what are my options guys? I have two rear calipers in need of replacement totaling about $400 bucks. So I said to myself I might as well just upgrade my brakes. But the big brake kit is just the front calipers and rotors and requires a 17 inch rim correct? this would be no good then cause I switch back to my stock rims in the winter and I think the kit runs $2500 roughly and doesn't include the rear calipers which is what I need. If I do just the Brembo rotors and pads from the group deal I still need to buy two rear stock calipers. Are you guys that are going with just the rotor and pad upgrade using these with stock calipers? Im undecided on what I should do. Does anyone know if Brembo rotors and pads are a direct replacement for the stock rotors? Will they work well with stock calipers and accomedate the stock "16 rims?

If I do these Brembo crossed drilled (I like the look of crossed drilled) rotors and pads what other caliper upgrade options do I have without major modification? I would appreciate anyfeed back guys.

 

wow i guess no ones on this org has brembo breaks.

 

well we usual don't break the brakes but buy brakes for our brembo rotors

 

I'm completely re-doing my rear brakes, rebuilt calipers, new rotors, hawk pads, new lines... total cost is going to be about $150. How in the world are you spending $400?

 

What kit are you talking about? Are you refering to the brembo calipers from a 350z track edition?

Most people on here use the Z32 calipers with 13" cobra rotors, that requires a 17" wheel. If you want to be able to use a 16" wheel, I think you can use the stock Z32 rotors and calipers. The stock rotors are small enough to fit in a 16" wheel.

 

how in the world are you doing all that for $150 ? for just the nissan oem calipers its $260 each from courtesy nissan and its a rebuilt caliper. i called today and thats the quote i got. and to speed racer whats that supposed to be a joke?

 

im reffering to the gt big brake kit. z32?

 

Don't bother with the big brake kit unless u track your car a lot. Just go with the brembo blank rotors and hawk hps pads all around. Most people love them, including me. Provides better stopping power than stock and does not cost too much.
About calipers: Don't buy them from nissan for $260 each. Just go to Autozone or Advance autoparts to buy them like I did. Costs around ~$100 each for unloaded caliper after a core return-which is a lot less than courtesy nissan.

p/s: I just checked tirerack on blank brembos and hawk hps pads and for all four corners -they cost $276 plus s&h
two calipers= ~$200 ish
total cost around $500 if you do the job yourself. Then change the brake fluid and ENJOY the hawk/brembo combo stopping power
Hope this helps

 

check out www.rockauto.com Don't buy them from courtesy, there like $35 each once you return your core.

 

its 2008 and i still dont understand why people go to dealerships for parts

 

so basically you can use any of the brembo rotors with stock calipers ie, crossed drilled,slotted or blank? and thank this is very helpful. to vip maxima i was simply shopping aroung for a price out of curiosity.

 

what about the dust backing plate will these brembo rotors clear them?. and yes i will stay away from the big break kit do to the fact that i use my stock rims in the winter.

 

Yes, you can use any stock replacement brembo rotors whether it is blank, cross drilled or slotted. I personally like slotted ones because the structural strenth of the rotor is better than x drilled.
I currently have slotted brembo rotors on the front and blank brembos on the rears + hawk hps all around. I got slotted ones for the fronts because most of the stopping power comes from front brakes. Moreover, I like the look of the slotted rotors too.
So far, I've been on them for about 3 month/5000 miles and I am happy with the results. I even did autox few times... Well spent money.

 

seriously you have to be crazy to go to the dealership for parts.. The rear oem brake calipers are $100 +90 core charge at rockauto.com

 

i went on ebay about a month ago and bought 2 front calipers from there for 100 (the rears are a bit more but def not 240 a piece) and boughtr the crossdrilled brembos from the group deal from jeff - i suggest you do the same

 

i go to the dealership for parts all the time. Its not ALL expensive.

and to the OP, i bought some nissan pads and brembo blanks for the front...no modification needed . i am thinking about getting some SS lines though, the brake pedal doesnt have the feel that i like.

 

Yeah, really it would have been bad enough for this to happen back in good-ol '07.

LOL at this thread because a $300 caliper fix somehow evolves into buying a $2500 brake kit.

Be careful mixing and matching brake kits. Usually, a bigger set in front is safe but not optimal. If you put bigger brakes or higher-friction pads in back without upgrading the fronts also - you can end up with rears that lock the wheels before the fronts. This is a dangerous condition that will cause you to spin if you lock the wheels on braking.

Dave

 

yes i understand this,that is the reason i want to upgrade front and rears. but 2500 for the big break kit defint not worth it to me for the amount of money and its only for the front breaks.

 

thanks for the info.the bb kit is way expensive and requires a "17 rim. i'll just stick with just rotors and pads all around and check out autozone, i hear the calipers are about $35 buck with the core swap.

 

an auto tech i know at nissan told me dont bother with the break lines unless yours are shot. just to let you know. did you have to remove the dust plate? or does the rotor fit right in place of the stock one?

 

The day you start listening to most techs at a Nissan dealership is the day you should just shoot yourself. Most of them can BARELY accomplish there basic jobs on a daily basis, do not ask them any questions when it comes to performance parts. Period.

You are associating the word 'Brembo' with performance, which you should not do. Brembo is a company that makes brake components for both OEM (orginal equipment manufactures) as well as aftermarket upgrades. If you purchase brembo rear rotors for your Maxima, they are going to be the EXACT same size as stock, there will be no need to trim the dust shields, because they are exactly the same. Brembo does not make a rear big brake kit for the Maxima, only that would require trimming of the dust shields.

You are making all of this WAY too complicated on yourself.

 

thanks for clearing that up. but i never associated brembo with performance,as for the guy from nissan he is a personal friend of mine and knows his stuff. i always bring my max to him for repairs cause i know he know the car inside and out and i trust his jugement. i personally wouldnt upgrade my break lines unless there is something wron with the stock ones. i never knew that inquiring about something you are unfamiliar with is quote. making this hard on yourself. thanks agian for the info.

 

As I said in a previous post stay away from brembo big brakes kits unless you have deep pockets. At most the rotors can be turned once and all replacement parts are very expensive.

Don't get me wrong, they are great brakes but they are a mod that screams if you want to play you've got to pay!!

 

I'm still wondering how you know your rear calipers are going. Are they seized? If you know that your rear brake needs replacing and with the budget you have there should be no question, to get whats broken fixed first.

 

correct on that mark, i know the rear caliper is bad cause it seizes up at times and makes a horrible noise while im driving. also the rotor is over heating do to the caliper not releasing when it should,this is causing a huge discoloration on the rotor.

 

yeah youre right, i thought that the bb kit at least included the rear rotor and caliper as well. if im gonna drop $2500 i rather it be on the motor.

 

Yikes, I would get them repaired asap. Your wallet and tires would thank you.

 

yeah i have to. still deciding if i should go with brembo xdrilled rotors or not. do you know if the autozone calipers are anygood?

 

The Autozones are rebuilt/refurbish calipers. We use them at my shop and so far no complaints. It does its job without hurting the wallet when compared to other places (ie dealerships). The cross drilled are not necessary for DD, with the brake pads today they do pretty well dealing with brake fade. They are mostly cosmetic unless you track your car, its just something I would not compromise in the structural integrity of the rotors for show.

And if you want to save yourself a buck the Duralast rotors (Autozone, costs about ~20) are a good alternative to the Brembo blanks. I've tracked both and its no difference. Both needed to be changed after a hard track session.

 

what about the slotted brembos?i hear they are less chance of them cracking. if im going to upgrade i really want either slotted or crossdrilled brembos rotors. ive read that when you buy cheap xdrilled/slotted or one of the other cheap brands, that those are the ones susceptible to cracking. so you get what you pay for. im just gonna get the calipers from autozone. i'll probably just do the brakes myself (1st attempt)have to read the write up. it seems the rears maybe the hardest do to e brake line attaching to the rear calipers.

 

If they are truly the Brembo slotted and not the rebranded or drilled/slotted from blanks it should be fine. Those that are more suspicious to cracking are those that are altered from blanks. As I've said before, they are purely cosmetics. The Duralast does the same job but cost less. In the end its your money so its up to you. You'll need to bleed the brakes when taking out and replacing the calipers. Taking off the lines and bolts are much easier than bleeding the brakes for me. Good luck.

 

i wouldnt even bother with the cheap brand rotors, i rather stick to the origional brembos. what do you think the best pads are for these brembo rotor either xdrilled or slotted?. i dont like a lot of break dust so i guess that leaves hawks out.

 

What is your driving habit like? What are you priorities? Do you do a lot of hard brakes? What is your environment like, cold, warm or hot weather? What is your budget like?

 

for the most part its really only cold from nov to end of march. warmer weather from april to mid oct sometimes. my driving habits are usually speedlimit and do not drive hard or brake hard unless needed. as for the budget i like the best out there within reason ie, the bb kit is just rediculously to expensive and i dont track at all.plus you would lose the ability to mount your stock rims "16 which i switch back to during the winter. so this is why i would go with just brembo rotors and pads. but i want the pads that make the least brake dust, i dont want all that break dust all over my "19 rims during the summer.

 

I suggest the Akebono ProAct, since warm up time isn't much of a concern for you but more of a noise/dust factor.

 

those are the pads you are speaking of? just checked out autozone,they have the fenco calipers about $162 for both after i return my old ones. not bad price i guess these calipers are as good as oem nissans. what you think?

 

to those that have the brembo slotted or xdrilled rotors,are you leaving the dust disk plate in place? i was just curious to see what others are doing or if it is even needed at all with the brembo xdrilled or slotted rotors. any one have pics of theres installed with out this dust plate?

 

come on guys! any feed back on this?

 

I just replaced my rear calipers, rotors and pads on monday. MY pads had worn down and were grinding on the rotors so I had bought some pads off of the .org and got some rotors from autozone. When I went to replace them, I foudn out the piston was seized and needed new calipers. The calipers cost $145 each from the local dealer through the shop and they installed them with the new rotors and pads for $400. Not really that bad of a price for something so important to safety.

 

i think you payed to much for the calipers. i got mine (from rockauto) both rears for only $114 after i return my cores. how much did they charge you for the install? i still need to know if people that have the brembo xdrilled rotors or slotted are leaving in the dust plates.anyone?