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Here is something to share.
After getting a 1995 ES300 with burned up E-Brakes, I knew I had to replace them to make this car road-worthy. I could not figure out why these E-brakes were burned so bad… It is an automatic transmission vehicle and should have had a light on when engaged, and even so, automatic transmission vehicles E-brakes very rarely get used (especially around me in the flat areas of central Ohio)
When I pulled the back rotor and saw both rear shoes completely burned up and worn (and the actual thin composite brake material fell off with a slight touch) I knew something was amiss…
Now, here is the rest of the story…
Called Advance Auto and got a set of shoes… around $21 with a $5 core… no dice, they were too large.. The rotor would not fit over top them… The brake shoes diameter measured 172mm (on both sides as well)… I had everything in the E-brake assembly retracted and installed properly. The star wheel was fully retracted, and the top of the shoes were firmly seated…. What gives?
Either the shoes are too large, or the rotor (with hat) is too small…
I also even ensured the hand parking brake adjuster (the wire) was fully retracted and slack… still no help…
So I measured the inside diameter of the hat, it was 170mm. The shoes fully retracted were measuring 172mm…. hmmmmmm
CarQuest’s inside diameter of their rotor was 170mm…hmmmm
Napa gave me two brands of rotors… both 170mm…. hmmmmm
Finally went to the Lexus dealership and measured OEM one… guess what??? It was 170mm in diameter….
OK, it was the shoes…..
The dealer wanted $47 per shoe, for a total of over $200 with taxes….. To heck with that..
So I got another set of shoes from NAPA (made in USA no less)… still measured 172mm when installed.
What I ended up doing was having to file off a little more that 1mm on the bottom metal end of the shoe where it contacts the star adjuster mechanism to get it to fit… after that… no problem… Rotor fit well over top of it, and adjusted it fine…
Best I can figure is that when someone re-did the rear brakes, they replaced the shoes at the time with aftermarkets that were too big and bashed the rotors overtop of them…. I did get the car in non-running form (I had to replace an engine)…. It came to me without heads because it was overheated, but that is another story…
Anyway, I later found someone left a message on the Advance auto web page about these shoes that they were too big and he had to get OEM parts to make them work (reminds me of when ETCG discussed aftermarket parts)…
Anyway, all’s well that ends well… hope this helps someone when faced with this in the future….
Karl!
[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/P1010040_zps419fd503.jpg[/IMG]
Here is where to file it back a 1mm or 2… (without the star adjuster being on, of course)
[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/brakestar_zpsdee60fbe.jpg[/IMG]
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Each system in the vehicle is important. The braking system is crucial. In your circumstance you are better of using OEM parts. With OEM parts they can be more expensive, however it cuts down on time wasted trying to alter parts and run around looking for parts from other places. Also they fit better in most cases and save the hassle when you need to install them.
[quote=”drthrift035″ post=50280]Each system in the vehicle is important. The braking system is crucial. In your circumstance you are better of using OEM parts. With OEM parts they can be more expensive, however it cuts down on time wasted trying to alter parts and run around looking for parts from other places. Also they fit better in most cases and save the hassle when you need to install them.[/quote]
I do agree with that 99% of the time, but since these were just E-brakes on an automatic transmission vehicle, not the primary brakes, I couldn’t justify spending over $200… If these were the primary brakes, then yes, I would have bought the OEM….
Karl!
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