bklynchris

I'll be doing a full rear brake job this weekend on my '09 GS 350AWD; brakes, rotors and flushing brake fluid. I've changed the rear pads before but never the rotors. Will I need the special rear disc caliper tool kit to push the piston back in, or can I just do the job with some c-clamps?

Thanks,
Chris

JSM1284

C clamps should work just fine

Diesel350

Yep c-clamp is fine

morganc

A c-clamp works in the case of the Lexus because it has a separate drum brake which acts as the parking brake. This isn't the case in a lot of rear-disc-brake cars and the pistons need to be twisted in order to thread them back into the caliper recess.

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

A propane torch if the rear pin is seized

LexG

I just changed my front and rear pads and removed rotors to be resurfaced, C-clamp worked just fine.

bklynchris

Are the slide pins easy to remove? I might as well lube them up with silicone, correct?

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

If the pins are seized then they are a real pain to free up. Ive had 4 seperate times pins freeze up on me.

Here is my method and what has worked for me, is to unbolt the caliper from the car. Lay the caliper on its side and put a porpane torch to the receiving end of the pin. I heat that for 3-4 min, grab a hammer and hammer the pin in further into the caliper. Once you un-seize it should wiggle out.

I then take fine sand paper or wool pad, and sand the pin and shaft. finally I grease both sides and and bleed the rear calipers.

My first time tackling it on my IS, I sat there almost 3-4 hours working on one caliper, I almost purchased a new caliper. Luckly I read online about using a torch

bklynchris

Thanks for the help guys.
So I was able to change the left rear brake pads and rotor without any problems. The right side was a different story though. I unscrewed the top caliper bolt so I could swing the caliper down out of the way and remove the rotor. But the caliper will not swing out of the way. It won't even budge. I even gave it a couple knocks with a hammer, but no luck, it aint moving. Do I need a new caliper? i didnt see any rust so it cant be rusted in place.

The other issue was with the brake pads. The inner pad was worn all the way down (the warning bar was worn completely away; i never even heard it while driving!) while the outer pad still had plenty of meat on it. So i'm thinking the slide pin is sticking, correct? I wasnt even able to change both pads; I ended up having to reuse the outer pad that still had meat on it, because for some reason the caliper would not give me enough clearance to install new pads on both side. I compressed the piston all the way, the caliper would not take new pads on both sides.

Any advice?

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

Slider pin is seized, need to loosen it and relube. Once the brake pads are off the caliper and piston pushed back, it should move forward and back freely, now if it doesnt means the pins are seized.

bklynchris

I was able to completely unscrew and remove the upper slide pin, but the caliper still would not rotate out of the way. If the slide pin is seized I would not be able to remove it, correct?

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

Look up to the posting I posted above this!

A $12 propane torch from home depot is what I used.

Or spend $100 + on a new aftermarket caliper. You def want to free that pin, or replace it all. Because you can cause a lot more wear with it frozen like that

Macboi

iTrader: (2)

how often should the rear brake pads be replaced?