! You should be able to reuse the stainless steel shims if they are in good condition. Just clean them off and apply a thin coating of disc brake grease to the shims.

 

I'd avoid applying grease to shims. This will make brake pedal slightly mushy. I only apply grease to the edges of the pads and to the guide pin. And i clean and degrease shims thoroughly.

 

I just apply grease to the surfaces specified in the FSM. Call me a purist. BTW, use the dark gray metallic grease (the one that comes w/ Toyota shims). I don't like the light colored disc brake grease sold at autoparts stores. Yes, clean the shims very well. My wife's CPO LX had this weird yellow, sticky adhesive that the dealer sprayed on the shims and inside of the pads. It made it so I couldn't pull out the pads w/o removing the caliper the first time I did the brakes! I ended up taking flooring scraper and scraping all the yellow stuff off. Another reason why I don't trust others working on my brakes!