Rear brake backing plates - sensible price!

rynd2it · January 16, 2018

Hi,

I've been increasingly worried about the state of the rear disc brake backing plates after a warning on the MOT and from the servicing dealer last year. As we know the Lexus price for these is stupid money - like £300 each! Good news, they are available in the USA for $93 a pair!!!! and I have just obtained a pair via a relative visiting from the US. They fit perfectly, even though it took 5 hours to get the old ones off! Here's the link to the product:

https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-81095-924-373.aspx?origin=keyword

Dorman won't ship to the UK, neither will amazon but if you know someone going or coming here..............

Cheers

David

p.s. if there is an entrepreneur among you ...... :)

sorcerer · January 16, 2018

It's good that you found them at a decent price but they aren't actually needed and many people just do away with them when they start to give problems.

Sent from my SM-T520 using Tapatalk

welland · January 22, 2018

On 16/01/2018 at 12:01 PM, sorcerer said:

It's good that you found them at a decent price but they aren't actually needed and many people just do away with them when they start to give problems.

That's what I was thinking......

carld · January 26, 2018

But they are an mot failure once removed or corroded off. My car has just had its mot yesterday at lexus, the mechanic has put them down as an advisorie but has told me i need them replacing prior to the next mot.

rynd2it · January 26, 2018

They are not an MoT failure if they are not there, only if in a bad state so you can remove them. I preferred to fit replacements after I found the sensibly priced ones.

carld · January 26, 2018

I understand your theory, but the mechanic showed me the screen which asks the questions regarding the backing plates and its a straight fail without them on.

carld · January 26, 2018

I will get them replaced but not for the prices lexus want, i always get my car serviced at lexus even though its 13 years old, but withit it being in my eyes immaculate with 80.500 miles on the clock i cant and wont pay almost £600 pounds with vat for 2 pieces of metal.

rynd2it · January 26, 2018

2 hours ago, carld said:

I understand your theory, but the mechanic showed me the screen which asks the questions regarding the backing plates and its a straight fail without them on.

I'd get a second opinion, my MoT guy said it's OK if they are removed.

sorcerer · January 26, 2018

4 hours ago, carld said:

I understand your theory, but the mechanic showed me the screen which asks the questions regarding the backing plates and its a straight fail without them on.

Nope, definitely not an MOT failure if they are not there.

EDIT: I hold my hand up and admit I'm wrong. I always thought it would pass if they just weren't there but ths, from the MOT Inspection Manual, says otherwise:

Texas · January 26, 2018

.

welland · January 26, 2018

Hmmmmmm. But what do they do? Why are they deemed essential, I wonder?

steve2006 · January 26, 2018

The rear backplates are essential as the parking brake mechanism and brake shoes are attached to it which would explain an MOT fail if they are in poor condition.

The fronts are different in that they are covers and removing them would not affect braking operation.

rynd2it · January 27, 2018

12 hours ago, steve2006 said:

The rear backplates are essential as the parking brake mechanism and brake shoes are attached to it which would explain an MOT fail if they are in poor condition.

The fronts are different in that they are covers and removing them would not affect braking operation.

I don't think so - the parking brake shoes and the cable are mounted direct to the caliper support, there is nothing on the backplate according to the service & repair manual. They exist only to prevent dust & dirt, stones etc from getting into the brakes. I checked again with my MoT guy and removal is NOT a failure in his opinion.

sorcerer · January 27, 2018

1 hour ago, rynd2it said:

. I checked again with my MoT guy and removal is NOT a failure in his opinion.

I don't know your MOT guy so I have no axe to grind with him or you, but with the greatest of respect it's written in black and white (and even yellow ) above, directly in the MOT Inspection Manual, so how can he possibly be correct?

mot-inspection-manual-classes-3-4-5-and-7.pdf

steve2006 · January 27, 2018

2 hours ago, rynd2it said:

I don't think so - the parking brake shoes and the cable are mounted direct to the caliper support, there is nothing on the backplate according to the service & repair manual. They exist only to prevent dust & dirt, stones etc from getting into the brakes. I checked again with my MoT guy and removal is NOT a failure in his opinion.

My apologies, I referred only to the Toyodiy exploded diagram where it showed the usual disc with integrated drum set up on the rear brakes.

ColinBarber · January 27, 2018

24 minutes ago, sorcerer said:

I don't know your MOT guy so I have no axe to grind with him or you, but with the greatest of respect it's written in black and white (and even yellow ) above, directly in the MOT Inspection Manual, so how can he possibly be correct?

mot-inspection-manual-classes-3-4-5-and-7.pdf

I think that refers to a real backplate, used on drum brakes to hold the brake components in place. If you don't have any brake components actually mounted to the plate then it is really just a splash guard. An MOT tester may not be able to easily tell if it is one or the other so just assumes it is a backplate if it is in place.

rynd2it · January 27, 2018

27 minutes ago, sorcerer said:

I don't know your MOT guy so I have no axe to grind with him or you, but with the greatest of respect it's written in black and white (and even yellow ) above, directly in the MOT Inspection Manual, so how can he possibly be correct?

mot-inspection-manual-classes-3-4-5-and-7.pdf

The manual you are referring to states "a brake back plate, wheel cylinder or caliper securing device loose, missing or excessively deteriorated" - note my highlight. It says if the securing device is missing etc NOT the back plate itself. I think your guy is misunderstanding the meaning to imply if the backplate is missing. Just my opinion mind.

sorcerer · January 27, 2018

9 minutes ago, rynd2it said:

The manual you are referring to states "a brake back plate, wheel cylinder or caliper securing device loose, missing or excessively deteriorated" - note my highlight. It says if the securing device is missing etc NOT the back plate itself. I think your guy is misunderstanding the meaning to imply if the backplate is missing. Just my opinion mind.

I think it may be a matter of interpretation because I read it as three separate items, ie, a back plate could be loose, missing or excessively deteriorated, a wheel cylinder could be loose, or excessively deteriorated.or a caliper securing device that could be loose, missing or excessively deteriorated.

rynd2it · January 27, 2018

23 minutes ago, sorcerer said:

I think it may be a matter of interpretation because I read it as three separate items, ie, a back plate could be loose, missing or excessively deteriorated, a wheel cylinder could be loose, or excessively deteriorated.or a caliper securing device that could be loose, missing or excessively deteriorated.

Obviously the other MoT guy did as well. The English language can be a real minefield but if I understand it correctly the three items are referred to as the "owners" of the securing device. Someone with more detailed language skills may be able to clarify.

Regardless of all this dialog, it does not change the point of my original post - the parts are available at an affordable price should you choose to fit them.

rynd2it · February 6, 2018

On 27/01/2018 at 11:59 AM, sorcerer said:

I think it may be a matter of interpretation because I read it as three separate items, ie, a back plate could be loose, missing or excessively deteriorated, a wheel cylinder could be loose, or excessively deteriorated.or a caliper securing device that could be loose, missing or excessively deteriorated.

While doing another job on car I checked with the MoT tester again. The central part of the backing plate does support the parking brake cable and the internal shoes. BUT he said if the rest of a rusty plate is cut away and removed, leaving the mounting intact, that is NOT an MoT failure. He confirmed that the MoT manual does refer to the securing devices, not the plate itself.

Again, your choice as to replacing them.

David

Ardent · August 14, 2019

Apologies for thread resurection.

But if someone wants to replace the backplate for their own peace of mind regardless of MOT,

As per the thread title, where is the best (read cheapest) place to source.

I can see som e in the UAE for £100

Or £200 from nipponauto spares UK

Anywhere better?

Lost it · August 15, 2019

My MOT guy says the same. If it's not fitted, it's not a fail because a tester cannot check if it's secure if it's not there. There are no components attached to it, it's simply a cover.

And he's been doing MOT's since I was in my teens, so if he doesn't know...

Rannsachair · August 15, 2019

I have a Landrover Defender that at times is used off road, I found stones got wedged behind the backplates so took them off years ago. It has never been mentioned on an MOT and has not been an issue.

Barry14UK · August 16, 2019

Whilst I appreciate that many parts on a luxury car like the RX will be particularly expensive, I must say when we see the cost of some of these compared with other premium brands, Lexus compares unfavourably. I checked the price of brake splash shields for an X5 BMW E70. for the purpose of comparison. Genuine BMW shields for that model are listed on amazon for £42.07 each shipped and pattern parts for less than £20 each on the net. Just hope I will not be needing other than normal service parts soon for my RX.

Sometimes stones get trapped inside splash plates and apart from causing grooves can be a source of irritating rattles. I don't know whether this would apply to Lexus but I got a useful tip from a BMW forum on how to easily remove such stones on my E39 and it worked for me. You need an empty car park and then reverse quick quickly and then brake hard. The second attempt at this removed offending stones and no more rattles.

rynd2it · August 16, 2019

16 hours ago, Lost it said:

My MOT guy says the same. If it's not fitted, it's not a fail because a tester cannot check if it's secure if it's not there. There are no components attached to it, it's simply a cover.

And he's been doing MOT's since I was in my teens, so if he doesn't know...

See my comment above about the parking brake, you cannot remove it all