mandyfig

Well, I am about to tackle my daughter’s 2013 RX350’s brake pad replacement. This is an awesome thread, lots of good tips. I purchased the Akebono ACT1324 Ceramic Front sand the Bosch BC1391 Ceramic Rears.

RX in NC

Best of luck. Let us know how it goes. How many miles on her current brake pads?

bobschultz

I have a 2015 RX with about 40,000 miles used as a daily driver by my wife and trips to the north ga mountains. Lately when stopping there is a distinct chatter which feels like the rotors are warped. Is this normal with this level of use? The mountain driving is not sever so I don't think that should be an issue. Appreciate any comments before I order new pads and rotors. For my pads was looking at EBC Utlimax and OEM rotors. Any suggestions on this?

Bob

Clutchless

Try a few 40 mph hard stops to clear the pad gunk from your rotors and then see if the chatter is less or gone. Most warped rotors diagnoses are really vibrations during braking from pad wear build up on the rotors from lots of gentle braking.
Also check that your caliper guide or glide pins are not frozen or stuck in place due to lack of lubrication and causing your vibration. They are often ignored during maintenance and brake jobs.

There are better rotors with anti-rust coating available. Rockauto has some very nice ones from Raybestos and other companies, see the section with coated rotors. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...hub,rotor,1896

Those appear to be nice but more expensive pads, not sure if they are worth it over Raybestos Element 3 or PowerStop or Akebono (OEM) https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...brake+pad,1684

I have been running Raybestos Element 3 pads and liked them so much I put them on my niece's Lexus ES350.

FYI the rear brakes usually wear out first on the RX350.

Just saw that EBC has a new improved version of the Ultimax pad called the Ultimax 2 and I would make sure I was getting those. https://ebcbrakes.com/product/ultimax-brake-pads/

bobschultz

Great idea Clutchless, I’ll give that a try and thanks for the brake pad options. I’ll keep this on file

hovbuild

I Did my rx 350 fronts at 50000 ( rears then were 8mm)
I am doing the rears today at 73000. The pads have some left but the rotors have rusted out badly. The car developed a bad pulsing in the last month coming from the rear.

ewingr

I just glanced through the sticky about breaks for the RX, and it mentioned you could take the rotors off using the 8 mm bolt, after removing the hub nut. Hub nut? Not sure I understand that. It seems like they should just come off from The hub and the five studs. My

that being said what I am finding is that when I go to take them off it appears that the parking brakes are stuck to the inside. Although they wouldn't rotate if that's the case, but at any rate those are staying inside and not wanting to come off.

Can anyone give me any guidance on this?

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

Many times you have to back off the self adjuster for the parking brake shoes to get the rear rotor off. Easy to do!

RX in NC

^^ What he said.

afpj

Don't need to remove the hub nut to remove the rear brake rotors. I did encounter a light bit of rust and the heating cooling cycle was enough to really keep the rotor on there pretty well. Had a smack it a few times with a rubber mallet to get it to start moving. You could back off the parking brake with the star adjustment wheel as noted but if it spins it's not binding. Mine was mainly the weld. I can't remember if I use the 8 mm bolt for the front and rear or just the front.

budwom

We have a 2013 with 61k miles, never had a single issue. Until two days ago. We had done the front and rear brakes at 39k miles and 44k miles respectively about three years ago...I just went to get the car inspected, and both sets of brakes are completed rusted and worn, with all of 17k and 22k miles on them! Seriously? Has anyone else had this experience? I had the brakes done (39k, 44k) at a Toyota dealer, so I assume they used decent quality parts, but they really were a mess after 17k and 22k miles....would not pass inspection (per my local garage, not a Lexus or Toyota dealer) and I looked at them myself...we drive the way we always have....I had hoped to get more than the 39k/44k we previously go, my others cars certainly have, but this was an unpleasant surprise...the brakes did sustain three years of heavy salt from Vermont roads, but still, this seems like VERY premature wear...

RX in NC

As you know, even a moderate amount of road salt is a definite killer of metal components, including brakes. That may be the issue moreso than the quality of the components utilized by the Toyota dealership.

budwom

thanks...I'd like to think so...I've never, ever had brakes fail so quickly...we'll see how the new ones do....we are retired and not driving much, mostly locally, so salt exposure could be the cause...

Clutchless

My front rotors rusted to pieces and failed the Virginia annual inspection when the car was 4 years old and had less than 40,000 miles. Most of the rust was in the air slots in the center of the rotor. The car spent the first 2 years on Long Island, so I suspect it had lots of road salt and salt air exposure.
I replaced them with some aftermarket Raybestos rotors that claimed to have a rust protective coating. So far they have held up. Rear rotors are okay at 10 years and 80,000 miles. The rear pads do tend to wear faster than the front brake pads.

Non

I did my brake inspection/lube yesterday. The rear pads were fine, all four pads thickness measured at 5mm. I cleaned and lubed the pins and put everything back together.

But the front pads were uneven, the inner pad measured 3mm and the outer pad 5mm. Both the driver and the passenger sides were the same. Is this an indication of a problem? I did not clean the front pins, since I'll have to change the pads soon.