VQT

No, do it at your house so you know what tools you have and what you'll have to buy...Sears is having a sale on Jack and 2 Jack tands for $30, go get that and a small can of high temperature grease from any auto part store.
That way you have to take him out to eat in China Town after he finish the brake job. San Fran. China Town has to be better than Sacramento

Remember to buy all the replacement clips, and sliding pins O-ring before doing the work. The clips are those things that attached to the pads and the bracket so you don't hear those clicking sound when you step on the brake (old cilps will do that) and the shop manual said so . Even you pay the money for the dealer to perform this task, they won't change the clips or grease the pins (depends on the mechanic). Gordon/Steve would know what it is, I ordered those things earlier this year so Gordon should remember what you talking about when placing the ordered.

pcmw

VQT...

MW doesn't eat Chinese food...but thanks.

Sacramento has great food and I live only 10-20mins farther from the city than he does.

I also have all the clips and springs for the brakes at my house, you could EASILY use the factory ghetto jack for the brakes...you aren't getting under the car. Only tools you need are a 14mm socket, quickclamp, and torque wrench. All of which I have.

MW

Rich...ring my cell later and I will drive down... just don't get the brakes nice and hot before I get there.

lex400sc

Hey, I'm pretty sure the new pads come with clips. At least there are bent metal tabs attached to two of them Matt, what days/times are good for you?

lex400sc

Matt you have a PM

VQT

lex400sc,

What do you think about my suggestion on the PM?

VQT

lex400sc

VQT, PM .

Hey guys, an update. Matt swapped my front pads only to find that they were nearly brand new (!?!?!?). The wear on the pad was less than one millimeter compared side-by-side with the brand new one. The rotors are also smooth and unwarped. So we cleaned up all the gunk and rust off the clips, around the pistons, calipers, joints, rotor, etc and put everything back together. The squeaking is reduced to an intermittent occurence, but it is still there. My only theory is that perhaps it is the rear brake pads that are worn? I'm going to buy a torque wrench tomorrow and remove all the wheels to paint my calipers and drum brake hats black. I'll check out the rear pads while I'm at it.

Does anyone know what could be causing the squeaking if it were originating from the front brakes? Worn clips? Worn springs? I'm baffled.

pcmw

Too funny,

Take it apart...clean the parts....reassemble...no squeak..

Do the other side....all cleaned...

Squeaks...on the way to DINNER

The kind of squeaking that I heard wasn't vibration. It sounded more like the rears were on the warning clips. Or maybe the rears are not clean.

Take it apart and see what the pads look like...then if it they are worn, take those front pads back to Lexus and tell them you want rears.

MW

lex400sc

I'm going to take the fronts back anyway and use the $60 towards a torque wrench. My buddy tells me that are on sale at Sears for $59.99 .

lex400sc

I painted my calipers, drum hat, and wheel well today and cleaned out the rear pads while I was at it. They still have between 3-4mm of pad left, but the bezelled edges are worn away. The squeaking stopped completely while I made a 10 minute drive around town, but as I pulled into the garage, I hear the most faint squealing sound in the last few inches of my braking. It's coming from the left-rear wheel and it sounds distinctly like a clip is scratching it's way across the rotor. Tomorrow I'm going to buy one of those clip replacement kits and see if that does the trick. Does anyone know what 3-4mm of pad translate into in miles (roughly) assuming I don't brake hard or drag out my brakes. Also, what is a safe foot-poundage to torque my lugnuts? I set the wrench to 90ft-lbs.

BTW, I got some Brakeleen splashed in my eye and it hurt like hell!

pcmw

If in doubt, throw them out.

I would suggest swapping them the next time you get money. The squeak will drive you nuts. However, I know that if I were you I would get the tires FIRST.

Torque? I say torque them enough that they do not fall out and they are all equal. I think Toyota states 75-80lbs.

Later

MW

VQT

Wear safety glass when working with chemicals, those chemistry lab didn't teach you anything . Welcome to the FIY world, Safety first.

Torque your lug nuts to 76#, and alway turn the torque wrnch back to zero right after you finish with it. If left compress for a long time, the spring will not work anymore. Hence the torque wrench won't click at the right force.

lex400sc

76#? 76 ft-lbs?? Uncompress the torque wrench after use, good to know! Thanks VQT!!

kreativ

Home Depot sells a torque wrench for $49.99. Forgot what brand, but it was a name brand and looked heavy duty to me.

As for the above post, yes, 76 ft-lb. This torque spec is listed in your Lexus owner's manual.

VQT

76 ft-lbs, got mine from Sears too. Left the wrench compress for about two months because we were rebuild my Vette engine. The next time we used it, the damn thing would click and went above the torque, I think that bolt we were torquing stripped. So baby your torque wrench, it will last a long time.