is250 brakes

[Slammed_teabag]

Hi all! , 

        new to the forum, I'm sure there's a thread about brakes for the is250, id rather just shout out instead of searching endless pages, what brake disks/pads do people put on their is250?

       is it just a euro car part job or is it something a bit more specific, obviously it comes down to budget but I just want to know what the options are 

 

   Cheers 😎

[McShmoopy]

50 minutes ago, Slammed_teabag said:

Hi all! , 

        new to the forum, I'm sure there's a thread about brakes for the is250, id rather just shout out instead of searching endless pages, what brake disks/pads do people put on their is250?

       is it just a euro car part job or is it something a bit more specific, obviously it comes down to budget but I just want to know what the options are 

 

   Cheers 😎

Hey Sam, most people tend to do just do euro car parts and try and get premium brand pads when theyre on sale like EBC or brembo, some swear by OEM only but just see what your budget allows. Main thing is if youre doing rear brakes make sure the calliper slide pins or piston isnt seized up as thats a very common design flaw with these cars, silicone paste for the pins and new rubber boots if theyre worn or degraded and cleaning all the components thoroughly is a good start 

[Slammed_teabag]

nice one dude! I'm defo not going to go cheapo on the brakes the cars too heavy for it,  yeah I was informed by the previous owner that the slider pins seize up, f knows why? 

cheers for the advice!

 

[McShmoopy]

3 hours ago, Slammed_teabag said:

nice one dude! I'm defo not going to go cheapo on the brakes the cars too heavy for it,  yeah I was informed by the previous owner that the slider pins seize up, f knows why? 

cheers for the advice!

 

The two main reasons are the rear ones atleast are badly designed with a blind slide bolt design and awful rubber boot which is fiddly to get on, and the second that most mechanics including lexus technicians arent very thorough and don't do things properly ! As far as Im aware greasing the slide pins with silicone paste or appropriate lubricant isnt part of their service itinerary, which is why they tend to seize up. 

If you can successfully refurbish the brakes one time and just periodically grease the pins every 6 months to a year you should have trouble free brakes 

EDIT: Binh from the US has a good video on the rear calliper slide bolt maintenance thats worth a watch

 

[steve2006]

I found that RRG ( Red Rubber Grease) works very well on the slide pins to prevent seizing. It’s very thick so only needs a thin smear and doesn’t break down.

[Linas.P]

On 5/21/2024 at 1:08 AM, McShmoopy said:

most mechanics including lexus technicians arent very thorough and don't do things properly ! As far as Im aware greasing the slide pins with silicone paste or appropriate lubricant isnt part of their service itinerary, which is why they tend to seize up. 

It is the later - servicing brake callipers is simply not part of service manual. In principle Lexus considers brake callipers a disposable item/unit which is not serviceable. They view - callipers simply get replaced every 3-5 years, with every 3rd set of pads or something like that.

Obviously, it doesn't have to be that way and simply taking them apart and greasing them with either dedicated brake lubricant (I tend to use molybdenum grease) or indeed simple red rubber grease once a year is all they need.

As for the pad choice - OEM are simply very dusty and also aggressive on disks. I think that is by design and IS250 brakes are undersized for the weight of the car. I tried brembo and Bosch and both kind of sucked, just worn out quickly. I tried one of the EBC pads, can remember maybe Yellow or Green stuff (street or OEM+) and they were good in terms of wear and dust, but they squealed (it is possible it was not pads fault, but that is my memory of them). Mintex also squealed, but they were on Mintex drilled disks which altogether were bad idea. Then at some point when I was giving the car away it needed whole thing to be done, I got some cheap stuff, brembo disks (as they were the cheapest) and Eicher pads... and as far as I know they were alright, sort of same performance as OEM.

I guess the point I am trying to make - IS250 brakes are just generally not great, so pads and disks choice doesn't make huge difference. Make sure to avoid drilled disks as they easily overheat warp, but apart of that 99% of braking difference is in the tyres, not the brand of pads or disks. So invest in tyres, or get brake kit from IS350/GS300/GS450 etc. The 4 piston fronts are huge upgrade in sense of maintenance, much less dust, much less wear on disk, smoother braking (less grabby), but the rear slider pins will always remain an issue, just bad calliper design. 

P.S. I suggest you use Autodoc, ECP sometimes have huge discounts and work out better, but on average Autodoc is better and there were rumours that some of the more premium brands are sometimes faked in ECP (Denso, brembo etc.).

[McShmoopy]

35 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

It is the later - servicing brake callipers is simply not part of service manual. In principle Lexus considers brake callipers a disposable item/unit which is not serviceable. They view - callipers simply get replaced every 3-5 years, with every 3rd set of pads or something like that.

Obviously, it doesn't have to be that way and simply taking them apart and greasing them with either dedicated brake lubricant (I tend to use molybdenum grease) or indeed simple red rubber grease once a year is all they need.

As for the pad choice - OEM are simply very dusty and also aggressive on disks. I think that is by design and IS250 brakes are undersized for the weight of the car. I tried Brembo and Bosch and both kind of sucked, just worn out quickly. I tried one of the EBC pads, can remember maybe Yellow or Green stuff (street or OEM+) and they were good in terms of wear and dust, but they squealed (it is possible it was not pads fault, but that is my memory of them). Mintex also squealed, but they were on Mintex drilled disks which altogether were bad idea. Then at some point when I was giving the car away it needed whole thing to be done, I got some cheap stuff, Brembo disks (as they were the cheapest) and Eicher pads... and as far as I know they were alright, sort of same performance as OEM.

I guess the point I am trying to make - IS250 brakes are just generally not great, so pads and disks choice doesn't make huge difference. Make sure to avoid drilled disks as they easily overheat warp, but apart of that 99% of braking difference is in the tyres, not the brand of pads or disks. So invest in tyres, or get brake kit from IS350/GS300/GS450 etc. The 4 piston fronts are huge upgrade in sense of maintenance, much less dust, much less wear on disk, smoother braking (less grabby), but the rear slider pins will always remain an issue, just bad calliper design. 

P.S. I suggest you use Autodoc, ECP sometimes have huge discounts and work out better, but on average Autodoc is better and there were rumours that some of the more premium brands are sometimes faked in ECP (Denso, Brembo etc.).

Great insightful response as always Linas! The big brake upgrade is something I do wish to do down the line and Im planning on getting Michelin Cross Climate 2's all around in addition to the RCF LCA upgrade to prevent premature tire wear 

[J Henderson]

Lexus OEM brake components aren't worth the money IMO. Better off just buying decent aftermarket ones.

Yes, its nice to keep things OEM, and despite the additional cost this was once my policy, but I've had 2 different sets of front discs fail before they were a couple of years old. And these were IS350 spec brakes, so it's not like siezed slider pins were the reason why the discs failed prematurely.

A set of OEM discs and pads for the rear is something like £200 as well. That's way too much when you can get very good quality alternatives for about £80-100. In many instances the aftermarket ones will even come with additional hardware like shims, fitting kit etc that you don't get with OEM. And the Lexus discs will rust and turn orange just as easily as aftermarket, so you don't even get that to fall back on.

I went with EBC slotted discs and Yellowstuff pads on the front. They perform very well and after about 18 months on my car, the black coating that the discs come with still looks pretty good. They have impressed me enough that I just bought a set for the rear end as well, and I'll be fitting those in a couple of weeks.

Now I've just stated that Lexus brakes are too dear, and then bought ones that are even more expensive... 🤣 but I don't mind paying extra for something that can justify the higher price.

On the negative side, the EBC stuff is slightly noisier. During cold months, on the first press of the brake I would hear a small squeal from the pads, but that only lasted a second or two and only happened with the very first press of the pedal. Slowing to a stop is also noisier, though not a squeal, more of a low groaning sound. Nothing alarming though.

[Linas.P]

41 minutes ago, J Henderson said:

On the negative side, the EBC stuff is slightly noisier. During cold months, on the first press of the brake I would hear a small squeal from the pads, but that only lasted a second or two and only happened with the very first press of the pedal. Slowing to a stop is also noisier, though not a squeal, more of a low groaning sound. Nothing alarming though.

That would be because of disks are slotted. Slotted are noisiest, drilled are in the middle and simple vented are the most quiet. 

[Slammed_teabag]

On 5/21/2024 at 1:08 AM, McShmoopy said:

The two main reasons are the rear ones atleast are badly designed with a blind slide bolt design and awful rubber boot which is fiddly to get on, and the second that most mechanics including lexus technicians arent very thorough and don't do things properly ! As far as Im aware greasing the slide pins with silicone paste or appropriate lubricant isnt part of their service itinerary, which is why they tend to seize up. 

If you can successfully refurbish the brakes one time and just periodically grease the pins every 6 months to a year you should have trouble free brakes 

EDIT: Binh from the US has a good video on the rear calliper slide bolt maintenance thats worth a watch

 

Strange lexus never included the brake pins into the service , as it is a problem with a Lexus 🤔 never mind! Nice one for the video, I’ve never had to deal with slider pins but it can’t be hard to sort out 😎

[Slammed_teabag]

On 5/22/2024 at 3:38 PM, Linas.P said:

It is the later - servicing brake callipers is simply not part of service manual. In principle Lexus considers brake callipers a disposable item/unit which is not serviceable. They view - callipers simply get replaced every 3-5 years, with every 3rd set of pads or something like that.

Obviously, it doesn't have to be that way and simply taking them apart and greasing them with either dedicated brake lubricant (I tend to use molybdenum grease) or indeed simple red rubber grease once a year is all they need.

As for the pad choice - OEM are simply very dusty and also aggressive on disks. I think that is by design and IS250 brakes are undersized for the weight of the car. I tried Brembo and Bosch and both kind of sucked, just worn out quickly. I tried one of the EBC pads, can remember maybe Yellow or Green stuff (street or OEM+) and they were good in terms of wear and dust, but they squealed (it is possible it was not pads fault, but that is my memory of them). Mintex also squealed, but they were on Mintex drilled disks which altogether were bad idea. Then at some point when I was giving the car away it needed whole thing to be done, I got some cheap stuff, Brembo disks (as they were the cheapest) and Eicher pads... and as far as I know they were alright, sort of same performance as OEM.

I guess the point I am trying to make - IS250 brakes are just generally not great, so pads and disks choice doesn't make huge difference. Make sure to avoid drilled disks as they easily overheat warp, but apart of that 99% of braking difference is in the tyres, not the brand of pads or disks. So invest in tyres, or get brake kit from IS350/GS300/GS450 etc. The 4 piston fronts are huge upgrade in sense of maintenance, much less dust, much less wear on disk, smoother braking (less grabby), but the rear slider pins will always remain an issue, just bad calliper design. 

P.S. I suggest you use Autodoc, ECP sometimes have huge discounts and work out better, but on average Autodoc is better and there were rumours that some of the more premium brands are sometimes faked in ECP (Denso, Brembo etc.).

Yeah I’ve noticed the brakes ***** out a lot of dust, I only really notice because I’ve got white bola’s on the car 😳 might need to get them dipped lol. I’m thinking of just wacking brembos on, what’s this brake kit your talking about? I’ll have a look on auto doc I’ve always used euro for bits , coming from a gen7 accord everything was a easy choice in terms of brakes ect. 

[Linas.P]

I think what we were discussing was brakes upgrade kit from GS300/IS350. As mentioned - brembo pads where not exceptional in any way. 

ECP can be good sometimes when they have discounts.

[Tyre Tread]

JUst had to do the rear brakes on mind and the slide pins are absolutely solid. Can't move them even by taking the off the car, putting them in the vice and using heat and freeze spray and a big hammer. So I've ordered new calipers.