I just installed front rotors from a 95 Mazda Millenia on my 3rd gen with a J30 dual piston caliper. Clearance is close but it clears with a 2mm washer between the torque member and the knuckle. The center bore of the rotor is bigger and gives about .5mm or so of play when on the studs. The rotor is 274mm vs 280mm for the Z32. They are both 28mm thick. These rotors with a washer save the trouble of having to mill off 3mm of radius on the Z32 rotors. They also clear the dust shields. I assume fitment is the same for Q45 calipers. The rotors should also work with a Z32 caliper but I'm unsure of the fitment with the pads. Someone try it and find out.


I had a couple of issues one being the one shown with the outside pad. The grinder took care of that pretty quick. The other was the hardware that holds the pad rubbed the outside of the rotor. I bent the tabs back and forth like a paper clip until they broke. Hopefully they wont move left and right too much. I made a few laps around the block to bed the pads and all feels good. After tweaking the hardware on each side there is no more rubbing or grinding noises.

There is a considerable difference in stopping between these and my stock setup. All in all it was a great upgrade for little money. If you do this when in need of pads and rotors the only thing extra are the J30 calipers.

cliffs: 95-96 Mazda Millenia rotors work with J30, Q45 calipers with slight modification to the pads and hardware and using a 2mm washer between the torque member and knuckle.

Pad before grinding:


Pad after grinding:


Fitment:




Modified hardware left, OEM right:

 

Cool, good job. What is that.. about 10 3/4" rotor?

This is interesting. I may consider this for my black VE. What did it cost you total?

 

Oh damn, talk about convenience! I may go pick up some free calipers in a few! Muahahahaha!! This should work for the 4th gen I would assume since they use same rotors, calipers, AND pads. Only one way to find out

Thanks! btw how did you discover this setup?

 

10.79".

My total cost was about $130. I got calipers at the wrecking yard for $20 and rebuilt them. Pads and rotors were ~$95. I needed pads and rotors anyways so I consider it a $35 upgrade. Rockauto has some good deals on the calipers and pads now.

I searched through the Brembo catalog until I found a 274mm rotor with a 5 X 114.3 bolt pattern.

 

What's the difference between the J30 and Q45 calipers?

Looks like I can do this total for $170 shipped from RockAuto with all new hardware. Hmm...

 

sweet find, but i wanna know how well it works being non hub-centric.

 

True, but the Cobra/Z32 upgrade isn't hubcentric either (though Jeff had hub-rings made up for it). Worst case, you could just get hubrings for this setup too

 

Works great. There is maybe .5mm of play in the rotor. See my 3rd pic which shows it sitting on a stud. Not much room to move. Maybe the cobra rotors take bigger studs so there is more play. In any case, I cant notice anything out of balance or any negative effects. If I do, Ill update this thread.

 

That's a very good point. Now that I look, it appears the Millenia rotors sit tight around the Maxima studs.

The holes on the Cobra rotors are quite a bit larger than the thickness of the Maxima studs which allows the Cobra rotor to move quite a bit.

 

oh i know, the amount by which it even could be off is very very small. But for peace of mind I guess i'd just prefer a pair of countersunk holes for #3 phillips retainer screws like the my Shiitvic has. As long as you have a legit #3 phillips screwdriver (or better yet, bit-driver bit and 1/4" socket) to remove them with when it's time to change them.

 

Nice BBK combo ...

 

Bump to plug a sale. http://forums.maxima.org/general-max...-calipers.html

I have had 0 issues with this setup to date.

 

So what If I just get the rotors for the millenia? Will it be much of a difference in the braking area? Right now my rear caliper is leaking fluid all over my rear brake area and rim.

 

What?? These are for the front and you will need J30 or Q45 calipers. As for braking area, they are actually a smaller diameter than stock by 6mm. Its the added thickness of the rotor and dual piston caliper that we are after.

 

Hey guys, try mounting those Q45 calipers directly to your stock caliper bracket. You'll then use your stock rotor. No turning down, or washers... it just fits. I figured it out on my sentra, but it's the same concept. Here's my how to... http://www.b15u.com/suspension-chass...onversion.html

 

Im pretty sure I tried that a year or so ago and it doesnt work. The offset of the torque member must be different for a Sentra and a Maxima. There was a huge gap on one side and almost if not touching the rotor on the other. Hence the reason why a rotor with a different hat dimension is needed.

edit: half of the reason is also for a 28mm thick rotor vs a thin, prone to warping 22mm rotor.

 

Hey I don't know about the warping issue... I have Maxima rotors and haven't had an issue
Try the fitment out again if you get a chance.
Info from RockAuto.com....

Raybestos FRC10004 caliper with caliper bracket...
These cars all fit the same front caliper and sold with the caliper bracket.

INFINITI I30 (1996 - 1999)
NISSAN ALTIMA (1993 - 2001)
NISSAN ALTIMA GLE (1993 - 1997)
NISSAN ALTIMA GXE (1993 - 1997)
NISSAN ALTIMA SE (1993 - 1997)
NISSAN ALTIMA XE (1993 - 1997)
NISSAN MAXIMA (1989 - 1999)
NISSAN MAXIMA GLE (1995 - 1998)
NISSAN MAXIMA GXE (1992 - 1998)
NISSAN MAXIMA SE (1992 - 1998)
NISSAN SENTRA 2004
NISSAN SENTRA LIMITED EDITION 2003
NISSAN SENTRA SE-R (2002 - 2003)
NISSAN SENTRA SE-R SPEC V (2002 - 2003)

Also similar results if you check the A-1 Cardone models with caliper bracket.

They're the same.

 

The only part to change is the caliper. If you compare two calipers... one stock maxima... one is J30. The alignment of the holes and the clearances are the same for both calipers. The J30 is a snug fit, but it works.

 

I did this with the Q45 calipers a few months ago but have been reticent about that fact. Pretty much plug & play as per Reizy's write up. The difference in braking performance is definitely discernable from stock.

Do it.

 

if there's any doubts about the just-throw-on-a-q45-caliper thing.. i'll try it out on mine this weekend since i've already got a set of q45 brakes and my maxima is still a rolling chassis, albeit lifeless.

 

LOL Shouldn't really be any doubts... it's on my car right now

Much like the write up, you do have a little bit of grinding/sanding/spacing, but it isn't a big deal as far as it goes.

 

Pretty cool that you can fit the Q45 caliper on the stock rotor, but wouldn't the thicker rotor PLUS the dual piston caliper (as in the first post) be even better?

 

Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding. I used the Millenia rotors with the Q45 calipers.

 

Oh I misunderstood then. I thought you did just the Q calipers like 5er

I plan to do the Q/Millenia to my black VE here in a couple weeks

 

to clarify, i was talking about 5er's post, not tresboi.

 

Please do and let us know. Like I said, I'm pretty sure I tried it and the spacing was just way off. Like, unsafe off.

 

By all means, go for it. I have the Z rotor conversion in the rear as well - big difference with both instaled. I'm also using AXXIS XBG in the front & HBC Greenstuff in the rear (they were on all of the stock calipers before the Q's). I'll have a set of ss lines & some new (quality) brake fluid added to the package in a couple weeks, too.

 

5er, What year Q45 are the calipers from? Do you have to use Q45 pads or will the stock pads work?
Thank you
Ezra

 

yeah.. tried it yesterday and the spacing is WAAAY off. like unsafe off. it's like 1/2 - 3/4" worth of spacer you'd need behind the pad to keep the pistons from being hyperextended by the time your pads ran through, and there would be a little grinding needed as well.

now i don't know if you can use spacers on the caliper where it mounts to the knuckle or if it needs to move the other way (inward) but it just seems like it's asking for trouble either way, using a stock rotor, cuz the stock rotors don't seem as thick as the Q rotors.

from autozone.. both are 49mm overall height rotors, but the big part of the maxima rotor is 22mm vs 28mm for the Q rotor, making it several MM off-center. it would be almost right on the inboard side, but not right on the outboard side.

 

so what would be needed to run Q brakes: calipers, rotors, & pads??? just to space the caliper out enough to center the rotor or for the caliper bracket to be used from the Q also and bolted onto the max's knuckle?

 

i think the standard setup is q calipers/tqmembers and J30 rotors with the outside diameter turned down a little bit. I'd imagine the chunkier J30 rotors can hold a bit more heat than the stockers.. being 6mm thicker. Or at least the Q45 rotors are 6mm thicker, i assume the J30's are the same.