How to Change the Brakes on a Lexus ES 300

The brakes on your Lexus ES 300 use a caliper-and-pad design. This caliper system provides improved braking over a brake-drum system. The caliper is a device that sits over the brake rotor, a disc that is mounted on the wheel hub and turns with the wheels. When you press on the brake pedal, the caliper forces the brake pads against the brake rotor, which slows the vehicle down. When the brake pad material is less than one-eighth of an inch thick, it's time to replace the brake pads.

Instructions

1

Jack up on your Lexus' front jack point using a floor jack under the front jack point behind the radiator. Place jack stands under the front jack-support positions under the front doors and then lower the vehicle onto the stands.

2

Remove the wheel lug nuts with an impact wrench and pull the wheel off.

3

Slide the C-clamp over the brake caliper and tighten the clamp so that the outboard brake pad is pushed in towards the wheel hub. The screw end of the clamp should rest against the back of the outboard pad. When you tighten the clamp, a piston inside the caliper retracts into the caliper. When the piston bottoms out, you won't be able to tighten the clamp any further.

4

Remove the clamp from the caliper and loosen the caliper-pin bolt on the bottom of the back side of the caliper.

5

Swing the bottom of the caliper up and remove the brake pads. Then, insert the new pads and close the caliper.

6

Tighten the pin bolt. The rest of the installation is the reverse of removal.