ARISTO 161

iTrader: (3)

hey guys, i was doing a brake pad maintenance job on the gs300 2001.
i picked up new front pads from Lexus. but look at them!
they have the usual taper on one side, which is suppose to eliminate squeal.
but on the other side they have a BIG chunk cut off! whats that FOR?
is there a real reason for that? or did their machines make a mistake...
look just like a lot LESS pad now...

what do you guys think? have you seen anything like this before?

VVT-i

Yes, the cut on the pads is designed to reduce brake noise. On the GS the cut on the pads have to go down when you install them. The pad in the picture is the inner pad( with metal clip) and you have to match it with the one without metal clip. Make sure both cut on the inner and outer pads are facing down.

I've seen a lot of people installed them in the wrong direction,because they don't know what those cut are for.

ARISTO 161

iTrader: (3)

hey, thanks for the reply.
i do know about the clip and matching them. But, by "taper" i was talking about the edge cut on the pad. last time i bought pads, they had the taper cut on the corners. But NOW there is the taper on only 1 side, and a HUGE cut on the other side..
last time, the pads only had small cuts on the edges, now theres 1 small(pictured on left) and 1 HUGE(pictured in right)

VVT-i

The huge cut on the right facing down.

ARISTO 161

iTrader: (3)

so the big cut on the right of the pad in the picture means to put that side on bottom of caliper?
why did they do that instead of just making an arrow? why cut off so much pad?
when did they start cutting pads like this?

ARISTO 161

iTrader: (3)

oh, i just checked the other pads... you can put the cut face with the clip down.
but you cant put the "cut face" down because the pads without the clips also have the big cuts on the right of the pad...
the only thing i can think of is that they are compensating for uneven wear?

mobilyte

iTrader: (3)

i thought the oem lexus pads made by sumitomo should have a red backing plate, not green. also, shouldn't both pads, for each wheel, have a brake wear clip?

ARISTO 161

iTrader: (3)

mine have always been red, and always had a single clip for each side.
but the thing i haven't seen, is this big slash on the pad.

VVT-i

Depending on the car. The 98-05 GS and IS has green color code or update to green. The 2001-2006 LS430 update from red to gray. Lexus color code to make it easier for the tech to identify if the vehicle already has an update pads or not.

Aristo, they update to the green pads with the cut since 2001 and they did that to reduce the brake noise.

AJ

I swear it looked like a sandwich at first

richonenz

I don't know about the noise , but that cut is reducing your braking ability by about 20 % per side !!
If you have to reduce the pad area to reduce the noise , maybe they should just have a 10 mm sliver of pad marterial !!
That way there would be almost no noise !!
What a load of nonsense !!!!!
Go and get some other brand of pads that give you full braking ability , if Lexus are doing that kind of stuff they are insane .
If I had an accident because I was unable to stop in time with pads that have had 25 % of the pad cut away I would be sending the bill to Lexus .

ARISTO 161

iTrader: (3)

yes indeed...
i have not put them on yet, but i will test them out..
it seems so ridiculus