Replacing Front Brake Pads At 35k

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[Knightshade]

Have you already had the dust TSIB done?

If not just have the dealer do that- free pads and they do the labor :)

[bartkat]

For my wife's 2006 IS250. I'm going to buy the pads at Lexus for $90.39 today. Tomorrow I'll replace them myself. Can anyone give me any hot tips or something I may not know about. I've replaced pads on many vehicles over the years, but I don't have the IS250 Repair Manual. Should I buy one? Thanks-a-million.

You can go here and get 24 hr download permission for about $10. Most of the Lexus tech stuff is there. In fact you can probably download the entire tech manual if you don't mind doing it one PDF file at a time.

http://techinfo.lexus.com/

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[sktn77a]

Yep, pads are fine and the tires look like they were under-inflated.

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[Gaugster]

Yep, pads are fine and the tires look like they were under-inflated.

That's what I was thinking. That photo is of the driver's front. The passenger front was more evenly worn. It does look like it was slightly under inflated. However, I think the driver's side tire may get more wear because right turns are more frequent. B) I'm watching the wear on the new Conti's, so I'll see what's happening.

Just out of curiosity, did you rotate your tires occasionally? On the AWD I can rotate the whole wheel front to back, side to side as they are all the same size. It seems like you have different tire widths for the front and rear and that the tires are directional. Rotating side to side would not seem to have much effect since the IS is known to chew up the fronts if the rubber is soft. Also, its a pain as you have to remove the tire from the rim for directional tread patterns. But front to back would have helped a lot if it was possible.

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[BaddBoi70]

Have you already had the dust TSIB done?

If not just have the dealer do that- free pads and they do the labor :)

No, I didn't know about this until about a month ago, when I registered here as a member. I was going to have it done by the dealer at the 35K service, which it's up for. But, I decided that I would try to do some of this myself. So I decided to replace the front pads, buy the tires from Discount Tires rather than have the dealer install new ones, AND have the alignment done by an independent import shop. I guess the inconvenience of leaving car there all day was kind of a "wash" in my mind vs. the purchase of the pads and doing it myself. Besides, I wanted to start getting familiar with the "hands-on" maintenance issues on the car, so I can reduce my costs.

UPDATE: 4/18 11:25AM MST.

I removed one front caliper and discovered, surprisingly, that the front pads have about 1/4" of material left. At the same time I discovered that the Lexus parts guy gave me the wrong pads (obviously they don't do a lot of PARTS business). I returned them for credit. I mentioned the Tech Bulletin and he said I need to "complain" about the dust and they will swap the pads at no cost. So, when take the car in for the 35K oil change, I'll complain about the dust and see what happens.

After examining the tires, I believe the excessive wear on outer edges may be caused by under inflation. Although it could be a wheel alignment issue. It seems odd to me that both the outer edge and the inner edge wore excessively compared to the rest of the tread. I've checked the tire pressure regulary and have kept the pressure at spec (35 front, 37 rear). With the new Conti's I'm having installed next week, I will increase the pressure up to about 40 psi in the front and watch the tread wear. The rear tires seem to be wearing fairly even. I also think that if the fronts had not worn down the outside edges prematurely that getting 30K to 32K out of these tires is not bad, compared to many posts about the short life of these UHP tires. If the new Continental Extreme Contract tires get 40K, I'll be satisfied.

UPDATE

Randy,

I just got my car back this morning from the dealership. I had them complete 4 TSIB's, including the Brake TSIB. The service tech called me to state that the replacement pads would effectively reduce my braking ability by as much as 20%, because they are made of a harder material. I told them I didn't care, I couldn't stand the brake dust they generated and so they replaced them, no questions asked (I have about 10,600 miles on the car - '06 IS 350).

In addition to the Brake TSIB, I also had them complete the following TSIB's:

TPMS - http://faqlexus.com/attachments/20/PG001-07.pdf

Driver Front Seat (squeak) - http://faqlexus.com/attachments/26/NV001-06.pdf

AUX noise issue - http://faqlexus.com/attachments/47/L-AU001...oise%20TSIB.pdf

The service tech asked me where I found this info and stated that he was unaware of the AUX TSIB and that it was approximately a $400 repair! They were great about all of my requests and didn't push back on any of my requests :)

I would definitely recommend the BRAKE TSIB - I have not been able to notice a 20% decline in my braking capacity as the service tech had claimed.

[smooth1]

Did they happen to mention what pads they used as an OEM replacement? I was just curious.

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[Knightshade]

They claim that because they don't want to do the work... nobody has yet shown even a 1% reduction in actual stopping distance with the TSIB pads.

[smooth1]

which is why I was wondering if they said what pads they were going to. The average stopping distance is about 120 feet from 60 mph. 20% is a huge number!! I don't think that it is even possible. Maybe 2-5 percent at most!!

[bartkat]

When the first started changing pads on the TSB I think they were using GS350 pads.

[lovetoskico]

The brake pads that the 06 and 07 ship with are the high friction 04465-53020 and the tsb converts those pads to the 53030 (lower friction and lower dust emission). I have an 08 and the 08 comes with a new brake pad p/n -53040. I have asked several dealerships what the difference between the 53030, 53040 and lastly 53020 are. None of the guys have been able to tell me what the differences are (fit, form or function...or all). And I am curious if Lexus is planning on issuing a TSIB for the 53040 to convert those to a lower friction 53030. May just take a stroll down to the dealership and physically compare the three sets of pads.

Does anybody know where to find discounted Lexus parts outside of the going to the dealer. Lexus want $77 for the 53040 and 53020 pads and $120 for the 53030. Outrageous!!

[BaddBoi70]

Did they happen to mention what pads they used as an OEM replacement? I was just curious.

Per my Customer Invoice, the new brake pads used were part #: 04465-30400 (Description- Pad Kit, Disc Brakes). I hope that helps. I no longer have the significant brake "dust" issue and I definitely have NOT noticed a considerable difference in my braking capabilities! I would concur that it "might" have reduced my stopping capabilities by 2-5%, but definitely not the 20% the dealership claimed!

[smooth1]

Yeah that does help. Thanks!

I have it settled here for everyone.

The IS 250 is different than the IS 350 TSB's.

For the IS 250 there is actually 2 TSB's. One for brake dust and one for a brake squealing issue. If you go to the dealer and complain of brake dust, then they replace the OEM pads with 04465-53030. If you complain about the squealing issue, then you would get 04007-35153. These are for the 250 only.

For the IS 350, there is only 1 TSB and that is for the brake dust issue. In that case they would replace the OEM pads with 04465-30410. This applies to all IS 350's, GS 300, 350, and 430.

This explains why everyone keeps getting differrent brake info I guess.

[lovetoskico]

For all you IS250 owners, sounds like the 06 and 07 cars were definitely shipped with the 53020 and the 08 model was shipped with the 53040 (confirmed by parts at Lexus). The 53020 pads were superceeded by the 53040 as a direct repalcement for the high friction pads. I went to Lexus yesterday and compared side-by-side the 030 and the 040 pads. Clearly the 040's were a much darker almost black pad. The 030's were a tan looking colored pad. They did not stock the 020 pads.

There is currently no TSIB out for the 08 brake pads...question is if and when one will be coming to deal with the "excessive" brake dust.

[smooth1]

For all you IS250 owners, sounds like the 06 and 07 cars were definitely shipped with the 53020 and the 08 model was shipped with the 53040 (confirmed by parts at Lexus). The 53020 pads were superceeded by the 53040 as a direct repalcement for the high friction pads. I went to Lexus yesterday and compared side-by-side the 030 and the 040 pads. Clearly the 040's were a much darker almost black pad. The 030's were a tan looking colored pad. They did not stock the 020 pads.

There is currently no TSIB out for the 08 brake pads...question is if and when one will be coming to deal with the "excessive" brake dust.

They are still including the 08's in the TSB, I think the TSB itself just hasn't been updated for the 250. For the 350 it has included the 08 model year.

[Knightshade]

For all you IS250 owners, sounds like the 06 and 07 cars were definitely shipped with the 53020 and the 08 model was shipped with the 53040 (confirmed by parts at Lexus). The 53020 pads were superceeded by the 53040 as a direct repalcement for the high friction pads. I went to Lexus yesterday and compared side-by-side the 030 and the 040 pads. Clearly the 040's were a much darker almost black pad. The 030's were a tan looking colored pad. They did not stock the 020 pads.

There is currently no TSIB out for the 08 brake pads...question is if and when one will be coming to deal with the "excessive" brake dust.

They are still including the 08's in the TSB, I think the TSB itself just hasn't been updated for the 250. For the 350 it has included the 08 model year.

Can you link to a copy? I've yet to see a version of either TSIB that covers 08s

[lovetoskico]

Good to know Smooth...not sure on when I plan to have the TSIB taken care of in that case. And I've heard that some people have their rotors replaced along with the pads rather than have the rotors cut. Any opnions on this? I could see both sides of the argument for replacing the rotors or cutting the rotors.

[clay1]

Good to know Smooth...not sure on when I plan to have the TSIB taken care of in that case. And I've heard that some people have their rotors replaced along with the pads rather than have the rotors cut. Any opnions on this? I could see both sides of the argument for replacing the rotors or cutting the rotors.

I had the sqeak TSIB done on my 250...sqeak bothered me more then the dust. Unfortunately you only get to choose one problem..sqeek or dust. They replaced the rotors as well for nothing along with the pads at 26K.

[smooth1]

For all you IS250 owners, sounds like the 06 and 07 cars were definitely shipped with the 53020 and the 08 model was shipped with the 53040 (confirmed by parts at Lexus). The 53020 pads were superceeded by the 53040 as a direct repalcement for the high friction pads. I went to Lexus yesterday and compared side-by-side the 030 and the 040 pads. Clearly the 040's were a much darker almost black pad. The 030's were a tan looking colored pad. They did not stock the 020 pads.

There is currently no TSIB out for the 08 brake pads...question is if and when one will be coming to deal with the "excessive" brake dust.

They are still including the 08's in the TSB, I think the TSB itself just hasn't been updated for the 250. For the 350 it has included the 08 model year.

Can you link to a copy? I've yet to see a version of either TSIB that covers 08s

I don't have a link, when I talked to my service guy, he acknowledged that the 08's were indeed added and they are amending the TSB. But no squeal, just brake dust, and their TSB's covered the 08's already.

[350lexus350]

Hey guys, I have a 06 is350 and i had the front brakes replaced under the tsb, they told me the rear pads aren't included in the tsb, have you guys heard any different?