peteybabes

I bought my car with only 14,900 miles and they were already warped real bad

I got Centric Premium "blanks" and Posi Quiet Ceramic pads and the braking has been phenomenal for the last 4000 miles! Total investment about $250

roadfrog

REALLY???

I've only been a member here for 2 months and I've seen several posts about the issue. One was from a Lexus tech who said that oem rotors (especially the rears) were prone.

If you Google "Lexus rotor warpage", you will be greeted by pages and pages from different forums about it. Several of the posts were from the RX forum here at CL. I've never encountered anything like this in other forums I've belonged to (Bimmerfest, Acura, Ford, etc).

All I know is that my car's service history has at least 6 entries about either replacement or turning of both the front and rear rotors. In any case, I replaced my fronts with Bendix and my shimmy has disappeared.

Mine are torqued to 110 lbs ft by my local Big O Tire. They do a lot of aftermarket wheel/tire custom work and that's what they recommended.

BMW specs call for 105, Mercedes 110, Volvo 105, Mini 105, . Any of the larger cars seem to call for between 100 and 155 (Cadillac Deville). The Porsche Carerra is 450 lbs!!!! LOL. Crazy!!!

1BlinkGone

Methinks you are referring to the Porsche Centerlock system (which requires special tools and a breaker bar), and not the conventional Porsche 5-bolt version. BIG difference.

Centerlocks look great and are optimum for the track, not the street. Carry on... hehehe

roadfrog

It was just an observation . I thought it was pretty cool ... LOL.

LexusManny

What's the root cause of the warped rotors? Improperly torqued lugnuts? Or the rotors themselves? Or the brake pads?

All I know is that I torqued my lugnuts at 100 ft/lbs, put ceramic Akebono pads, and resurfaced the OEM rotors and my braking is smooth. No more vibrations. It stops on a dime.

roadfrog

How long ago did you resurface the rotors? My vehicle's rotors were resurfaced as well. Problem with resurfacing is that, while it does remedy the shimmy, it will return in time and at an accelerated rate, since material was removed and made the rotor surfaces thinner. Fewer and fewer shops are resurfacing anymore. Furthermore, rotors are becoming less available for resurfacing, since the rotor thicknesses are thinner in the interest of weight and cost savings. Plus, they are so inexpensive now, it makes sense to just replace them. Like I said, my set of Bendix rotors cost me 55 dollars with free shipping....that price was for TWO not each! AND with a 2 year warranty against warping.

There was discussion on why the Toyota/Lexus rotors were warping so readily. I forget what the verdict was, whether because of a bad batch, or supplier issues, I just can't remember. NAPA makes a superior rotor (I think referred as NAPA Gold?). That rotor is zinc treated for rust and comes with a crazy warranty. Supposedly the best you can buy. Not sure they make one for our cars.

peteybabes

Most Manufacturers are notorious for providing a rotor that meets safety standards, but are certainly not the best. The simple reason is because it becomes a wear part that needs fixing often, thus more money in their pocket. That's all that is really happening and these "originals" need to be replaced.

I'm sure I'll get some flack on this reply.

1BlinkGone

No flak from here. It's the absolute truth.

LexusManny

The front and rear rotors were last resurfaced over 22K miles ago. I'm sure I'll report back if I start having problems with the brakes.

I cannot find rotors for $55/pair like roadfrog mentioned. Can you post a link to these $55/pair rotors? If I start having problems with brakes, then I'm going after-market rotors and ceramic pads.

roadfrog

Price went up a couple dollars (now 59 dollars/pr), but still free shipping....here ya go:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bendix-PRT5929-Disc-Brake-Rotor-Premium-Brake-Rotor-Front-/390781801526?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5afc691436&vxp=mtr

LexusManny

Thanks for the link. That's a good price.

b8b

Looks like they have gone up to $72, and it's just for the front. Also, not showing for 2007 LS460 and can't find rear.

Any other recommendations on budget but acceptable-quality rotors for an '07 LS460?

roadfrog

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Raybestos-980570-Advanced-Technology-Rear-Disc-Brake-Rotor-/381079180317?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3ALS460&hash=item58ba16d41d&vxp=mtr
And there's plenty more on Ebay. Not sure what you're using for search criteria, but they go for about 30 apiece

b8b

Thank you! Got that one, thank you. Now I need one more for the rear (there was only one in that auction and searching for "Raybestos 980570" turns up only higher pricess), and two fronts.

How are you searching or what search string are you using? I didn't see that one in my search results before.

roadfrog

The search phrase I used was "LS460 rear rotors" or "LS460 front rotors"