82K miles and i have has some brake chatter for some time now. But its time to fix. So If I were guessing I would think it was the front brake rotors....right? I dont want to replace all 4 right now so would guessing front be a good guess?

 

New front rotors should eliminate the pulsation.

I bought my car in 10/16 and really didn’t take a thorough test drive. Brakes pulsed when I picked it up. Selling dealer replaced the next week, front rotors with OE and pulsation gone. I was given all old parts back and rotors looked like really inexpensive ones...

 

It seems the fronts get hotter so wear faster and warp. Are the drilled rotors and ceramic pads likely to give better life?

 

It takes a whole lot to warp a rotor and I highly doubt that's what you are experiencing. Most of the pulsations people feel from brakes are a result of uneven pad deposits on the rotor. If your rotors are still thick enough to be within spec you can just get them machined and continue using them.

 

Slotted and higher temp compounds will help provide improvement IF the rotor is made of good metal not cheap garbage.

 

Could be either. It needs to be looked at.
Mine started pulsating and it was the rears. Fronts were fine.
Never did change the rotors on the rears so we’re doing that on Mon (with new pads of course).

 

Could be either

 

On mine it was the fronts and I knew right away cuz I've done many.

I was driving down the highway and light pressed the brakes and felt the steering wheel shaking as soon as pressed the pedal and could feel it was in the front.
New front rotors fixed it but others may have difference experience.

 

Pulsating brake pedal upon braking are the rear rotors. Steering wheel shake upon braking are the front rotors. With 82,000 miles, I'd have the rotors turned to correct unless you are planning on keeping the car for a longer period of time and replace with OEM rotors. I had all 4 of my rotors and pads replaced with OEM around 125,000 miles. I currently have 148,000 miles.

 

My steering does not shudder, just the whole car so I guess its the rears. Might as well buy all four. But the fronts are thinner so I thought they might be most likely to warp.

 

"Chatter" is solved by spraying brake disc cleaner on both sides of the rotor, using the factory-installed 3-layer brake shims, and applying brake grease on both sides of the middle layer, as well as on the outside edges of the brake pad that slide around inside the caliper.

"Shudder/vibration" is solved by eliminating disc thickness variation, by use of an on-car disc lathe (which accounts for hub-related variances) or by buying new discs and measuring the disc runout at each of the 5 positions on the lugs and selecting the position with the lowest runout.

Will echo previous posters - steering wheel wobble means front rotors, car body wobble means rear rotors. Pedal pulsation can be felt for both front and rears.

Drilled and slotted discs have much lower life and will cause your pads to have much lower life. Stick with OEM rotors or Raybestos Advanced Technology.

Akebono is the original manufacturer of the LS430 pads, you can either get their ProACT pads off RockAuto or get Lexus-branded pads. I've used both and I think Lexus pads are quieter as they were designed to be used with the 3 shim layers, whereas aftermarket pads, even those made by the original manufacturer, often come with built-in shims. If there is not much price difference, go with Lexus pads. My next set of pads are Advics, bought them due to low price and discussion in another thread here, will report back if I notice a difference from Akebonos or Lexus pads. But it'll take another 1-3 years before my current pads wear out so someone in that Advics thread will probably report back before I do.