Brake Issues (2 Viewers)

[basalt51]

My wife took the new to us LX450 in for a service yesterday. The dealer inspected the the brakes and said the front Pads and Rotors needed replacing. They wanted $350 for it so we told them I'ld do it myself. They put new pads back on just to be safe until I could fix it.

I hadn't driven it until this morning and my wife said she hadn't noticed any difference in the brakes on the way home (she hadn't backed up either). So I'm backing out of the drive way and I feel some resistance. Parking brake is off and its not in Park so I keep backing up and I feel heavy resistance and intermittent sutble shuttering (for lack of better term) At first I thought maybe its in 4lo (locked TC, not sure if the LX450 would feel the same) binding on pavement. Pulling forward again there was no shutter and little to no resistance. My drive way is pretty slanted so I put it in reverse and take my foot off the brake and it doesn't move at all. In neutral it would usually just roll out of the drive way. Give it some gas and I get the same resistance.

It seems to me the brakes are just dragging pretty heavily. Should it go away as the pads break in? If it'll be ok for a week I'll get the parts from C-Dan and get it done. If it is possible something else or could possible lead to other problems then we'll spend the $150 in labor now to get them fixed. My wife is on vacation for 2 weeks so the vehicle will see very few miles.

Any ideas?
Thanks
Jason

 

[GreatLakesWaterjet]

I would take it back to the dealer. Sounds like they screwed up the parking brake shoes. They might be binding.

 

[NorCalDoug]

aren't the parking brake shoes in the rear? sounds like the front pads were replaced.
For $350, if that's really what it would've been for the rotors too, I might've just had them do that...
I think they might've been mistaken on the price for the job -- I recall a quote somewhere around $600 for a brake pad and rotor job a couple years ago...which is why I did it myself (with the help of some good friends).

 

[GreatLakesWaterjet]

basalt51 said they replaced the rear pads. Just sounds like they messed up the parking brake shoes when they did the job. I just did a complete rotor and pad change on my 94. Got all the parts from Marlin. Also used 100 series front pads. Really easy job and not too expensive. I spent a little over $600 but I also did the knuckle kits and replaced front wheel bearings and seals.

 

[Beowulf]

basalt51 said they replaced the rear pads.

I believe he said they replaced the front pads.


Jason,

$350 for new OEM rotors, wheel bearing repack, and new OEM pads, with labor, is a smokin' deal. I would have them do the work. IIRC, the pads are about $50 and the rotors about $200 (C-Dan prices). That's only 1.5 hrs labor (approx $100)

It's not a hard job but you'll need some special tools that you may, or may not have. Figure in buying brass drifts, spring gauge, hub socket, grease, and a torque wrench and it gets expensive to do it yourself the first time.

Back to your brake problem....
Any unusual noises? Does the e-brake seem to work OK? Any dragging in forward gears?

-B-

 

[GreatLakesWaterjet]

My bad, I think I've drank to much. Guess I should have read it more than once.

 

[basalt51]

Front Pads not rear. My wife said the 120K mile service did include adjusting the parking brake.

She was backing out to go to the dealer and noticed it was having the same problem so she called the dealer, described the problem and asked if she should drive it or tow it. Since she didn't have a problem driving it home they said drive it in (about 20 miles). She was being cautious the whole way and about 5 miles from the dealer she noticed it started dragging going forwards. She said she didn't touch the brakes after that until the off ramp where she was coasting and going pretty slow until she had to use the brakes. Then just before the end of the offramp she said it "locked-up". It didn't skid or anything, just came to an abrupt halt. The dealer came and got her, gave her a rental, and towed the vehicle the remaining 500 feet or so. It just goes to show when in doubt TOW IT! I have no idea what the problem is at this point but we might have gotten pretty lucky there.

I don't see how new pads could do such a thing. The brake feel was actually really good before except the pedal was a little soft. No pulsing or anything of that nature so I don't think the rotor wasn't that bad. They just said they needed to be turned but there wasn't enough material to turn them (which I know not to do anyways ).

I wasn't real confident in the number they quoted for the work since it seemed low and I figured if I had them do it more charges would certainly show up somewhere, which is why I decided to do it myself. I never thought something like this would be the result, and I still don't think it is due to the front pads unless they were not properly installed.

I'll let you know what they say.

 

[sjcruiser]

IIRC, my local dealer quoted around $900 bucks for the front rotors & pads + the rear pads + labor to replace them (this happened only a few months after I bought the truck CPO from them). For $350 for the front brakes, I'd definitely let the dealer do it though.

Sounds good that you're going to tackle the job yourself (couldn't feel better afterward, I'd bet); just to encourage you...in my own experience...

Driving home after saying no to the dealer's helfty estimate, I decided to stop by my Toyota mechanic friend(who rarely sees a LC btw). He did the whole job for $200 but just turned the front rotors instead of replacing them (as the thickness were still in specs.) My brakes had never felt better; well, atleast it lasted for a few months then vibrations & shuddering came back, increasing over time.
Stood up with the extreme steering wheel shaking when braking at high speed, along with whole body shake (which indicated the rear brake issue - more pronounced with passengers/load in the rear). I then decided to bring the truck back to the friend's shop to have the front rotors & pads replaced - rear rotors turned & new pads. $600 bucks later (including the cryogenized front rotors & performance friction pads), the truck's brakes feltlike they're brand spanking new again - but only to find out the very same issue started creeping up again *crying* in less than one year *sigh*

Talked to Dan (who helped overcoming my own fear of messing things up on a 4wd) & ordered the parts from him, bought the tools as Beowulf mentioned above, and did the job myself last year - NO problems since!!!!! (sometimes I still wanna kick myself in the n*ts for not doing so in the beginning - *DOH*)

Frank.

 

[basalt51]

Sometimes I wonder why I ever take my vehicles anywhere. Everytime they go in for "regular maintenance" they come back making some new sound or driving funny or something new. I just don't have time to do it myself. When it comes to something bigger, like brakes, I do like to do it myself because then I can look at the bearings and decided whether they need replacing or not and I know they got repacked properly etc.

I've done a bit of work on the jeep, so this shouldn't be any problem. I only need to get the FSM and a 54mm socket, maybe an inch/pounds torque wrench which I should have anyways. The only real problem is the jeep is filling up my garage so I may have to do this one on the street

 

[basalt51]

Just talked to my wife. I feel better... sort of. The technician forgot a bolt. I don't know which one but I image it was an important one. It now needs a new abs sensor, new backing plate, and a new brakeline I'm just glad she's ok. I'm still not sure if thats front or rear, but since they replaced the front pads, I'm assuming front.

 

[basalt51]

Yep. They've been really good about it. I'm sure they know they dodged a bullet too. Now they're even going to do the rotors at cost, no labor. I guess they had the hub assembly apart for the 120K mile service which is why the calipers were off. I'm not actually sure what they did in the hub, whether it was a bearing repack or something else, but that is why the original quote for the rotors was low.

 

[cruiserdan]

120k would usually include a wheel bearing pack, which requires removal of the calipers.