While I was switching out my pie plates for twist caps on my '03 SC430, I was somewhat surprised by the amount of brake dust, not only behind the caps but even on the exposed part of the wheel. I had new pads and rotors put on the front when I had new non-runflats installed just after I bought it two months ago, but I've washed the car at least three times since then.

I admit that my frame of reference is my previous car, a first-generation Miata, which I could drive eight miles to work and hardly use the brakes at all. (I drove it 42,000 miles in almost seven years and never had the brakes worked on.) I know that I have to use the brakes more with an automatic transmission, (and much bigger engine) and I'm hoping that the dust I've noticed is just the "new" wearing off the brake pads.

Has anyone else noticed excessive dust? Could the brand of brake pads affect this? I searched the forums, but didn't run across any mention of this.

Thanks

 

I see you got the caps

 

The type of pad definitely has an effect on the amount of dust. I suspect the shop that did your brakes used semi metalic pads and not ceramic. Huge difference in the amount of dust. Ceramic is more expensive.

 

I recently switched out the pie plates for twist caps also and there was an accumulation of brake dust and probably other dirt underneath. It didn't seem excessive considering it may never have been cleaned.

 

where do you get the twist caps from? and pricing would be great too

 

I kept an eye on the SC430 classifieds and iamtheodor listed his a couple of weeks ago. He said Sewel, a forum sponsor,l charges $108 each for them online; my local Lexus dealership quoted me a price of $164 each!

One alternative I considered before the used ones came up was to buy the chrome-plated caps from eBay (for about $100 shipped) and spraying them with silver paint, or taking them to the Lexus body shop for painting. I had to have the silver because my car is silver and chrome wouldn't look right.

You can see the difference on the thread "Show the latest picture of your SC430" on this forum, on the next-to-last page. I have a shot of one wheel with the pie plate and one with the twist cap.

I'm real happy with the improvement I got with the twists. Maybe there will be less brake dust.

 

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...-2004-564.html

And its $118 a cap with the CL price (guess it went up). Just sign up for an account and it should ask for your CL user name.