my brakes aren't as smooth as my 95 corolla. is there any speculation on what the problem might be? I know this question is VERY vague especially dealing with brake sensitivity but i truly believe something is not normal. any help will be greatly appreciated. I just recently bought my 98 maxima so i don't have anything to compare it to except my corolla.

 

try swapping out your rotors and brake pads and get some steel brake lines

 

Not smooth as in pulsing? Or not enough braking force?

Pulsing comes from rotors wearing unevenly. Go get your rotors ground. Not enough braking force could possibly just be cheap pads, or just the extra weight of a maxima compared to a corolla.

 

the maxima brakes are just a lot softer than most other cars (softer than every car i ever drove) and it takes a while to get used to them... if I press down hard enough, the car sure comes to a stop pretty quickly

as for steel brake lines, I heard from somewhere that *some* people had accidents because of the steel brake lines failing.. i'd be a little apprehensive buying those

 

on my oem brakes the intital brake bite was strong.. and got stronger when u pressed hard.but they locked up kinda easily.. on the new raybestos qs pads, intial bite sucks.. they brake ok with pressure..but they havnt locked up on hard braking yet. i dunno what is better.. ahha.. i miss the intial bite of the stock pads thought..i htink it bcause i used the raybestos sticky shims and the stock ones..gotta take one set out soon. more shims = more pressure has to be applied for braking.

 

I also have a "not normal" feeling on the brakes on our other Maxima. It seems that in any cold weather or initial start up, the brakes seem "dry." That's the only word I can think of to describe the feeling. The pads seem like they stick (friction wise) to the rotors and it takes a lot driving for the brakes to warm up and soften.

I can't describe it in any other way. But the side effects are things such as unsmooth stops (when the car comes to a rest, it is more sudden than smooth), and the brakes sound like they creak (a very appropriate word) when I first start the car and start moving from the parking gear.

Not sure what the problem is...I've gotten new pads, rotors resurfaced...etc. But it seems like after the major suspension overhaul (AGX w/ stock springs, ES bushings everywhere, brand new suspension components, Porterfield brake pads, new rotors) that's when the annoying feeling started.

On my 5-speed Max, there is no such feeling, and braking is very smooth at all times.

 

What do u mean by pulsing? the salesman told me that they changed the rotors before they listed it for sale. the reason he had to change it was because the braking system was making noise.

i also do suspect the braking force, it is kind a weak. would better brake pads improve the braking force?

 

Do you have any more info on this?
Material quality or installation error? Brand names?

 

I think in general, steel braided brake lines seem to be more prone to fail than rubber. I remember a few high performance guys on this forum mentioning the failure of their steel brake lines.