General Brakes Questions (2005 Ls430)

[Lance Van Buren]

Hello, everyone!

I'm new to the forum but have been driving my 2005 LS430 for almost 3 years now and it's been a wonderful 3 years indeed!

I've been looking around the forum for Q\A regarding brakes for my LS430 and have found a great deal of information; however, I do have a few questions remaining that I'd like to pose to the group before I peel off the wheels of my car.

First, some quick background on my experience with brakes. I've done brakes before (on my old Camry - had it for 9 years and 217k miles..a wonderful car) and am of the opinion that my Lexus brakes shouldn't bee too different.

My question is, since my car is now at 70,000 miles and has never had a break job, should I "default" to getting new rotors all the way around? I was thinking of having mine turned if they were needed, but as I do have relatively high miles for not having had a break job, I thought it might be worth just replacing the rotors, front, back and parking.

Also, shall I change the pad(s) for the parking brake (how many pads are there for a parking brake on a Lexus LS430??). I've noticed a "groaning" sound when I step into the car when it's turned off, in park and the parking brake applied, like something is rubbing at the rear wheel..(yeah, I know...I should push away from the cheese cake..) Is that a parking brake noise or a rear suspension/shock noise?

And a quick question about lubrication and anti-seize: I've seen a 12 oz "Can" of Disk Break Grease at Napa (says "bearing grease" on the bottom and the can is about 6 inches in diameter and about 3 inches tall) - is that what I need or is it the "Anti-squeal" stuff in the red tubes? Is the Copper anti-seize better than the Aluminum (or "silver") anti-seize?

Thanks, all, for the help and for having such a comprehensive forum available..

LVB

[1990LS400]

You should be able to drive on your front brakes until a warning message shows in the information display in the instrument cluster.

I had the front rotors resurfaced and OEM pads installed in March 2006 at 71,200 miles on my 00 LS when the warning message showed on the information display -- cost without tax was right at $215 at an indie shop which specializes in Lexus and has Lexus trained mechanics. Often a wear sensor can be reused but mine could not -- cost an additional $55. Prices exclude tax.

Rear brake pads can last a very, very long time. I'm pretty sure the rear pads on my first LS (a 1990) lasted until far past 100,000 miles and I'm not certain that they had been replaced by the time I sold the car at 183,000 miles.

I did front brake jobs on my first LS myself but, looking back, it is so inexpensive to have a shop do the fronts that it is simply not worth my time to save so little money. Of course, my opinion might be different if I didn't have such a great indie shop nearby that I have been using for many years.

[Lance Van Buren]

You should be able to drive on your front brakes until a warning message shows in the information display in the instrument cluster.

I had the front rotors resurfaced and OEM pads installed in March 2006 at 71,200 miles on my 00 LS when the warning message showed on the information display -- cost without tax was right at $215 at an indie shop which specializes in Lexus and has Lexus trained mechanics. Often a wear sensor can be reused but mine could not -- cost an additional $55. Prices exclude tax.

Rear brake pads can last a very, very long time. I'm pretty sure the rear pads on my first LS (a 1990) lasted until far past 100,000 miles and I'm not certain that they had been replaced by the time I sold the car at 183,000 miles.

I did front brake jobs on my first LS myself but, looking back, it is so inexpensive to have a shop do the fronts that it is simply not worth my time to save so little money. Of course, my opinion might be different if I didn't have such a great indie shop nearby that I have been using for many years.

Thanks for the information; this is my first Lexus, so I guess I'm not used to all of the status messages, etc... I didn't realize that the rear brakes has such a long service life; they must be built very well indeed!

There is an indie shop in my town that my Sister-in-Law uses for her RX330; I may drop by and have a look around as the dealer in town is frightfully expensive...

Thanks again...

LVB