I live in the Bay Area with a ton of stop n go driving. I replaced my OEM front pads and rotor at 76K miles with OEM pads and rotors. I now have 93K, do I need to replace them? The brakes aren't making any sounds?

What about the rotors?

Thank you.

2004 Lexus Ls430 owner

 

You have to check the pad thickness and surface of the rotor to know if they need changed.

 

You can wait till the brake sensors wear thru and when brake light goes on then replace the pads and a new $10 dollar sensor . They are cheap to replace (check ebay). Or you can pull a tire and check the pads every 10k miles or so. If you put new rotors on at 75k miles they should last another 75k miles. I have 125k miles on original rotors and have replaced pads 3 times.

 

I dunno from you vague post it sounds like your brakes are on the way out, it's time for an overhaul.

Kidding, as said above you have wear sensors on the passenger side of the front and rear pads, as long as they haven't been bypassed you will get a message on the dash when your brake pads need to be replaced. When you wear the pads down enough for the sensor to get tripped you will have to replace the sensor, not expensive but make sure to get a new one (they are sold seperately from the pads) or the service brake message will continue to show on the dash.

 

Even with stop and go traffic, with less than 20k miles of use you should be fine for quite a while still.
So if you aren't hearing any squeaking or whining, no vibrations or shifting when using the brake pedal, and no brake wear indicator message on the dashboard, then focus on maintenance elsewhere!

 

I am in an identical situation to the OP. I have put on 20,000 miles since I replaced my front and rear pads including OEM rotors and OEM pads. I also do 95% city driving. I had all my pads checked yesterday to find they are approximately 50% worn. My Indy told me with all city driving I should most likely be good for approximately an additional 10,000 miles but to keep an eye on the pads due to them being past 50%.(resulting in faster wear.)

 

I went 29,000, and as mentioned, my pads were probably 60% gone, and I replaced--this was OE new pads, new rotors. This was last winter at the snow tire change, I guess I eyeballed it and said just do it. Again, we seem to be able to "waste" resources, where if running a fleet or business, we would never toss pads with 40% left.

On my 1998 I always "felt" better going to the end. The rear pads went 87k, where there was pad left, but they fell off the backing. The fronts I prematurely changed at 63k, remember my buddy saying you got 50% left. Maybe that car is a manual so the pads last longer.

My wife's SUV, the pads/rotors were destroyed in the rears at 33k. I attribute it to the traction/stability systems, where many vehicles today, the rears wear faster than fronts (defies physics). The BMW is programmed, when the computer reset, fronts go to 90,0000, rears 45,000, and the rears clearly wear faster than fronts as well.

In a perfect, or German, world, we replace rotors when replacing pads. But I would also say that is for stopping distance, and that in Germany, they do drive 260 km/h and make repeated stops, another reason to do rotors with pads, always

 

My 04 UL has nearly 145,000 miles. The front brakes had pads replaced and rotors turned twice. The first time at 50,745 miles and the second time after an additional 59,200 miles. The rear brakes had pads replaced and rotors turned twice. The first time at 65,700 miles and the second time after an additional 63,300 miles. I've never run them until the warning light came on. All service was done by my local Lexus dealer and at their recommendations. I'm still running with the original rotors. You can see that my front brakes wear faster than the rear.

 

In theory, on all cars, I prefer not to trip the sensors. My fronts were changed with OE in 2016 by the selling dealer, so I left it. Same with the back. I do have Raybestos from amazon.

The wear indicator on our fronts now lists for $139.62. Yes, there are $8 Raybestos but can you imagine, dealers and muffler shops can base parts prices the on that, the almost $140 number? Again, I say it's the Toyota business model. Look at ABS sensors for our cars. They list for $372.36. About 4X the cost of a BMW 7 series OE lol. My wifes GM, genuine GM is around $25. And I checked. There is "no" $8 part in that case, maybe $250. This is why Lexus dealers are so nice, but like I said I witnessed an irate customer with his then 2 y.o. GX and multi thousand dollar maintenance

 

As stated above, you need to measure the pad lining thickness in order to determine if the pad requires replacing. The Lexus pads start at 11.0mm, and need to be replaced once they are are 1.0mm. They do NOT need to be replaced if there is more than 1.0mm left.

I don't know at which thickness the pad wear sensor gets tripped, but I bet it is thicker than 1.0mm. You don't need the wear sensor if you change your own tires and pads anyway, just strip the wire ends and tie them together to close the circuit loop. I had my rear right sensor wires tied together past few years, but then stumbled upon an aftermarket $10 wear sensor package (front+rear) on eBay, so I installed that during my winter tire change a few weeks ago.

Disc rotor starts at 16.0mm, you need to replace the disc rotor when the thickness is below 14.5mm or when runout exceeds 0.05mm. You can try to compensate for the runout if you own the appropriate dial gauge, by rotating the disc from positions 1 through 5 and selecting the position with the lowest runout measurement.

There is no need to replace pads and rotors at the same time. Use the specifications in the service manual to tell you when to replace such regular service items.

 

If your state has an annual safety inspection the report states what the brake pads/linings are at, in mm, as in how much remaining. I wonder is this question from a DIY standpoint, or a shop/dealer standpoint? In the former, one can look, and understand if using premium pads, we are talking about % of $50. Did I throw away 40% of the pads by replacing when 60% worn? Yes, so $20 down the drain but I was there with rims already off and the weather was good, so let's do it as opposed to getting caught late winter or early spring, maybe there is snow/rain and then it needs it absolutely. If a dealer or shop, they can absolutely say what amount remains. We're overthinking this one, but then again, I am all for that. Helps people to understand.

Also, if one simply runs their finger over the rotor, at 40k on the road, it isn't as smooth as out of the box. I get that these are not performance cars, so why replace rotors when doing pads. I don't (but now that I have both Centric and OE, I don't see any need for OE whatsoever, they even rust more than the Centrics). Just saying there is in fact a reason why even up until recently, as part of free maintenance, BMW replaced pads/rotors at the same time, always. They have since changed this policy as I understand, for cost reasons, as well as shortening the free maintenance to match lease terms, not warranty terms (3 yrs).

 

[QUOTE=peggypwr11;10677732]I replaced my OEM front pads and rotor at 76K miles with OEM pads and rotors. I now have 93K, do I need to replace them?[QUOTE]

No.

 

You may wish to check the pads as a precaution. When new, the thickness of your pads may have been 11 mm. A current thickness reading may allow you to mathematically determine how many more miles are left on your pads, with your type of driving, before you must think about changing them. While the manual reads brake pad wear limit is 1 mm, a Lexus parts manager told me to NOT go to even 3 mm on the LS 430 brake pads because the sensor is set at about 3 mm and once down to the sensor, about $100 to replace the sensor. So you may wish to take this into consideration in your equation to determine remaining expected miles of use. (When you change your oil, brake pad thickness is often checked and reported as a courtesy.) Would be surprised if your rotors are not fine. While they may require turning when changing pads, would not expect they would need to be replaced. Many say 35,000 miles or more may be achieved with new brake pads in normal driving. However, as you type of driving may require often applying your brakes, you my not wish to rely on such an estimate.
(Do not know why the the manual reads 1 mm wear limit, if the sensor may be damaged at 3 mm. Perhaps another ClubLexus member reading this thread may have some feedback to share.)
Hopefully, you may find that your pads are still thick with much more life and many miles to go before needing service.

From the manual:
■If you hear a squealing or scraping noise (brake pad wear limit indicators)
Check and replace the brake pads as soon as possible. Expensive rotor damage can result if the pads are not replaced when needed.
or,
Warning message and light: "Brake Wear" message and triangle light (flashes)
Details: Brake wear warning; Indicates that your brake pads have worn down enough to require replacement.
●Avoid holding the brake pedal down too long or too frequently. This could cause the brakes to overheat and result in reduced braking efficiency
Brake pad wear limit 0.04 in. (1.0 mm)

 

I agree with @430SLOwner 1mm (if possible without tripping the sensor) seems too risky for me. Personally I would replace before it is 3mm. A while back I had a Sequoia, and I knew the pads were getting thin but thought I still had time. Well, life happened, and something came up on the weekends that I was supposed to replace the pads. One day, my wife said the brake was making weird noise and its been going on for a while. Pads were completely gone and rotors need to be replaced as well. So I learned my lesson from there...

 

Just one thing to point out, rotors don't last forever just because pads are not worn down. Running ones finger along a OE rotor at 40k and not only is there crust and rust if northeastern winters, the swept area is not as smooth as out of the box. This doesn't lead to pulsation but it is less than optimal for stopping (again I get this is not a performance car). I've seen in parking lots brand new MBs with grooves in their rotors due to something becoming embedded. Metallic and semi metallic (not Lexus) are notorious for dust and squeal in as little as 20k, but they "bite" and "stop." Remember, everything is a trade off.

What I like about the LS430 is even though our rotors are puny, I like the fixed calipers. In the rears, they have become very rare. Just watched a video of a 2020 S65 AMG and it has floating in rears. As does a M5 with optional ceramic discs. Pretty sure some infinitis still have fixed all around. I guess the mentallity is they are not needed, and numbers support that. But I like them. When the Corvette has floating calipers then the fat lady has sung. She already took the clutch away from the 2020 Vette.