TT 300ZX Brake kit Legit?
07-31-2001, 10:11 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 126
I saw that 300ZX TT brake kit for sale in the classifieds. Is it supposed to be better than ours? Just wondering... got to do the brakes soon, and always looking for a little more. Anyone have any ideas, and why? Or is it bogus? Thanks.
07-31-2001, 10:17 AM
#2
What do mean bogus? These caliper use a twin pistons and aluminum construction vs the stock maxima cast iron single piston unit.
These units also feature thicker(not larger) rotors.
This means much better fade resistance and in theory faster braking. I have seen alot of "brake upgrades" that actually lengthen the braking distances becuase of either the design or becuase the abs is not calibrated to the newer brakes. But in almost all instances, brake fade was greatly reduced.
But 300zTT brakes are NOT a plug and play installation. Do a search for more info.
These units also feature thicker(not larger) rotors.
This means much better fade resistance and in theory faster braking. I have seen alot of "brake upgrades" that actually lengthen the braking distances becuase of either the design or becuase the abs is not calibrated to the newer brakes. But in almost all instances, brake fade was greatly reduced.
But 300zTT brakes are NOT a plug and play installation. Do a search for more info.
07-31-2001, 10:25 AM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 945
Originally posted by Jeff92se
What do mean bogus? These caliper use a twin pistons and aluminum construction vs the stock maxima cast iron single piston unit.
These units also feature thicker(not larger) rotors.
This means much better fade resistance and in theory faster braking. I have seen alot of "brake upgrades" that actually lengthen the braking distances becuase of either the design or becuase the abs is not calibrated to the newer brakes. But in almost all instances, brake fade was greatly reduced.
But 300zTT brakes are NOT a plug and play installation. Do a search for more info.
What do mean bogus? These caliper use a twin pistons and aluminum construction vs the stock maxima cast iron single piston unit.
These units also feature thicker(not larger) rotors.
This means much better fade resistance and in theory faster braking. I have seen alot of "brake upgrades" that actually lengthen the braking distances becuase of either the design or becuase the abs is not calibrated to the newer brakes. But in almost all instances, brake fade was greatly reduced.
But 300zTT brakes are NOT a plug and play installation. Do a search for more info.
07-31-2001, 10:43 AM
#5
The proper wheels is hard to determine. It all depends on how the design is. I would say 17" at least.
Here is Cheston's write up.
Items needed: '92-96 300ZX FRONT Calipers AND Rotors. *Note*: Prior to installation of the rotors, you must MILL down the RADIUS of the rotors by 3mm. THIS MUST BE DONE in order for the rotors to fit! YOU MUST DO THIS PRIOR TO INSTALLATION!, 17" Rims with clearance in the middle for the Calipers.
Optional: Front 300ZX stainless steel brake lines, new brake pads.
Tools needed: Complete Metric tool set (deep and short sockets, drivers, etc), Sheet metal cutters, torque wrench, brake fluid, brake bleeder kit, jack, jack stands, gloves, flat head screw driver, hammer, bungee cords (4), WD40, thick towel, friend
1. Start by raising the car on stands. Let's start on the driver side. Remove the wheel and place the lug nuts in a smart place. Now, we want to remove the stock caliper from the car. There are two bolts that hold it in place on the steering knuckle. They are two 17mm bolts. Remove the bottom bolt first. Now with the BUNGEE cords, loop one end to the top of your springs and the other end around a hole in the caliper so that the thing doesn't drop onto your foot. Remove the remaining bolt.
2. Now that the stock caliper is free from the body, remove the stock rotor. This might be a bit tricky, due to the fact that the rotors might be rusty and have melded themselves onto the axel. Using the thick towel as a protective barrier, hammer the rotor off the car, rotating the whole thing and striking the rotor in equal distances, until the thing pops off.. it should pop off cleanly.
3. With the rotor off, you can now see that the dust shield is PRESSED onto the steering knuckle when it was assembled, and we wish to take it off, for it will interfere with the Z caliper. Using the flat headed screw driver, chisel your way in between the dust cover and the cv joint. Wedge the screw driver in there, whack a few times and try to pull the cover off. Do this a SEVERAL different angles, until the dust cover pops off and is now loose.
4. Using the sheet metal cutters, find the thinnest portion of the dust cover and slice there, remove the dust cover completely and then proceed to throw it away. it is now USELESS.
5. OK. Now that you've gotten the dust shield off, you're almost done.. did you know that?
6. Attach the 300ZX Rotor, which should already have been milled down 3mm from the radius, onto the studs. Put in place with a few lug nuts, tighten so that they are FIRM, and that the rotor has no LATERAL movement.
7. Attach the 300ZX Caliper with the same 17mm bolts you took off of the stock caliper. Tighten it up. There should be 1-1.5mm clearance on the edges of the caliper with the rotor. IF NOT, then reinstall the caliper and retighten. IF NOT, then the rotors were not milled correctly and have them checked out!!!
8. Now, here's the tricky part. Changing the brake lines from the stock caliper two the 300ZX. Pop the hood, and open up the Brake fluid cap. Now, with one person should change the lines while one person pours in the brake fluid into the reservoir so that it does not fall below the line. This might be messy.. watch out! Remove the stock caliper, and remove the bungee cord.
9. Use the brake bleeder kit and bleed the brakes so that there is no air in the lines. Please refer to your service manual or car care professional on how to bleed brakes.
10 After the brakes have been bleed and the brake feels firm. Torque the bolts that hold the caliper to ~60 pounds
11 Repeat on other side.
12 MAKE SURE the pedal feels FIRM and not spongie. If it does, you have done something wrong and RE-BLEED the brakes.
13 Road test on a straight road with no cars! Go slow and brake. Slow. Brake. Then go for about a mile with this slow-medium speeds and soft-medium pressure in braking. Then pick up the speeds and press harder on the brake. The car should feel firm and the stopping distances should be shorter.
14 Done.
Here is Cheston's write up.
Items needed: '92-96 300ZX FRONT Calipers AND Rotors. *Note*: Prior to installation of the rotors, you must MILL down the RADIUS of the rotors by 3mm. THIS MUST BE DONE in order for the rotors to fit! YOU MUST DO THIS PRIOR TO INSTALLATION!, 17" Rims with clearance in the middle for the Calipers.
Optional: Front 300ZX stainless steel brake lines, new brake pads.
Tools needed: Complete Metric tool set (deep and short sockets, drivers, etc), Sheet metal cutters, torque wrench, brake fluid, brake bleeder kit, jack, jack stands, gloves, flat head screw driver, hammer, bungee cords (4), WD40, thick towel, friend
1. Start by raising the car on stands. Let's start on the driver side. Remove the wheel and place the lug nuts in a smart place. Now, we want to remove the stock caliper from the car. There are two bolts that hold it in place on the steering knuckle. They are two 17mm bolts. Remove the bottom bolt first. Now with the BUNGEE cords, loop one end to the top of your springs and the other end around a hole in the caliper so that the thing doesn't drop onto your foot. Remove the remaining bolt.
2. Now that the stock caliper is free from the body, remove the stock rotor. This might be a bit tricky, due to the fact that the rotors might be rusty and have melded themselves onto the axel. Using the thick towel as a protective barrier, hammer the rotor off the car, rotating the whole thing and striking the rotor in equal distances, until the thing pops off.. it should pop off cleanly.
3. With the rotor off, you can now see that the dust shield is PRESSED onto the steering knuckle when it was assembled, and we wish to take it off, for it will interfere with the Z caliper. Using the flat headed screw driver, chisel your way in between the dust cover and the cv joint. Wedge the screw driver in there, whack a few times and try to pull the cover off. Do this a SEVERAL different angles, until the dust cover pops off and is now loose.
4. Using the sheet metal cutters, find the thinnest portion of the dust cover and slice there, remove the dust cover completely and then proceed to throw it away. it is now USELESS.
5. OK. Now that you've gotten the dust shield off, you're almost done.. did you know that?
6. Attach the 300ZX Rotor, which should already have been milled down 3mm from the radius, onto the studs. Put in place with a few lug nuts, tighten so that they are FIRM, and that the rotor has no LATERAL movement.
7. Attach the 300ZX Caliper with the same 17mm bolts you took off of the stock caliper. Tighten it up. There should be 1-1.5mm clearance on the edges of the caliper with the rotor. IF NOT, then reinstall the caliper and retighten. IF NOT, then the rotors were not milled correctly and have them checked out!!!
8. Now, here's the tricky part. Changing the brake lines from the stock caliper two the 300ZX. Pop the hood, and open up the Brake fluid cap. Now, with one person should change the lines while one person pours in the brake fluid into the reservoir so that it does not fall below the line. This might be messy.. watch out! Remove the stock caliper, and remove the bungee cord.
9. Use the brake bleeder kit and bleed the brakes so that there is no air in the lines. Please refer to your service manual or car care professional on how to bleed brakes.
10 After the brakes have been bleed and the brake feels firm. Torque the bolts that hold the caliper to ~60 pounds
11 Repeat on other side.
12 MAKE SURE the pedal feels FIRM and not spongie. If it does, you have done something wrong and RE-BLEED the brakes.
13 Road test on a straight road with no cars! Go slow and brake. Slow. Brake. Then go for about a mile with this slow-medium speeds and soft-medium pressure in braking. Then pick up the speeds and press harder on the brake. The car should feel firm and the stopping distances should be shorter.
14 Done.
Originally posted by Maxwell
Jeff, in my brake work research I read Cheston's Z brakes writeup, and he mentioned that you need (at least, I assume) 17" wheels and the rotor has to be shaved 3mm. Not true? This can be added to a Max with stock 16" rims and the rotors don't need to be shaved? Or did he mean the 3mm must come rom the thickness, rather than the diameter?
Jeff, in my brake work research I read Cheston's Z brakes writeup, and he mentioned that you need (at least, I assume) 17" wheels and the rotor has to be shaved 3mm. Not true? This can be added to a Max with stock 16" rims and the rotors don't need to be shaved? Or did he mean the 3mm must come rom the thickness, rather than the diameter?
07-31-2001, 12:04 PM
#6
Yes, this mod is legit. Why would you think they're bogus? It's just like any other big brake upgrade. I have them on my car. I've had them for almost 2 years now, in fact, I was one of the first people to have them. You guys should consider yourself lucky, you've got a full writeup by Cheston and people selling you full bolt on setups. It took me 5 months to get all the parts together and all the info needed for the install. Everyone was telling me different things so I had to basically fit everything together myself to see who was right.
The rotor does have to be shaved 3mm IN RADIUS or else the brakes won't fit due to the way the caliper mounts. Also, 16" wheels may work, but it's hard to say. My old 17"s fit without any work, but my 19"s needed 1/4" spacers to clear due tot he caliper. The calipers are 2x as wide as the puny stock calipers, that's the problem with fitting wheels.
Also, it is a 4-PISTON caliper, not 2. There are 2 pistons on each side of the caliper, so it's 4. Stock Maxima calipers are single piston.
It is not plug and play, you have to cut off the dust shields and cut back the steering knuckle. Cutting back that knuckle is very important, if you do not, your rotors will grind on it in turns. I found this out the hard way.
BTW, the Maxima brake lines will work with the 300XZ calipers. The fittings are the same. My SS lines are made for Maximas and it bolted up to the calipers just fine. if anyone has any questions, email me at sales@ap-signworks.com
The rotor does have to be shaved 3mm IN RADIUS or else the brakes won't fit due to the way the caliper mounts. Also, 16" wheels may work, but it's hard to say. My old 17"s fit without any work, but my 19"s needed 1/4" spacers to clear due tot he caliper. The calipers are 2x as wide as the puny stock calipers, that's the problem with fitting wheels.
Also, it is a 4-PISTON caliper, not 2. There are 2 pistons on each side of the caliper, so it's 4. Stock Maxima calipers are single piston.
It is not plug and play, you have to cut off the dust shields and cut back the steering knuckle. Cutting back that knuckle is very important, if you do not, your rotors will grind on it in turns. I found this out the hard way.
BTW, the Maxima brake lines will work with the 300XZ calipers. The fittings are the same. My SS lines are made for Maximas and it bolted up to the calipers just fine. if anyone has any questions, email me at sales@ap-signworks.com
07-31-2001, 12:28 PM
#7
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yea its 4 piston not 2. The Aluminum 4piston Z caliper is lighter then the stock Maxima cast iron unit. You dont need 17's. 16's will fit but most important for clearance is spoke clearance(offset and spoke design) The rotors will need to be machine down 3mm like everyone says. Ive found modding to a 5th gen there is less work involved then to a 4th gen. Oh, and ABS still works after the mod.
07-31-2001, 02:14 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 245
As far as the wheels go, anything that will fit on a 300zx (90-96) will allow you enough clearance for the brakes.
The writeup on maximadriver.com is a very short, and from my experiences, incomplete version of what you need to do. It took me several times of pulling the calipers off and retighening to get the correct shim amounts. I couldn't get the rotors to bolt on like they specify in step 6 (the lug nuts aren't deep enough), so I had to hold the rotor flush and turn, making sure that it didn't come off the hub (this was to see if it rubbed). Also, the hollow bolts used to secure the brake line to the calipers are too big to fit into the Z calipers. I had to use two washers on each side of the banjo fitting. Once that's all done, I had to remove the calipers several more times to cut down the A-arm. This was done with a hand held grinder (don't forget the safety goggles), milling down the lower, outermost part of the arm. One more thing, they mention 17mm bolts in the procedure (maximadriver), however, mine were 19mm...
All this took me several hours, including time to get parts that were missing from the kit. Make sure you have the calipers, rotors (cut down in diameter), pads, shims, extra washers for the hollow bolts (or bolts from a 300zx), pins, springs and clips. Not to mention a brake bleeding kit, brake fluid, washers and shims (for the caliper mounting)... Good luck!
The writeup on maximadriver.com is a very short, and from my experiences, incomplete version of what you need to do. It took me several times of pulling the calipers off and retighening to get the correct shim amounts. I couldn't get the rotors to bolt on like they specify in step 6 (the lug nuts aren't deep enough), so I had to hold the rotor flush and turn, making sure that it didn't come off the hub (this was to see if it rubbed). Also, the hollow bolts used to secure the brake line to the calipers are too big to fit into the Z calipers. I had to use two washers on each side of the banjo fitting. Once that's all done, I had to remove the calipers several more times to cut down the A-arm. This was done with a hand held grinder (don't forget the safety goggles), milling down the lower, outermost part of the arm. One more thing, they mention 17mm bolts in the procedure (maximadriver), however, mine were 19mm...
All this took me several hours, including time to get parts that were missing from the kit. Make sure you have the calipers, rotors (cut down in diameter), pads, shims, extra washers for the hollow bolts (or bolts from a 300zx), pins, springs and clips. Not to mention a brake bleeding kit, brake fluid, washers and shims (for the caliper mounting)... Good luck!
08-01-2001, 10:17 AM
#9
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 126
What I meant by bogus is does the caliper fit....and thanks for all the help. My cousin's got twin turbo calipers that I could have, as I found out....so I'll decide if I'm going to do this upgrade. Judging by most of your responses, I guess it's a worthwhile investment....thanks to all! Let me know if theres more to know!
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