Sewell would have given you a discount as a CL member. Their accuracy and customer service is great as well. I can vouch for this because I needed some customer service and it was given to me perfectly. A satisfied customer, I am.

 

@mandyfig......I still believe that this thread should be stickied !!

 

It is included in the list of DIY items that is a sticky at the top of the forum.

 

Ok, never thought to look there. Thanks

 

I have not read all the posts in this thread but does anyone recommend brake parts besides ones from Lexus? Thanks in advance.

 

Akebono would be a good place to start. They are OEM for a number of Japanese manufacturers.

 

Thanks! I will check them out!

 

Thanks for the great post and pics. In the -30 celsius weather in Ottawa, it seems like rear caliper pins seized. The brake diagrams posted by mandy show lithium grease for the pins. However, others recommed silicone. Does it matter which one of the two I use?

Heading to canadian tire for the following:
- lithium or silicone grease
- anti-seize for application on re-assembly
- penetrating lube in case bolts are seized

It's still minus 16 celsius without the windchill so I'll need a heater in the garage too. Currently turned on my worklight with 100 watt bulb and placed it close to the problem brake just to warm it up and remove any ice and water.

 

Well after a much needed late Xmas break to Miami (hated leaving 70 degree weather), coming home to ATL, I noticed I have vibration on high speeds when braking. Not good!

I now have 78K miles. 48K miles from the last pad change.

I do have 5 mm remaining on the front pads, I knew because I checked it prior to the Miami trip. The rotors turned once by Lexus on warranty back @ 30K miles. If you recall the RX330 had a TSB on vibration, mine was done (turned) on warranty.

Lessons learned:

1. Caliper bolts have to be torqued correctly, 77 ft-lbs. Ask me how I know...
2. Bed the new pads. Usually a series of stops from 60 mph to 20 mph (2x minimum, with 20 minutes in between to allow cool down).

So I have ordered new pads and they came in. I could probably get the rotors turned one more time but have decided that I am getting rotors from a local BM Auto store. I have a full 2 year warranty on it. I have 90 days to return it if not satisfied. I am getting them 40% off retail. The OEM rotors would have cost about $65 per shipped. I am getting the local ones, $35 per. I have been lucky with these local rotors on my Acura-Honda's and am confident that they will perform like the OEM, or close to it.

So I may re-hash this DIY since I will need to tear the whole assembly to replace the front rotors.

So stay tuned...

 

$35 is hard to beat .....keep us posted!

 

Picking up the rotors on the way home today, have had my Pads from Sewell a week now.

Now if we can just get out of this 10 degree weather rut, I maybe be able to be productive and work on my cars!

My next bigger project is the Timing Belt on my SC! I have my Aisin kit already...slowly but surely I will be able to do this.

Timing Belt on the RX, now that's for the pros, LOL as well as Plugs, that rear bank is a wild thing, you will have to do it by feel (now once upon a time, I was good at doing the "feel"...not anymore).

I have done my SC plugs and about to do the IS plugs, which only presents 1 plug as a problem because of the tight space in the back.

Can not wait for the weather to clear up.

 

A preventive technic I use is to back off on the brake after a stop to a threshold just adequate to hold the car from moving. Especially important after a high speed stop with a wait at a traffic light. Come to a stop, back off the brake 'till the car starts to move, then gently apply the brake to just stop the car from moving - repeat if at a long stop.
Anecdotal I know, but I've never warped a rotor in many hundred K miles of driving.

 

Well the new rotor/new pads install went well. Snuck in on a cold day break over the weekend. This time I replaced the rotors as well.

Notes:

1. I added a Lexus logo while I was doing this. I bought a few Logo’s on fleabay and figured a can use a few. I could have painted the whole caliper black but was lazy.
2. Make sure your brake fluid reservoir is not filled when you compress your pistons.
3. Use 10 mm bolts to remove the rotors.
4. This time I made sure I torqued the bolts per manual. 34 ft-lbs for the slider pin bolts and 76 lf-lbs for the caliper bolts. This is a must. Ask me why.
5. The rotors from Advance Auto was CNC cut and looked decent.
6. Use a lot of brake cleaner to get the oil out of the rotors.
7. The pads came from Sewell of course with our discount.
8. Use bungees to hold the caliper.
9. I used a Truck lift to lift the RX on the center and used jack stands as I had to do a rotation as well.
10. Cleaned the wheels inside-outside.
11. Take your time, I did not have a wheel lock so I did not lose the key to the lock, ask me why.

Good luck!

 

And then it is done!

 

Very nice indeed !