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Budget big brakes for IS300 - IS350 front calipers/rotors/pads

146K views 273 replies 71 participants last post by  Hodgdon Extreme 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

As an 11+ year owner of my IS300 I've come to appreciate it a great deal for both the engineering excellence but also just my own emotional attachment to the car. I dabbled with the idea of selling the car this year and even went so far as to take it in to my mechanic's shop for them to give it a once over prior to listing it.

Somewhat to my surprise, the only real issue that could find with the car were my stock brakes were in pretty bad shape. This is on a 139k mile car with 5MT/LSD and are completely original, meaning all-original pads and rotors (never replaced). So, I obviously got my money's worth! All the rotors are actually in decent shape, but my front drivers side caliper is freezing a bit, creating drag on the wheel. Brake pads are marginal on all corners.

This put a wrinkle in my plans to sell, but mostly in a good way as I wanted to find a reason to keep the car and this proved to be it. Knowing there was no way I'd put stock brakes on the front again, I went off to find out what my modern alternatives were. It came to my surprise that it is now possible to use IS350 front brake calipers and rotors with some adapters I found, and I'm now piecing together this kit. There are a few guys already roaming around with this kit, and the advantages are pretty numerous:

- OEM upgrade from a newer Lexus
- 4 piston caliper, versus 2 on the IS300
- Calipers made out of aluminum (supposedly), versus iron on IS300
- 13.1" rotor, versus 11.65" on IS300
- Pretty affordable pads/rotors considering size

I've been told they will NOT fit stock IS300 wheels though, and can prove that once I have them as I also have a spare set of those.

Best of all, these parts (including caliper adapters) are all pretty easy to come by, much more so than a Supra TT brake upgrade, and priced just as good or better. I'll let you guys know when I get this together and any impressions I'm able to offer of it, but it's really neat to be able to finally pursue a front brake upgrade on this car that I love so much!
 

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#3 ·
I'll give much better answers soon, once I have all the parts and get the work done. Keep in mind I've never done IS300 brakes before so it's hard to compare them to anything.

I chose this IS350 solution as it's bigger, affordable, and based on (supposedly) aluminum calipers. The Supra TT calipers and LS400 calipers are cast-iron. I'm therefore not sure that this upgrade I'm pursuing will be cheaper than an LS400 one as I don't know if you need caliper brackets for that, but assume you do. In terms of ease, there is trimming required from what I know for the dust shields and things like that, but installation will be left to professionals as I have a regular shop that does my projects for me.

I'll let you know more once I know more, including pictures and details. This was more about announcing that there is a new option available as I suspect that others may be interested too.
 
#9 ·
hey everyone, i'm selling these adapters. i know i haven't posted anything on this forum but i have read and had several questions

there's really not much to it

when it comes to the kit itself, all it is is a bracket allowing you to mount the is350 calipers onto the is300. as far as specifications and stopping power and basic physics i do not have any of that, much like the other guys don't either.

i will say however, that they are less expensive, larger, and newer than the tt brakes. i know the name supra is not attached but does it really need to be?

these calipers do come on several other lexus models, as well as the fact that other brakes can work with these.

there's really not a whole lot too it other than a quick, easy and effective bolt on bbk setup. It doesn't need to be over complicated. feel free to message me on purchasing, i do have a website they are about to be listed on, but as of now they all come through me an are made to order. i will post pics later this evening.
as i know Steve will be aswell when his set gets in tomorrow.

i'm just happy to bring new affordable brake options to our platform!!!!!
 
#11 ·
i'm only going to answer this one more time. the OEM rotors. i used the OEM is350 for everything but again, they are a multiplatform brake setup.

OEM everything
rotor
caliper
brake lines

if you want to, you can upgrade to the drilled and slotted and braided lines while you do it, that's what i did, but that is totally on whoever is putting them on the car, i only sell the bracket as of right now. and that's just to keep cost down for you guys
 
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#14 ·
When you say $ once complete compared to others, it all depends on how much you find calipers, rotors etc for. So for that you have to shop around and see what you can find. On the other hand, his adapters are a set price and he's the only one making them.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I am interested in this, so I got on amazon and priced out some of the brake parts for a 2007 IS350

Centric brake hoses (2) - $33.76
Centric rotors (2) - $152
Bendix Calipers (2) - $280
Centric brake pads - $33
Brackets - $120

Grand total = $620

Now I am certain you can bring that total down a bit by searching around online. I just used amazon as a quick search reference. I did not price the parts anywhere else.

Also of note, I didn't price out the cheapest option either. Centric and Bendix are pretty decent daily driver level stuff. I am not gentle on my brakes, and not afraid to spend a little more money on brake parts.

If you are truely selling a budget brake upgrade option, a list of part numbers can be helpful. If nothing else, the year, make, model of the car to source the parts from. Some guys might be able to yank some of this stuff off a car at the boneyard..... or order it from LKQ.... hrmmmmmm

Just some thoughts and feedback.

now I need to search LKQ's parts listing :)
 
#18 ·
I am interested in this, so I got on amazon and priced out some of the brake parts for a 2007 IS50

Centric brake hoses (2) - $33.76
Centric rotors (2) - $152
Bendix Calipers (2) - $280
Centric brake pads - $33
Brackets - $120

Grand total = $620

Now I am certain you can bring that total down a bit by searching around online. I just used amazon as a quick search reference. I did not price the parts anywhere else.

Also of note, I didn't price out the cheapest option either. Centric and Bendix are pretty decent daily driver level stuff. I am not gentle on my brakes, and not afraid to spend a little more money on brake parts.

If you are truely selling a budget brake upgrade option, a list of part numbers can be helpful. If nothing else, the year, make, model of the car to source the parts from. Some guys might be able to yank some of this stuff off a car at the boneyard..... or order it from LKQ.... hrmmmmmm

Just some thoughts and feedback.

now I need to search LKQ's parts listing :)

you are absolutely correct. and i'm in the process of putting together a spread sheet as well.
it does seem like the average cost is going to be right around $600 as you said, which in itself is a great savings when talking about breaks.

as soon as Steve and the other 4 guys get me back pics of their installs i'm going to make an entire new thread.

right now i have an order in for 10 to be made since i cannot produce that many that quickly at work, there is as of today a 4 week wait time and of those 10 sets 6 have already been paid for. if all 10 sell before they are made then i'm just going to put in for another 10.

there are a lot of people who have a million questions, and the real answer is it really is as simply as it sounds. you you can change you're brakes you can install these. the only thing that requires more than a wrench or set of sockets is the dust shield. which some just remove, but i cut and bent it a little myself as i have air ducts going to mine.

it's a very simple process. remove caliper, remove rotor, cut dust shield or remove it, install caliper, tighten bolts on adapter, remove caliper, install rotor, install caliper, bleed brakes. done.

i do a lot of process work at work for people who have to assemble things, so i made this as easy i could. My main job is an engineer at Bosch, to give you a little background on my experience, though these are in no way affiliated with Bosch.
 
#21 ·
yeah man, if you can come up with some sort of "kit" for the front that will include everything I'd be down for buying this. my car needs better stopping power and I don't want to buy some crazy expensive big brake kit when it's only a street car.
 
#25 ·
im all for conversion kits and all that jazz, but everything is soooo easy to acquire. it only took me 10 minutes last week to figure it all out with all of the resources in this thread.

not to piss on your parade, but if you actually read through the thread and spend 5-10 minutes googling it you will have it all figured out. it is even easier than the LS400/mk4 brake swap (which is already ridiculously easy). if you're not willing to piece it together your self, then I don't know what to tell you.

with something as simple as this, I actually wouldn't want a 'kit'.. piecing it together yourself allows you choose your favorite brand of rotors, pads, lines, etc (BIG plus for me). lets also not forget that its much easier on the manufacturer since he doesn't have to keep all that additional stuff in his shop somewhere.

my 2c
 
#22 ·
I can't figure out posting pics on here.
Here's a link to a Facebook page i run with pics of installing them.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1076118342453743&id=1055073117891599


As for a complete set, I would have no problem selling it all together. But I would buy the higher end stuff. I.e. Drilled and slotted, hawk pads, braided lines, possible powder coated calipers, and it would come in around $750-$800 depending. I would be buying parts at the same price as you and then reselling, so I only saw it as fair to let you buy it and save money. But, I'll piece it all together for you for a small fee if it's easier. Just message me about it and we'll talk.
 
#24 ·
Sorry guys, I should have prefaced this thread better in terms of time expectations of when it would be completed.

My IS300 is the least driven of my vehicles and thus I only spend time and money on it when I need to, relative to the needs of maintenance of my other cars which are driven more regularly. As such, and since money is a bit tight as of late, I'm still gathering parts to get this swap done.

At this point I have the IS350 calipers and caliper adapters, but still need to procure the brake rotors, lines, and pads (I have pads from the IS350 but am suspicious that they are no good).

I'll update the post as things move along. I'm sorry for the slow nature of my modding! :wink:
 
#30 ·
so the first two batches have gone out. i'm really hoping to get pics soon sent to me.

i put the order in tuesday for the third batch so 4-5 weeks away.

$120 pre-order
$150 after.
shipped within the US.


email me: boost4brains@gmail.com i will get back as soon as i can. it will be a busy weekend for me so it might be monday before i can back to you.

thank you again for your support. these really are taking off
 
#32 ·
i have had a few people try to message me on here and i just cleaned out my inbox so if you were trying to contact me please try again, or email me

boost4brains@gmail.com

i won't be able to respond until tomorrow though, i have a busy day ahead


also, mini note: i have a guy who is currently testing the 6 piston caliper so i will have updates on that soon hopefully. i tested them on mine and they bolt up i just had to space the rotor out to line up with the caliper, i believe he is trying other rotors to see what will line up
 
#34 ·
Sorry guys, my STi needed work done and the IS300 is a garage queen so I haven't completed this upgrade yet. I feel bad for introducing the thread seeing as I'm moving so slowly, but fear not it will get done in time. This is a good reminder to go look at pricing for IS350 rotors and pads as I will still need to buy fresh sets of each to get this done, and some good brake lines too.
 
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