Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I picked up a 1998 ES300 with 175k yesterday, and it's in need of some TLC before it can be considered safe to drive.

The front left caliper seized up, so I decided to replace everything on all four corners. But in order to reduce costs, I'm going to rebuild/relube my calipers.

My driving style: daily commuting on mostly highways, non-aggressive.

Question 1: Which rotors should I get? OEM, Centric Premium, or Brembo (all of those would have to be the regular kind).

Centric Premium


Brembo


Question 2: Which pads should I get? I decided to get EBC Ultimax since they're cheap and seem to be better than OEM.



Question 3: Does Lexus sell caliper rebuild kits or do I have to go aftermarket?

P.s.: I'll post pics of it when I get everything sorted. It's currently sitting on four jacks stands, with its front brakes torn apart, in my garage.

EEngineer

don't rebuild. not worth ur time.

get some new ones from rock auto. dirt cheap and good quality too.
loaded with pads and hardware and shim.

as for rotors try to get electroplated rotors. hubs won't rust, and looks nicer

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Which calipers do you recommend from Rock Auto?

yeldogt

I would not try to rebuild them -- get a set of rebuilt OE quality rebuilt calipers. Why are you replacing the rears? I have never replaced a toyota caliper -- the rear should be fine.

ES's are not sport cars -- the OE setup works well and is longed lived.


We keep our cars a long time and when I need to do the first rotor replacement I normally go with the OE rotors. We normally get two pad replacements out of the OE rotors. Our 2000ES needed brakes all around a few months ago at 216k -- so realistically how many more miles am I going to have this car. You may feel you are in the same situation. So I went with Brembo rotors from Autohaus -- one set was from Italy the other was from China -- So Brembo is producing in China. They were both very well made high quality and much nicer that the cheap Chinese rotors from places like Pep Boys.

I always get my OE maintenance parts from Irontoad.com - they are a Lexus dealer in PA. -- Pads run about $45.00. I always use the OE pads. The Toyota parts are very high quality.

Good luck

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Calipers: Why are you all suggesting to NOT rebuild my calipers? Are you concerned for my safety or is it something else? If you want me to buy rebuilt calipers, isn't it the same thing, except that I would be paying for their labor?

Pads: I'll stick with OEM, the price difference is very slim, so I rather trust Toyota

Rotors: Centric ones are coated to resist corrosion, but the Toyota ones are not. I think I'll get the Centric ones, they're also cheaper.

EEngineer

because the amount of time and effort ur putting into rebuilding ur calipers is not worth ur time.

yeldogt

Years ago it was not unusual for various seals to fail -- this was the normal failure point. With newer materials being used the seals are very long lived and normally are not the cause of the calipers failure. When the caliper sticks or even worse seizes it is normally caused by corrosion and is not easily rebuildable.

Rebuilt is not what you buy today -- they are remanufactured.

Centric does - to the best of my knowledge - not manufacture anything. They buy them from others -- mostly from China. While I think the coating is a good idea -- I would not base my purchase it.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Okay so I'll get the rotors from Lexus.

What brand of rebuilt calipers, on RockAuto, do you suggest? There are tons of choices.

Unloaded
Raybestos $56/each
Beck/Arnley $68 (Part #0761291)
Centric $71
Nastra $78
A-1 Cardone $87
Beck/Arnley $99 (Part #0771291S)

p.s.: I decided to not touch the rear brakes for now.

EEngineer

it's up to you, just get the cheapest is fine since everything is exchangeable. i've never had problems with their rebuilt calipers.

yeldogt

I was happy with the quality of the products from Brembo.

I said I was a little surprised that one set came from China. I was later to find that they have a manufacturing site in China. I purchased them from Autohaus -- they have free shipping after $50.00 -- about 1/2 the price of the Lexus rotors from Irontoad (Irontoad also charges shipping) So it was a practical way to go with a high mile car. The set from China was still much nicer than the cheap rotors I see out there.

My company cars get a lot of miles on them - and what we have found is that "you get what you pay for". The cheaper rotors don't hold up as well and are more susceptible to warping. So we stick with OE or OEM quality part. Also, using a harder "performance" pad just kills the rotors with little increased braking performance -- with Irontoad selling Lexus pads for $45.00 -- the OE pads are the way to go.


I know less about the calipers - because we just don't ever have them fail. Are you sure the caliper failed and it was just not stuck? They can get stuck on the rails/pins if they are not maintained and installed properly.

Cardone is a large re-manufacturer -- i don't know about the others. If you Google them you will see that many are just resellers - so you don't know where the parts come from. If the caliper piston did indeed freeze you absolutely want to do a brake fluid flush because the only reason for that to happen is moisture in the lines -- get it out before it damages the rear calipers. Personally if the rears are low for the extra $150.00 -- I would do the rears and be done with the brakes for a while.

Autohaus has the Cardone Calipers a little cheaper -- but you have a core charge -- so they would have to be shipped back. Not sure how others you looked into are doing it. Good Luck

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I took the affected caliper off the car and it doesn't look rusty, so I think it's worth rebuilding. I cleaned it with water and a toothbrush yesterday. I'm going to pop the piston out and take a look inside, very soon. I rather stick with the OE if I can.

Everything else I decided to get through Lexus, it's safer that way. I only bought this car yesterday, so I'll be using it for years to come, and I don't like cutting corners.

yeldogt

The rust you are looking for and are concerned about is inside the caliper - it rusts the inside edge of the piston. You can't see if from the outside.

That is why I asked you if you were sure the caliper was bad and not just stuck. Also, what did the fluid look like coming out of the bleeder

I'm not sure you fully understand the system -- be careful !

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Oh I see what you mean. When I removed it, the fluid didn't look rusty, it was just yellow. I'm going to inspect for rust by removing the piston.

Update: The air compressor trick didn't work, since the air kept getting out of other holes. It could also be because my compressor only holds one gallon. So then I tried to squeeze the piston back in with a C-Clamp, and it was really hard to do. Seems like the caliper is no good.

It's one of these.