Sammzway

Hey folks, I think it's time to replace the brake pads. What do you guys recommend? Should I just get the brakes done by the Lexus dealership? If not then Toyota? What would be the most cost effective and sufficient way of doing this? Also, do you guys recommend any specific brand other then the OEM? Any kind of help would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

Sam

dholling13

Do you need rotors too?

I really like EBC green stuff pads. They are extremely quiet, low dust, and have great bite. I purchased mine from www.ajusa.com. If you need rotors, stick with stock.

Sammzway

My rotors seem to be fine. It's not rusted or damaged in any way. Plus the brakes doesn't shimmer or vibrate either so i'm guessing the rotors are fine? I'm gonna check into the green stuff.

cmarshack

Why? I am just curious, you don't give any explaination here.



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BLKGX470

i went to the toyota dealer for all (4) brakes. i befriended a good honest SA at my local toyota dealer that's why i go there. they turned the rotor, replaced pads and even replaced my microfilter for under $600 with a free car wash everytime i go there. i do notice that other toyotas they service don't always get free car washes.

i called Lexus before hand and they charge almost 3x more than toyota. so where you can save money for pretty much the same parts why not take that route.

good luck! i don't know any local independent mechanics for now that's why i opted to go to toyota dealer.

dholling13

It's an SUV for the street. Why would you need to change rotors, stick with the factory ones. Definitely don't go with generic aftermarket ones.

I now see in your signature why you questioned stock rotors.

Here's what will happen with those style rotors:

1. You will warp them after they get hot and you hold the brake pedal down
2. The holes need to be cleaned out or they will crack
3. They are not meant for street use and you get absolutely no benefit with them on the street.

I had cross drilled on my turbo, and changed to sold because I cracked them on the track.

cmarshack

"Why would you need to change rotors, stick with the factory ones"
---My factory rotors warped after 19k miles, which is why I would not put OEM back on my car.

"1. You will warp them after they get hot and you hold the brake pedal down"

---All rotors will warp if you hold the brake pedal down. Rotors warp due to excess heat. The harder you brake, the more friction you get therefore more heat. Drilled rotors are designed to allow the rotor to cool faster. A drilled rotor will be LESS prone to warping than the stock solid rotor under the same conditions.

"2. The holes need to be cleaned out or they will crack"
---Nonsense. You do not need to clean out the holes. I have had several cars, including a Porsche Boxster S (with the exact same brakes as your Turbo-assuming you are talking about a Porsche Turbo) with drilled rotors and none call for cleaing out the holes. Brake dust does not build up inside the holes.

"3. They are not meant for street use and you get absolutely no benefit with them on the street."
---Once again not true. Many cars come from the fatory with drilled and or slotted rotors. These are two methods of helping the rotors cool faster. When a rotor cools faster you are less lilkely to heat them to the point of warping and you are going to experience less braked fade. Both are benefits on both the street and track.

"I had cross drilled on my turbo, and changed to sold because I cracked them on the track"
---You would have completely faded your solid brakes long before you craked your drilled ones. I would recommend the Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes if you are that serious about racing your turbo.

edit: just noticed your sig (hard to see the siver font) I was referring the brakes on the 996. I do not know what they used in 1991.

That said, I am not a professional car racer...this is just what I know from research and personal experience. You can choose to disagree.

dholling13

Back to the thread, the stock rotors under normal driving conditiong are just fine.

cmarshack

....Agreed.

Sammzway

This is why I love this site and always go thru here before I make any moves. Thanks for all the insight guys.

I'm actually going to get my work done from Toyota service centers because i've heard from so many different people that it's the same work as the Lexus service center for fraction of the cost.

Since I only drive the GX on weekends, I think i'm going to drive on the current rotors until they warp. Once they warp, i'll probably get Brembo blanks. I currently have zinc plated brembo blank rotors on my daily driver (2000 maxima) and i'm very satisfied. As far as pads goes, i'm going to give the greenstuff a try. Thanks dholling.

Dholling and cmarshack... thanks for the ROTORS101 class. LOL. I just gained massive amount of knowledge on rotors from your posts. Thanks again guys.

EyeKutr

iTrader: (5)

Just one more thing.....at 44k miles my rear pads still had over 50% tread, fronts needed to be redone.

Sammzway

I have 46k miles, so perhaps i'll have someone take a look at the rear pads before replacing them. Thanks.

V8_Fan

I would be wary of just slapping new pads in there. The problem is the current rotors on there have worn to match the pad. If you just slap a new pad in there w/o either resurfacing the rotor (or using a new one), the new pad won't "match" the shape of the rotor, causing uneven bedding. This is what "warped rotors" usually is (the pads need to deposit an even layer of material on the surface of the rotor). This is what happened to the front rotors on my LX, so I plan to redo them w/ Powerslot cryo's w/ Porterfield R4s pads (have this setup on my old 4runner but w/ non-cryo rotors...so far, 75K mi on them and no hint of grabbing, about half the rotor & pad material remains. Very low dust, no squealing, no fade, unlike OEM pads that fade after a hard stop from 70mph on the freeway. I would avoid cross-drilled rotors. Besides the risk of cracking, the holes reduce braking surface area. It's mainly for looks. Whatever you get, make sure you bed the pad/rotor in properly.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

The GX is very heavy and the current brake setup is borderline OK at best. OEM brakes will and does stop this heavy beast but if better options are available-why not?

For me I run Hawk HPS pads front and rear. I have had them on my S/C GS400 (supra brakes), SC430 (prior to BBK), and Tundra along with a few others after testing many pads out there. They offer a good balance of noise (none), rotor life, pad life, and cold/hot performance with minimum brake fade.
For rotors I went with aftermarket cross drilled/slotted rotors front and rear.
Available from tirerack.com who is also a vendor for CL.

I would also agree with the above on rotors. Putting new pads on used rotors is asking for issues. News pads have a flat surface and the rotor surface is already uneven from the prior pads. Doing so will result in overheated brakes, premature wear, warped rotors, glazed pads, etc...
New pads =turned or new rotors.

To put another way in a real world test, while driving through Angeles Forest Highway up to 4700ft and back down which is choke full of twisties, the GX experienced no fade whatsoever even though I braked pretty heavily with around 500lbs of gear. Now I was not trying to clip the apex with wheels sliding but was checking out the brakes now that they are broken in. About 30-40 hard brakes in around 45 minutes and the braking was much better than stock which exibited easy fade in the past.

Chris C.

I too need rotors at 30K, badly warped and lexus service mgr never returned my call about the factory ones warping too easily. Not gonna put the OEM ones back on, so good to hear there are options - any other suppliers besides tirereack? Had slotted ones on my land cruiser and they worked well.

BTW, Porsche drilled rotors should not warp or crack even under heavy track use, if they are OEM (especially turbos). Don't use the parking brake on trackside. If you had the Zimmerman knock offs they do crack. You do sometimes have to clean out the holes though with soft pads.

Generally I have had good experience with Toyota parts, but the GX brakes are way undesized. Anyone put larger rotors on? Is a wheel upgrade required for clearance?

Thanks!