Suspiciously High Brake Repair Cost.

[summerray]

Just purchased a 2007 ES 350, with 64,000 kilometers on the clock. Brakes worked fine under most conditions except at higher speeds (90 - 100 kph), when they would chatter and vibrate quite severely. Took it into the Lexus dealer and they said the repairs would cost around $1,200 CAN. Needed new pads and discs. They said the cause was that the wheel bolts had been over-torqued and that without the repairs, the calipers would soon need changing. Seems odd that over-torquing the wheel bolts could cause so much damage. Does anyone have any comments on this phenomenon?

[djspawn00]

Just purchased a 2007 ES 350, with 64,000 kilometers on the clock. Brakes worked fine under most conditions except at higher speeds (90 - 100 kph), when they would chatter and vibrate quite severely. Took it into the Lexus dealer and they said the repairs would cost around $1,200 CAN. Needed new pads and discs. They said the cause was that the wheel bolts had been over-torqued and that without the repairs, the calipers would soon need changing. Seems odd that over-torquing the wheel bolts could cause so much damage. Does anyone have any comments on this phenomenon?

wow $1200 is a lot of money...

but the parts online from one of many online OEM parts vendors and get it done at a reputable shop.

[1990LS400]

Yes, unevenly and over-torquing lug nuts can cause rotors to warp. Some cars are more resistant to rotor warping than others -- usually cars with beefier rotors. In the rare cases I have had an unfamiliar shop remove and reinstall wheels, I have verified that the lug nuts would be manually torqued with a torque wrench and that an air gun would not be used. I even tell the mechanic the lug nut torque amount.

I learned this the hard way many years ago when I had a flat tire and the lug nuts were torqued so high that I could not remove them with the lug wrench in the car's tool kit. It took a large "breaker bar" to move them.

After driving a car about 100 miles after a wheel has been reinstalled, the lug nuts should be re-torqued. It is rare but they can loosen up. The lug nut torque specifications for both our LS and Camry are the same: 103 N-m or 10.5 kgf-m or 76 ft-lb.