Well when it rains it pours I guess. Not even a week after putting a giant order for suspension parts my break booster goes out ON MY WAY BACK FROM A TRIP.

So now I need a new brake booster. No way I'm paying 900 for an OEM one but rock auto has a few aftermarket options. The one that stood out is centric as I know the brand from their pads and rotors. So my question, is centric a reliable brand when it comes to the booster or are there any other suggestions for a different brand?

Thanks in advance


.... probably gonna need a new seat too cause my *** to a bite out of it 😁

 

Centric is good brand. curious though have you looked at the check valve and hose to the booster?

 

Are you sure you looked at the correct model? I don’t know what year your car is but for a 94 they show several options with most being remanufactured factory units, including the Centric. Anyway all of those should work fine.

 

Yup, that's the first thing I checked after looking into the issue. Hose is a little cracked but it doesn't look like it happened recently. Still I'm going to get a replacement hose from my local parts store and replace it just to be sure that's not the culprit.

Mine is 99. There are quite a few options but the centric brand is the one that jumped out at me since they're the OEM for pads and rotors

 

Was getting ready to place all the orders and noticed that on the Lexus parts catalog there was a version of the brake booster that was specifically listed with traction control. None of the other units explicitly mentioned having TC. Only the master cylinder has descriptions. Is there a separate version of a booster with with Traction control that I'm not aware of?

 

Its the same only the master cylinders are different. 92-94 have 3 bolt masters and booster. 95-00 are 2 bolt master and booster. traction control masters have extra port for the traction control

 

Thanks, that's what i thought. placed the order for the centric reman unit, hopefully it holds up nicely

 

So the brake booster came in but I'm a little concerned about this part.

The pictures of all the other units I've seen have this part welded or pressed in. Not sure if this is normal. If someone had the centric booster put in, or others that look like this, please let me know before I put it on. It also spins.

Thanks!

 

thats an alignment/stabilizing pin. does the 90 degree elbow spin or are you saying the alignment pin spins?

 

The elbow spins. haven't tried doing anything to the pin

 

if the elbow spins it is probably a check valve integrated into the booster instead of a vacuum nipple and a external check valve like our old systems. the pin is used in other applications to line up brackets to hold the vacuum hose or the brake line T etc...

 

Wait so does that mean i need to delete my external check valve and just run a direct vacuum line? Rockauto listed this unit as a standard replacement for the car but I'm starting to think this might be an LS400 booster. Not sure if thats a good or bad thing lol

EDIT: yeah I looked up what the LS400 booster looks like and I'm like 99% sure they sent me one for the LS400. I'm not sure what to do about it. I like that its Centric brand but idk if there is any difference outside of the check valve.

 

you can leave the original check valve if you want it wont make a difference.. is the booster a 2 bolt or 3 bolt for the master cyl?

 

its for the 2 bolt cylinder. My cylinder is also 2 bolt. fitment looks to be perfectly fine.

 

install it youll be fine