Brakes and Rotors

[Sluggo]

Everything went well and the only snag was one of the old rotors was a
hassle top get removed.
The whole job from start to cleanup for me was 4 hours.
I used AutoZone throw away plastic gloves and my hands didn't even get
dirty.
The preparation is the key. I found that using half-inch sockets and a
breaker bar made matters easier too.
Compressing the pistons is a little tricky and I put rags around the master
cylinder with the top removed to let the extra fluid escape.
I used the old brake pads and two large screwdrivers to compress the pistons
which is a trick I saw online. No "C" clamp needed.
No mess there. When it got to the overflow level I sucked it out with a
mechanics syringe I had here that was actually used to put water in
batteries years ago.
I found a tutorial online that gave me a lot of info and that was worth the
hunt..
So, the pulsating is gone and I'm back to smooth and quiet.
I'll consider this case closed after about 1,000 miles if there are no leaks
and everything stays like it is now.
Total for parts was $142 and I had to buy about $10.00 worth of related
supplies. Gloves, etc.
It's simple if you take your time and have the stuff ready.
I jacked one side and then the other with a floor jack and sat on a fishing
stool!!!!
That's it.
So, give it a try because if I can do it you can too.
I got the parts at Everything Brakes in Miami since they had the parts that
seemed to be recommended the most by reviews.
Brembo Rotors and Akebono pads.
They were very helpful and the parts came freight prepaid too.
Finally, the neighbors don't know anything because I did it in the garage
with the door down.
Nosey bastards around here anyway..... gone till something else breaks.


Sluggo

[Ray O]

Post by Sluggo
Everything went well and the only snag was one of the old rotors was a
hassle top get removed.
The whole job from start to cleanup for me was 4 hours.
I used AutoZone throw away plastic gloves and my hands didn't even get
dirty.
The preparation is the key. I found that using half-inch sockets and a
breaker bar made matters easier too.
Compressing the pistons is a little tricky and I put rags around the
master cylinder with the top removed to let the extra fluid escape.
I used the old brake pads and two large screwdrivers to compress the
pistons which is a trick I saw online. No "C" clamp needed.
No mess there. When it got to the overflow level I sucked it out with a
mechanics syringe I had here that was actually used to put water in
batteries years ago.
I found a tutorial online that gave me a lot of info and that was worth
the hunt..
So, the pulsating is gone and I'm back to smooth and quiet.
I'll consider this case closed after about 1,000 miles if there are no
leaks and everything stays like it is now.
Total for parts was $142 and I had to buy about $10.00 worth of related
supplies. Gloves, etc.
It's simple if you take your time and have the stuff ready.
I jacked one side and then the other with a floor jack and sat on a
fishing stool!!!!
That's it.
So, give it a try because if I can do it you can too.
I got the parts at Everything Brakes in Miami since they had the parts
that seemed to be recommended the most by reviews.
Brembo Rotors and Akebono pads.
They were very helpful and the parts came freight prepaid too.
Finally, the neighbors don't know anything because I did it in the garage
with the door down.
Nosey bastards around here anyway..... gone till something else breaks.
Sluggo

thanks for the update! I hope you had the car supported on jack stands and
not just by the jack!

Once you get the hang of it, you should be able to replace pads in about 45
minutes and rotors and pads in about an hour and 15 minutes to hour and a
half.

[mcbrue]

So parts are about 200 for official Lexus OEM parts if you are the
Lexus shop. That means Lexus makes $500 per hour because you figure
that it will take them 2 hours to get it in and out and done and
paperworked. Not bad ... how many businesses make $500/hour?
Remember the charge to me is $1200 and we know that parts better than
OEM cost $142 and it takes less than two hours for experienced techs
to change them.

What does your stealership charge for 4 wheel brake job on LS430?

[j***@hotmail.com]

If Toyota's Lexus only charge you $500 front and rear brake pads, then
you wouldn't think they are luxury cars anymore. So they have to jack
up the price!!

Toyota's got great marketing department I must say. Any many owners
bought into it.

Post by mcbrue
So parts are about 200 for official Lexus OEM parts if you are the
Lexus shop. That means Lexus makes $500 per hour because you figure
that it will take them 2 hours to get it in and out and done and
paperworked. Not bad ... how many businesses make $500/hour?
Remember the charge to me is $1200 and we know that parts better than
OEM cost $142 and it takes less than two hours for experienced techs
to change them.
What does your stealership charge for 4 wheel brake job on LS430?

[David Z]

That's pretty funny. Like Mercedes and BMW charge reasonable prices for
their parts. Yeah, right. What a joker you are johndole.

As far as marketing goes, the German car companies have Lexus beat by a mile
with their poor reliability records. Can you imagine paying $50,000+ for a
car that has one of the worst repair records in the industry? They sell a
lot of cars to guys that say they want " performance car" in order to simply
assuage their impaired male egos. These guys generally never push these
cars past what any Chevy could handle. What a joke.
--
--
<***@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:14ab5954-47e3-4487-b548-***@t41g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
If Toyota's Lexus only charge you $500 front and rear brake pads, then
you wouldn't think they are luxury cars anymore. So they have to jack
up the price!!

Toyota's got great marketing department I must say. Any many owners
bought into it.

Post by mcbrue
So parts are about 200 for official Lexus OEM parts if you are the
Lexus shop. That means Lexus makes $500 per hour because you figure
that it will take them 2 hours to get it in and out and done and
paperworked. Not bad ... how many businesses make $500/hour?
Remember the charge to me is $1200 and we know that parts better than
OEM cost $142 and it takes less than two hours for experienced techs
to change them.
What does your stealership charge for 4 wheel brake job on LS430?

[j***@hotmail.com]

It may be a good time to consider flushing the brake fluid too.
Castrol GT Low Moisture Activity is a good choice, as is Valvoline
Synthetic.


http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/product_detail.asp?product=138

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9012213&contentId=7024043

Post by Sluggo
Everything went well and the only snag was one of the old rotors was a
hassle top get removed.
The whole job from start to cleanup for me was 4 hours.
I used AutoZone throw away plastic gloves and my hands didn't even get
dirty.
The preparation is the key. I found that using half-inch sockets and a
breaker bar made matters easier too.
Compressing the pistons is a little tricky and I put rags around the master
cylinder with the top removed to let the extra fluid escape.
I used the old brake pads and two large screwdrivers to compress the pistons
which is a trick I saw online. No "C" clamp needed.
No mess there. When it got to the overflow level I sucked it out with a
mechanics syringe I had here that  was actually used to put water in
batteries years ago.
I found a tutorial online that gave me a lot of info and that was worth the
hunt..
So, the pulsating is gone and I'm back to smooth and quiet.
I'll consider this case closed after about 1,000 miles if there are no leaks
and everything stays like it is now.
Total for parts was $142 and I had to buy about $10.00 worth of related
supplies. Gloves, etc.
 It's simple if you take your time and have the stuff ready.
I jacked one side and then the other with a floor jack and sat on a fishing
stool!!!!
That's it.
So, give it a try because if I can do it you can too.
I got the parts at Everything Brakes in Miami since they had the parts that
seemed to be recommended the most by reviews.
Brembo Rotors and Akebono pads.
They were very helpful and the parts came freight prepaid too.
Finally, the neighbors don't know anything because I did it in the garage
with the door down.
Nosey bastards around here anyway..... gone till something else breaks.
Sluggo