Returd

I have a long trip planned in the next few days and just discovered a sticking drivers front caliper.

I understand LS400 calipers is a no brainer upgrade, but I'm super short on time.

Are reman/replacement stock calipers easy/hard to find?

Is there anything special required to bleed the caliper in. I haven't done brakes on an ABS equipped car.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

you should be able to find remans at most major parts store.
If you have the new caliper sitting next to the old one, just pull off the line quickly and get it on the new caliper, and then just bleed that caliper fully making sure the fluid in the reservoir stays topped off that should get you pretty close.
Ideally you would do all 4 corners but I have done the ls400 caliper upgrade the way above with really good pedal feel.
really not that much fluid comes out if you do it quickly and then just bleed that end. if you wait forever and the reservoir gets low then you must do all 4 corners.

ls400 is not a bad idea if you have time to do both sides you just need calipers, rotors, and pads and 2 of the different length bolts (or use washers I think).
I just got 2 bolts from lexus so nothing was rigged up. you also have to cut part of the dust shield out of rip it off entirely which is easier.
its one of the best upgrades you can do for the car, but you can always do it later when you have more time.
Some people even turn in their stock calipers as cores when they get reman'd ls400 calipers, depends on the place and how you feel about it.
I just grabbed a set of ls400's in good condition and cleaned them up and tossed them on, but reman is a good way to go if you want it to last longer.

Returd

I had my caliper rebuilt locally, got it done in 3 hours. The problem may have been a binding pad. When i tried to re-assemble one of the pads was super tight so I had to grind a tiny bit from the backing. I got lucky and a friend was close and did the pedal work for me for bleeding. It needed it as there was a good amount of particles in the fluid I bled off.

I'll amass parts for the caliper/rotor swap and do it when i need to work on brakes next.

As an aside, I'm going to get some speedbleeders for the job. I have a set on my ford and they making solo bleeding a breeze. What would be majgic would be speed bleeders and a pressure bleeder combo. I'd get the job done in 10 minutes.

On a different note, if swapping to larger calipers/rotors isn't a modification needed for the front/rear proportioning?

Returd

I've been hearing some intermittent noises that I beleive I traced to the ABS unit (in front of passenger side firewall). When I swapped my caliper I used a friend to push the pedal while I opened the bleed screws. The sequence was Driver rear, passenger rear, passenger front, driver front.

I think I may have pulled a bubble into the ABS unit. I might be hearing either cavitation or the ABS unit pumping/compressing a bubble. I don't feel anything on the brake pedal. On the other hand I haven't depressed the pedal while hearing the noise which just occurred to me while writing this.

I'm not at home but will be visiting a friend who has a shop in about 10 days. Am I doing damage to the ABS if Icontinue in this manner for another week/10 days or should I go get this bled at a garage /dealer?