uz07lex

iTrader: (14)

The problem was very hard to figure out due to sever contributing factors but I figured it out eventually. The first time I was driving on the highway and noticed a bad vibration from the front left wheel. I found the balancing weight was hitting the caliper due to the guy placing the balancing weight in the wrong place. I knocked it off and noticed the calipers were scratched ;(. About a month later the same thing happened and I thought that’s weird because I know this time the weight was place toward the back of the rim. So I got out and inspected the tire for some bolt or screw that I thought might have got stuck in the tire. There was nothing in the tire. So I drove off and noticed nothing there was no more vibration. I’m puzzled at this point.
So about three months later I was driving to work and switched on ect pwr  . The same instance I switched it the right wheel started vibrating. So I pulled over as soon as I could but this took some time seeing how the speed was pretty up there and I was in the left lane and had to merge over four lanes. By the time I got to the shoulder I got out and noticed the rotor was a light blue/orange. This freaked me out. I let the rotor cool off and figured there a gas station about two blocks from my location. So I drove to the gas station and noticed there was no vibration. Once again the car drove fine. At this point I was doing a lot of thinking and figured if both sides did the same thing then the problem might be the calipers. So I would of loved to carry the calipers back to lexus but I installed the calipers myself and I know they might not want to warrantee it. So I opened up the caliper myself and found that the abutment blocks were severely corroded. Pieces of the block were chipping of after I hit it a little. It seemed to be like some form of exfoliation corrosion. In the picture you can see the white part I circled was pieces of the block chipping off.
Now that I found the problem I searched for hours to get the correct parts. I ended up buying parts from ZECKHAUSEN Racing located in NJ. The parts I get were new pads, Abutment blocks and Abutment plates. The blocks I got were a different material. They were aluminum and fit perfect because they are a Stop tech manufacture. The plates are flat on one side and have a kink on the other side. Everything came up to like $350 which wasn’t bad including hardware and shipping.
It seemed as if the enlarged block would put slight pressure on the abutment plate and that would cause the brake pad to push on the rotor. So the calipers are fine and the pistons are also ok. This was a pain to find out but I figured it out after many headaches. Hopefully this would help someone out later on.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

One question...how the hell did the rotor change to blue/orange? Lol!

uz07lex

iTrader: (14)

Thats the cause of friction and alot of it. I was driving on the hwy

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

I'm glad you got it fixed, but unless the brakes were past their 1 year warranty I'd have at least tried the free replacement route before dropping $350 on parts... it'd be on Lexus to prove a faulty install if they wanted to try and deny the claim.

uz07lex

iTrader: (14)

I did that the second time it happened and they said it was fine. This was within the warranty period. The third time it happened it was without the warranty. I think on the statment from ralley ( lexus ) when i took it it says customer experienced vibration from brakes but no fault was found. I think they did a drive around and didnt feel the vibration. It happend to my three times over 8-9 months so i figured lexus wouldnt encounter the vibration.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Wait a second, this was the 3rd time you had to have this component replaced?!?

uz07lex

iTrader: (14)

It was replaced once. I meant the third time I experienced the vibration.

Fjwalker1

This has proven to be extremely helpful. Was there any fallout from this procedure or would yo have any further suggestions since the repair? Thank you!

uz07lex

iTrader: (14)

did this happen to you? I would advise that you change the rotors and pads.

Fjwalker1

Yup. It just happened again. After replacing the rotors and pads for a third time I insisted that they review this post and consider performing the block replacement. When they went to pull the blocks, they found that the pistons had basically welded themselves inoperable. The entire kit was replaced. So far so good.

mikellucci

iTrader: (56)

Ehh, this is ugly if the problem keeps resurfacing. Do we believe it to be a design flaw from StopTech or just a potentially bad batch of materials/parts from a specific production run? I'm curious because I just dropped some serious $ on the FSport BBK coming from perfectly fine IS-F Brembos.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^New BBK or used? If used, obviously check out those faulty "blocks" before installing, If new, just be aware of the issue could pop up.

mikellucci

iTrader: (56)

Less than 2k miles new...Might as well be new! The blocks look perfect that's why I asked and wonder how this issue even comes about.

Not to bash stoptech as I am by no means any type of brake expert but theres a lot of "moving parts" on their caliper design...overly complicated IMO.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

You'll be good for a while is my guess, but just remember it could happen.

GL!

viprtwo

iTrader: (15)

I'd like to hear more on how this might have occured and what risk others with f sport BBK might have with this.

i'm assuming this means that if used stoptech BBK kits are purchased, the first thing that needs to be done is to replace the moving parts that could go bad....

ST-60 replacement parts chart