1994 Lexus LS400 Squeaking Brakes

by Laverne
(Memphis, TN USA)

I have a 1994 Lexus LS400 with 161K miles. I recently took it to Mienke for front metallic break pads. The breaks are fine in the morning, in the afternoon they start to squeak. I paid $125 for lifetime breaks. Is this normal? Should I take it back to Mienke to get my money back and go to the dealer. I normally do most repair work at the Toyota dealer.

Steve Says,

Thanks for your question Laverne. Brake squeals are a common complaint and there are many things that can cause it. Some things that might be causing your brakes to squeal are a cheap brand of brake pads, long life pads, rotors that need to be "turned" (smoothed out by removing a small amount of their metal surface), dust and grime, etc.

I'm assuming that you did not have this problem before you took your car to them so I have to assume that this brake squeak is being caused by the work that they did.

Metallic pads have small pieces of metal in them and some brands have more than others. The more metal, the more likely they are to squeal. Brake pad manufacturers use metal in place of the asbestos that they used to use.

"Lifetime" brake pads usually contain more metal in them which is why they last longer, unfortunately the side effect of having more metal is the fact that they will probably also squeal a lot more.

I would recommend that you return to the shop that replaced your brakes and just have them take a look to make sure that there is nothing wrong. I suspect that everything is fine, but it does not hurt to have them look to make sure.

I hope this has helped with your brake squeal problem.