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Scheduled my state inspection and some oil and coolant changes for today so of course last night leaving my hockey game I heard the unmistakable pop of an outer tie rod ball joint going bad. I preemptively bought a spare set from Bell Lexus during their sale a couple weeks ago but didn't have time to swap them out before going to the shop.
Interestingly, the tie rod is apparently not bad enough to fail inspection but my rear brake pads were almost down to the squealers after replacing them in Oct 2023. I assume this is a sign that I should get a big brake kit...a big brake kit for safety...
Scheduled my state inspection and some oil and coolant changes for today so of course last night leaving my hockey game I heard the unmistakable pop of an outer tie rod ball joint going bad. I preemptively bought a spare set from Bell Lexus during their sale a couple weeks ago but didn't have time to swap them out before going to the shop.
Interestingly, the tie rod is apparently not bad enough to fail inspection but my rear brake pads were almost down to the squealers after replacing them in Oct 2023. I assume this is a sign that I should get a big brake kit...a big brake kit for safety...
So speaking of big brake kits, the only front/rear options I see online are either Stoptech from SOS Performance or Ceika. There are a number of front-only options from Wilwood, Powerbrake, and a few others but I feel like the way the brakes are set up for the GX you need bigger rear calipers if you upgrade the already fairly sizable fronts.
Anybody have any opinions for these options or know of any of 4 wheel BBKs for the 460? I'd prefer a dedicated off the shelf kit rather than cobbling something together since brakes are so of important.
Agreed, EBC Green pads should provide all the braking power you ever need unless you are running a very large and heavy set of wheels and tires. With the EBC Greens and 33s on m rig....and I have no issues stopping when pulling trailers in the 4-5,000 pound range. They are a huge improvement over stock.
Oh this is a decision almost entirely premised on the fact that big, brightly colored monobloc brake calipers look awesome and only like 5% for any performance benefit. I have Stoptech Street pads on there now and they are a nice upgrade over stock.
Agreed, EBC Green pads should provide all the braking power you ever need unless you are running a very large and heavy set of wheels and tires. With the EBC Greens and 33s on m rig....and I have no issues stopping when pulling trailers in the 4-5,000 pound range. They are a huge improvement over stock.
Did you follow the bedding/break-in procedure with the greens? I've towed thousands of miles with mine - on stock pads before I switched to EBCs - and did a big wheeling trip to CO back in September with the EBC greens.. That trip included a ton of off pavement driving and lots of ATRAC and DAC usage coming off of the big passes. For the DAC control specifically, I'd have it on for 10+ minutes at a time as well. Since then I've had one big panic stop on the interstate as well, and the brakes about threw me through the windshield. My rotors have over 50K on them as well. No glazing, pulsing, warping, etc with the greens or other pads.
My rig gets not infrequent drives up to the city in heavy traffic as well....and this past weekend I towed a 3,000# empty and 5,000# loaded trailer about 100 miles with it.
On my old Subaru Forester I went about 70,000 miles on one set of OEM pads and rotors. I sold it to my neighbor and stayed it's "mechanic" for some time after that. Those rotors finally got warped so I put on a new set of pads and rotors for her....which she promptly warped in about 2 months. I got a warranty return on those rotors and threw on a new set.....which she warped again in about 3 months after that. I ended up telling her "maybe it's just your driving style" .
Oem pads were always fine with me. On my 5 lugs they would last over 100k miles. Never caused buildup on a rotor either. I do clip along at a good pace and commute with the truck.
I've always used OEM brakes. And have been towing for several decades but usually only ~3K pounds.
Month ago took the GX in for my "free" oil change and they came out with the typical upsale saying I needed new brake pads they were down to 4mm. They said they were down to 4mm 6 months ago. I asked how much and they said $850. Excuse me, is that just the pads? Yes. OK let me think about it (not lol).
Bought front and rear OEM pads from Bell Lexus on sale for $130 all in. Yesterday took the GX to my 4x4 shop for some work including the brakes. They increased the labor rate from $75 an hour to $90 an hour. They are moving to a new shop being built and apologized for the price increase and said they have to keep the lights on. Front and rear installs were .75 hours each for $67.50 an axle. And that included draining and replacing brake fluid. So all in $265 including new brake fluid.
Next time the rotors will likely need replaced, or not. I did explore options for aftermarket brake kits but in the end decided to stay with OEM and likely will unless these wear out fast.
Transmission fluid drain and fill with filter change was $90. Cooling system flush and fill was $45. I provided the fluids except for brake fluid. Installing transmission cooler and bracket was 2.5 hours so most expensive thing at $225. Total was $495. And worth it to me. $850 to change out brake pads not so much, I'll go back to changing the damn things in my driveway before I pay that price.
I do a lot of down shifting, so my brakes last a very long time, and I'm still running the factory installed brakes at 180,000 on the clock.
EDIT: The GX has closer to 118,000 miles, not the 180,000 posted above.
Was surprised this weekend while doing the tire rotation. I expected my fronts to be shot as they had been getting noisier. Measured over 8mm (front) and 6mm (rear) at around 18k miles. Guess I've got some more time on them. Pads were Power Stop Z36 series. Don't know how they compare to the EBCs for now.
I tow a bunch. Driving style and properly adjusted brake controller are the best solutions when towing. I think I get fair to average life on the pads and if a bit of noise is all I suffer after the first 20k...I can live with it. I've driven down uncomfortable grades with a 4k gravity pusher behind...but my brakes never gave me a problem.
If you are having a problem going through pads with an admittedly lighter than stock setup...I would assume you have had bad luck with batches of pads or you are very aggressive on the pedal. Not saying that is wrong...just different than my experience.