since i hate working on these damn drums i am deffinitly going to convert to disk sometime this summer. i was wondering, how come you need to get the SE rear strut. why cant you just use the strut that is on there and remove all brake parts including that back plate. shouldnt the disks just bolt onto the 4 bolt holes that are in the strut?

 

there's a lip on the spindle sticking out of the SE struts that's not there on the GXE struts.

By the time you stick the backing plate and the dust shield on the thing, the wheel hub rubs on the dust cover. here's pics.
the first three are my trying to do the job on the GXE struts- note the deep "hole" in there...

http://www.ee.utulsa.edu/~mblehm/pic...n/Dcp01034.jpg
http://www.ee.utulsa.edu/~mblehm/pic...n/Dcp01035.jpg
http://www.ee.utulsa.edu/~mblehm/pic...n/Dcp01037.jpg


The 4th pic is of the GXE (left) and SE (right) struts next to each other.
Note the lip that sticks out about 1/2" on the SE strut?
http://www.ee.utulsa.edu/~mblehm/pic...n/Dcp01044.jpg

 

thanks matt. that completely answered my question. i knew you had to use the se strut when you did it, i just couldnt figure out why it was necessary. i didnt realize how much different that se strut was.

 

Actually, that's the only difference. the SE strut has a little stiffer damping from the factory, but that's really about it other than that lip. everything else bolts up perfectly fine.

be sure yto get the SE brake lines too when doing it.. they're different than the lines for the drums.

 

will any other aftermarket lines work? I have the parts, except the SE brake lines.

 

you MUST have lines that will fit 3rd gen SEs or 4th gens. (they're the same thing).

the steel braided kits from goodridge and SMC are both fine- or get new ones from a parts store.. whatever, just make sure they're for an SE.

 

do you have to change the brake line that is for the emergency brake as well? that would really suck. doesnt that go under all the exhaust n stuff?

 

matt, was your car totalled? im thinkin it was since it is being parted out. that really sucks. you had a nice ride goin. are you getting another maxima? dont abandon us 3rd genners now.

 

I plan to convert to disks on my GXE. Don't you have to change the brake master cylinder? The SE cylinder and GXE cylinder are different part numbers. I was told that the brake balance was designed into the master cylinder. This balance works differently with all disk brakes than combination disks and drum brakes. Is this the case.

Thanks!

 

here's alllll the information you need about the conversion..

http://www.ee.utulsa.edu/~mblehm/faq...onversion.html

and to answer the questions again: No, you don't need a new master cylinder. they're actually the same. the different part #s you were quoted were probably because they looked at an SE with ABS compared to a GXE without ABS. the SEs without ABS had the same master cylinder as mine.

Yes, you need to replace your parking brake cables, from the "T" back. you don't have to remove the exhaust, only the heat shields. You unbolt a couple of the exhaust hangers and shove the exhaust to the side. (spelled out crystal clear in my insuractions above).
it's about a 20 minute job, so not worth much worrying about.


and yes, it's totalled. the entire unibody on the front right is bent to Hell and back. the front of the crossmember under the engine was shoved over about 4" and the right corner of the frame was bent about 8" in. even if I bought another front clip off a clean max, it would be very hard to rebuild this one. Thus, I'm keeping the mods, buying another 3rd gen, and selling the stock parts to help offset costs.

 

Great to hear that your sticken with the third gen.

 

thanks for the link. that will come in handy. one last question . for right now until i get all the parts and fix some other things i am keeping the drums, but there is a problem. when i replaced the shoes i couldnt connect the parking brake back up on the driver side becuse the cable was jammed up in there some where. i couldnt pull it out, so if i left it like that it was like i always had the emergency brake on. i dont know much about this, but do you think the problem is where you are talking about in your above quote. if that is the case i may be able to change the cable myself and save some money instead of taking it to a dealership.
thanks