V8 sir... Suits you sir!

[Redefined]

Drove 60 miles to work. No one flashing other way and I didn't feel underlighted. So might have done the trick!

[Chris Skelton]

Spent a contented few hours reading this.many thanks. Thinking of getting an LS 430 (to complete the set….ser 2 then 3 then….)

need to shift my RAV4 first.(3 door Ser 2 car ,silver,71K miles)

nice maroon lpg car on Autotrader…or the ‘slight panel damage’ 50K mile blue one on t’bay.

Chris in Bristol.

[Redefined]

Only the smallest detail at the mo, in relation to my rear pads seeming a bit worn (nearside has cut a groove into the disc and was scarping before that, so I'll happily guess it's the pads worn).

Bagged myself an original Lexus disc set from eBay for the handsome price of £57 (£270 the pair on OUQ parts). Was chekcingout the weights of thw various top end discs online - Textar, brembo etc - and they were recorded as 6kg each. Weighed in the original Toyota disc just now and 5.7kg... Result!!

Though I understand/appreciate it's better to have more weight at the rear wheels for snow/traction. The cheaper Delphi/Blueprint types seemed to be showing up at 11kg, but that may have been for the pair!

Pads ordered (JapCarParts) and will get em all sorted in the coming weeks. Hopefully it'll sort my slightly sticky handbrake too!

[Redefined]

Whilst doing the rear brake calipers with genuine Lexus discs and JapanParts (so near enough original in my opinion) pads I sheared the bolt. Basically 3x bolts cane out nicely without needing much breaker bar, but this one was seized solid and probably double threaded. Was coming out very slowly with the breaker bar, a quart turn at a time so I decided to be an idiot, went and got a 19mm impact socket for my impact wrench/driver and give it a bash.

Bash it I did and at first thoughts it seemed to have just absorbed the 200nm of whacking. But got the breaker bar on again and it sheared. 5 days of having it on the tripods and various techniques attempted. A random mobile welder - with zero reviews on google and a url that lead to a broken URL link - wanted £150 which I was unwilling to pay. Instead I paid well over half of that in various drill bits; a new grinding stone for my dremel and eventually a 14mm tap and handle from Tracy Engineering Services down in Torquay somewhere.

New hole tapped and 1 door down nieghbour tells me I could borrow his tools if I ever needed. Turns out he had a tap handle 😆 so I could have saved £25 at least.

Anyway, all is well that ends well and thanks to the folks at Bearbones Bikepacking for helping with some pointers. News pads and discs on with a bleed on all four ends and the little 'love' is back on the road. Couldn't be bothered leaving it on the tripods up front to do the engine oil which is due - I try to change every 5000 miles but might leave it until 6000 this time due to the cold weather coming in - maybe in a week or few.

The brakes were good on the off side but worn through to the metal on the near side. Not sure how that happened as they must've been ok in Feb 2023 when I gave em a bleed. Will have to keep an eye as the drivers side still had 30% of pads left.

This is the spare bolt that the salvage place allowed me to scrounge off the yard floor. Chooped it and shaved it to help with alignment (as I'd tapped the new hole ever so slightly wonky and this was too long anyway).

[Redefined]

Forgot to add, just in case anyone miatakenly drops by the thread whilst exploring maintenance bits on their LS430. The discs were very very worn. Down to about 10mm whenthe minimal spec is 14.5mm I believe (according to some etching on the new original discs).

When removing the rear discs, the parking brake/drum brake may have cut a groove inside the disc inner face. You'd want to back off the parking brake by aligning the hole (at 9 o clock and 3 o clock respectively on either side) and finding the little tightening rotor inside. Then use a flat head screw driver to get in the hole and loosen it slightly (don't forget to retighten in reverse and finding the optimal engagement).

Here's a little diagram I made explain which side is righty tighty and which is righty loosy!

[Redefined]

After doing the brake discs and complementary bleed, the pedal wasn't sitting quite firm as I'd wanted. Must be the slight gashes in the seal around the nearside rear caliper. Not rocket science really and I definitely don't want another scenario of uneven pad wear. Checked OAE Parts and an eye unavailable watering £40 kit, meant I went to Big REDD instead. eBay shop, seals ordered.

Thought it might be tricky as you might not be able to visualise down the piston bore. But, really straightforward. Some pics of the finished product and how I always get the pistons to retract once off the car. There was signs that someone has had both brake hoses removed as some point as they'd not been put back in the grooves properly - but this wouldn't affect performance.

Could've gotten away with just the passenger side but I thought to keep em uniform. Lots of scrubbing with my tooth brush as well as various sponges. You have to be careful not to introduce debri/dust into the piston bores! Plenty of scrubbing corrosion where the seals slot inside the pistons outers.

 

Both now press in with a satifying push in the hands. Young un helped me again to do a 2 man brake bleed - may Allah bless and guide him - and I must remember to recheck the tightness of all wheel hub bolts. Nice drive to work n back of 110 miles and the braking was that much more enjoyable!

 

[Redefined]

Droming coming from one of the wheel bearings again. Pretty sure it's not the tyres (which are winter tyres so could be road noise) and also pretty sure it sounds like the bearing that was changed last month. Got an appointment at LexTec on Friday so will ask Dave to double check as I can't feel any play at any of the wheels.

But, yesterdays job was a full interior clean. Daughter hoovered the mats and made em look immaculate. Despite having completed many other jobs over the year, it's always a good clean that always seems most time consuming but also most satisfying.

Daughter (along with the family) got in the car today for eid and going to my mums. "Dad, feels like a new car"... Thanks v much, it does too 👊

[Redefined]

Just going down (on the ~75 mile round trip) to collect the old dear. Poor thing had her gaskets leaking and me being the 'excessive' that I am, thought I'd have em done. Gulp, wait for it!!

Borrowed £500 of my mate to ensure I have enough to pay the £900 bill (breakdown below as a guide, in case anyone else plans on having it done). On that price though, the bearing and 2 new Kumho tyres as well as MOT, have been done. Hoping I don't need to spend a penny now until next MOT InshaAllah (God Willing).

[Redefined]

Here we go...

Advisory on the rear anti roll bar linkage ball joints on the rear too. So will probably keep an eye out for feel and get that booked in once I've recovered from this current bill.

To be fair, Dave did say that it didn't really need doing and it would just be the smell getting worse over the years. But I just didn't like the tiny drips of oil onto the exhaust, nor seeing a tiny bit of oil seepage during servicing. Reminds me, might just get that done today too whilst I'm home!

[BigBoomer]

The anti-rollbar drop links are easy enough to do yourself. It's just a matter of buying them, unbolting the old ones, and then bolting the new ones in.
Plenty of aftermarket options available or from Lexus/Toyota dealers.

[Redefined]

Oh, nice one @BigBoomer and that's really appreciated. I think I get confused between the bushings and the anti roll bar linkages.

Would it be worth going aftermarket or is that only gonna be a downgrade. Ta...

[BigBoomer]

Personally I would go aftermarket but it depends on how long you want it to last.
If you want it to last a long as the original, buy from Lexus.
If you don't mind replacing them every 5 years or so then cheaper aftermarket drop-links are fine.

[Redefined]

Thanks Bigboomer. Yes, I want 20 years like these last ones 😆