Auto Parts

Marbury47 · September 18, 2008

Does any one know where i can find rotors for my 2001 LS 430?

Lex2001 · September 18, 2008

You might not need new rotors. Here are the two camps on rotors. One side says replace or have your rotors turned every time you change pads. This gives your pads a perfectly flat surface to push on whenever you apply your brakes. That certainly makes sense to me.

However I am in the other camp. My philosophy is that when the rotors get turned they lose thickness because metal is ground off of them. Less thickness means increased chance of warping under high heat (braking) conditions. I changed the pads on my LS this summer (the rotors have never been changed). I ran my fingernail along the rotors feeling for grooves or imperfections and couldn't feel any. My pads had not yet worn down to the point that they could damage the rotors (metal on metal). I replaced the pads with new ones and bedded the brakes. It drives and stops like new.

I also did my son's ES brakes. His rear rotors were not to spec (turned by a previous owner?) so I replaced them. The fronts were perfect. I got parts at Irontoad.com. They are Toyota factory parts with quick shipping and good prices. The rotors were purchased on Ebay and were original Toyota parts. Be careful with aftermarket parts. I recommend always buying Toyota parts to maintain the quality we originally purchased these cars for.

1990LS400 · September 19, 2008

I guess I am in the camp that agrees with the Lexus recommendation that brake rotors be resurfaced each time brake pads are changed. I've done it both ways and have gotten better results by resurfacing the rotors. Fortunately, the front pads on the LS have a very long life so you don't have to mess with them very often. I had the original front pads on my 00 LS replaced at just over 71,000 miles and the original rear pads are still just fine at over 103,000 miles. I got similar pad life on my previous LS.

Places to buy rotors? Here are two:

http://www.irontoad.com/

http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/ For Sewell, the current ClubLexus 10% discount code is “CL911M”.