LS460 - Brakes and Brake Bleeding.

I've been feeling a slight pulsation in the brakes ever since I got it but I was waiting to finish up the suspension maintenance before I tackle the brakes. Mainly because I did not want the calipers getting marred up during the removal and installation of the suspension components. I went with the stoptech cryo treated rotors for this car as well and the Akebono pads. My favorite brake setup has been the cryo treated rotors and the Hawk HPS pads with stainless steel lines. Since Hawk HPS did not make pads for the LS I went with the Akebono which I like too.  I also could not find stainless steel lines for the LS, I've found companies that make it for the rears but not the front. I didn't want to go with the custom brake lines right so I just stuck to the OEM brake lines. If you would like to know more about the cryo treating process, this is a good read: Cryo.

The parts I ordered:

Amsoil Brake fluid (BFLVCN-EA) 6 pints

Front Brake Pad Fitment Kit - OEM - (04947-50120)

Rear Brake Pad Fitment Kit  - OEM - (04948-50060)

Front Left Disc Brake Rotor - Stoptech 126.44148CSL

Front Right Disc Brake Rotor - Stoptech 126.44148CSR

Rear Left Disc Brake Rotor - Stoptech 126.44149CSL - 

Rear Right Disc Brake Rotor - Stoptech 126.44149CSR

Akebono Front brake pads - ACT1282

Akebono Rear brake pads - ACT1283

I wanted to pick a color for the brake calipers and possibly use that as accent colors later on for the car. So asked a friend of mine to mix up some shades of green and do a spray out card. Thanks Jeremy! With the color picked I started disassembly.

Prior to disassembly here are a couple of steps I did.

1. Disengage the parking brake.

2. Using techstream I zeroed down accumulator pressure.

3. Disabled electronic controlled brakes.

4. Disconnect battery.

Zeroing down accumulator pressure and disabling ECB is only temporary and will reset when the car starts up again. My thought process was to zero down and disable the ECB to reduce the pressure in the actuator and brake lines so that when the brake lines are disconnected from the calipers there won't be as much fluid that squirts out. Disconnected the battery so the actuator wont re initialize until I was ready. 

 Front rotors

Rear rotors

I used a 3M ear plug to blug up the brake lines. I also used saran wrap on the brake fluid reservoir and capped it to prevent as much air from getting into the system as possible. The ear plugs swell up with brake fluid and I didn't see any fluid drip out. I had it this way for two days while the calipers were out getting prepped and painted. 

Calipers stripped, cleaned and prepped for paint.

Used etching primer for extra bite so paint can adhere better.

Paint!! 

I measured the calipers and used some holographic oil slick vinyl to cut some decals. I put a small arch in the decal just to flow with the caliper better. That's my air tank which I had painted along with the calipers. Very happy with the end results.

Reassembly.

Once assembled, I wanted to do a full brake fluid flush. Below is the procedure I used using techstream. Once the battery is reconnected did the zero down and ECB invalid process again because when the car is put into acc mode everything resets. MAKE SURE THERE IS A BATTERY CHARGER CONNECTED!!! Brake bleeding uses a lot of power and the last thing you want is the battery to die during this process. 

With everything assembled and bled I made sure that the brakes were working by trying to move forward and backwards with the brake applied. Thankfully it was. Now to bed in the rotors and pads. Definitely smoked the rotors and pads during this process. 

Brakes feel awesome and no more pulsation! Happy happy! 

-AJ Abraham

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LS460 - Front End Suspension Refresh.

Got my box of suspension components from Figs Engineering with all the mevotech arms for the front end with the bushings available from figs pressed in.

Tie rods - Front Inner - MEVOTECH MS86740 x 2
Tie rod - Front Left Outer - MEVOTECH MS86620
Tie rod - Front Right Outer - MEVOTECH MS86621
Sway bar end link - Rear Left - MEVOTECH MS86860
Sway bar end link - Rear Right - MEVOTECH MS86861
Sway bar end link - Front Left - MEVOTECH MS86858
Sway bar end link - Front Right - MEVOTECH MS86858
Sway bar bushings - Rear - BECK/ARNLEY 1018323
Control Arm - Front left upper forward - MEVOTECH CMS861157
Control Arm - Front left upper rearward - MEVOTECH CMS861078
Control Arm - Front right upper forward - MEVOTECH CMS861158
Control Arm - Front right upper rearward - MEVOTECH CMS861077
Figs front upper control arm bushings (LS460-FRUCABSH-41) pressed into mevotech arms
Control Arm - Front right lower rearward - MEVOTECH CMS861076
Control Arm - Front left lower rearward - MEVOTECH CMS861075
Control Arm - Front left lower forward - MEVOTECH CMS861073
Control Arm - Front right lower forward - MEVOTECH CMS861074
Figs lower forward control arm bushings pressed in to Mevotech arms
Ball joint on front knuckle - Febest 0120-USF40F

Also got in Engine and Transmission mounts.

Engine mount L& R (12361-38160 x 2)

Transmission mount (12371-38050)

Prior to actually installing all these components I wanted to clean all the old components just to get rid of all the gunk that has build up over the years. Plus a clean area to work on later makes it feel so much better. Also after cleaning everything up I sprayed Seafoam DeepCreep on all the bolts, nuts, ball joints etc to help things come apart easier later.

Before:

After:

A friend of mine is the lead tech at a reputable shop here. He has an LS460 and have done all the arms etc so I asked for his help in getting everything done. He is also one of the few techs I would have work on my car. Thanks Matt and thanks Import Motor Werks for use of the shop! So Matt changed all the arms out and I wanted to run all my air lines and level sensors etc for my future aftermarket air ride setup and stay out of his way.

Removed all the arms. 

Supported the motor and dropped lowered subframe to get the motor mounts done.

Old motor mounts were definitively shot.

New motor mounts.

The ball joint on the hub I think took the longest time but wasn't bad. Getting the right length and width of the cups to go over the ball joint was crucial. Luckily he had a couple of different sets to pick cups etc from. Like everything else the right tools and availability makes all the difference. 

Arms got a scrub down and looks clean and newer looking!

With everything addressed, he did an alignment and went on a test drive. Everything took about 6 hours primarily because Matt knew what he was doing, had the right tools, he has done it on his car a couple of times and I stayed out of his way. I got all my mounting brackets, and bolts installed for the air ride, ran all my air lines and level sensor wiring safe, tucked away, heat shielded where it needed and ready for the next phase of the install. My goal was to get everything underneath the car done while it was on the lift because. Productive day and glad everything went well. My car drives amazing right now, steering and suspensions feel responsive and no creaking and moaning can be heard. Thanks again Matt and IMW! Also Figs Engineering for all the support! 

-AJ Abraham

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LS460 - Headlight, Fog light and Grill Restoration.

The headlights and fog lights on the car were not bad by any means but it definitely did show signs of age a little bit of yellowing etc but nothing that couldn't be fixed. The fog lights I think took the most beating because of how low it is and prone to pitting etc by rocks and other debris from the road.

Sanded them all down starting at 1000 grit and worked my way down according to how much of the damage could be fixed and then worked my way up. On the headlights I ended up going to 800 grit and then moving up to 1000, 1200, 1600, 2000, 3000 and then polishing it. The headlight on the left was my first one and did all the steps to see the results before I did the other one. The fog lights I ended up having to go from 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600, 2000 and then 3000. I used sanding disks on a DA and by hand only in areas where the DA couldn't be maneuvered to so it went by fairly quickly. 

After all the sanding, all the housings were taped up and prepped for some 2K PPG clear. Headlights and fog lights cleared and looking fresh. 

Untaped everything and carefully two hours after it was cleared and then I let it cure completely for 24 hours and then back on the car it went.

Since everything was getting cleared I went ahead and sanded down the front Lexus emblem as well to get rid of the pitting and fading it had. Had to be careful to not take too much off because the radar cruise sits behind this emblem and is calibrated for it. I also wanted to give the emblem a little smoked effect so mixed a couple of drops of black to the clear and it was cleared. 

I want to smoke the grill out now too but the chrome plating of sorts on the grill isn't too susceptible to clear sticking on it so I figured I would try some headlight tinting film to achieve the same outcome. Ordered some Luxe tint film and went about trying to put my vision together. 

Started by dismantling the inner grill from the chrome surround, then cleaning everything and degreasing the chrome surround with IPA. Also the inner grill was cleaned and I spayed it down with 303 just to condition the plastic. 

With the chrome surround all prepped and dry started off wrapping it. Patience and a little bit of  time and planning can help a long ways here. The film was warmed up with a heat gun and tucked behind to reduce the chance of edges lifting . Overall I think the wrap came out pretty nicely. 

Reassembled everything and it looked good in my opinion.

Put it back on the car.

So once it was on the car I don't know if I like it as much. The grill kinda blends in with the paint but it stands out too the shade is a little darker than what I was imagining and I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with it. I had ordered the Luxe film in gloss mid smoke and I think it makes it too dark to where it doesn't really give it that mid black chrome look that I wanted like I got from the emblem. I think at a future date I might order some of the gloss mild smoke film and try that to see if I like that better. Leaving it on for now to see how the elements affect the film staying on etc and see if there are any peeling or any other issues.

-AJ Abraham

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@aj_ls460

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