I'm looking to replace the front rotors on my "past warranty" Y2k. I guess I'm one of the few who actually got relatively decent service out of the originals. I'm not interested in the Stillen or other slotted/drilled types, but I have noted that there are at least 4 choices in stock replacements on the market. I've found;

-Raybestos at $86
-Beck/Arnly at $60
-Bendix at $112
-Nissan OEM at $70

Anyone have any comments to offer on the above choices. I've gotten almost 40k out of the first set with no service or resurfacing and I know I could have them cut but I'd rather just put a new set on and forget about them for another 3 years. Anyone have any particularly good or bad experiences with the aftermarket ones mentioned above?

 

I have had no experience with Nissan Maxima parts, since this is my first Nissan. However, when it comes to brakes, I have learned (through my years as an ASE brake specialist) that you are usually best off using the OEM. There are so many small details that the others can get wrong, such as crowning weight, balance, dimensions beyond tolerance. Besides, who knows how to make the part better then the company who originally designed it?

On the other hand, after market, non-OEM kits (caliper/rotor set), will usually improve braking dramaticly when properly researched and installed.

 

If you do a search on "brakes" or "rotors" in the 5th Gen Forum, olincoles, you'll find that many people complain about the OEM rotors warping. I'm not certain what the problem is, but the number of complaints would indicate that a real issue exists with the quality of the OEM rotors. Given your background and experience, perhaps you could shed some light on what the problem might be.

 

I did the search, and to my astonishment, there are many complaints of this. One "funny" memory came to mind: When I shopped for my Maxima, I asked about the brakes on the Maxima, and why the rear are solid and not vented, and the sales person said "Nissan Maxima's probably have the best brakes in the world." With that said, we can all see how far we should trust dealerships, or at least their sales staff.

Since there are obvious problems with warping, I suggest this: If it is OEM rotors you are purchasing, look for rotors that are vented (open spaces between friction surfaces) and then select those rotors which have more friction surface thickness. Most all OEM-designed rotors will have the same critical dimensions, such as rotor height, runout, thickness. But they will often vary from one another in the friction surface thickness. Purchase those rotors with minimal open vent space thickness and maximum friction surface thickness. If I had a place to post a pic, I would draw an example.

Be careful, since many have reported warping with OEM rotors and aftermarket alike. It would seem that the rotors are too small for the friction created by these 3400lb cars. Most vehicles of this weight have at least 11" rotors. Larger rotor means a cooler rotor, but it also means harder to stop because of additional unsprung centrifical weight.

 

OK, so that knocks off the OEM (which I expected given the forum's experience). Back to the original question. Would anyone care to recommend any of the other three choices. I was looking for anyone who might have had positve experience without having to go to a "high performance" drilled and/or slotted model.

 

The Stillen (Brembo) rotors are as smooth as silk. My 2K1 OEMs sucked. I have never had a car with this issue from new until the 2K1 Max. Don't bother with the warranty, buy some aftermarket discs.
JS

 

Are you referring to the drilled Stillen "Sport Rotors"? I'm reluctant to put drilled rotors on one end of the car without doing the other. Would prefer to just swap in a new solid rotor.

 

I'm guessing you feel its more than simply a looks kind of thing? But I'm trying to think of what else it might be, some form of braking differential? I'm curious because I was thinking about replacing the fronts with slotted. I wasn't going to bother with the rears as I don't care about the look and the fronts do most ofthe braking.

 

My reluctance is probably more theoretical than real, but putting drilled rotors on one end of the car without the other will effect the bias a bit and although its probably inconsequential, I'd rather avoid it, particularly in that drilled rotors on a street car are of virtually no real world performance value anyway.

I have a track car, a RWD Alfa GTV6, that I have played with many rotor and bias combinations on and putting a drilled set on the front without doing the back was noticable at the track in changing the rear lock-up point. It actually moved some of the force to the rear because it changed the ratios of clamping area and made the back lock earlier. I realize that this is probably 99.99% irrelevent on a street driven Maxima with ABS but the engineer in me would rather not do it. As to the looks part, I generally don't care much either, but if I have any feelings on that at all it is that drilled and slotted rotor are a bit of overkill for the street and definitely not needed by me. (I save driving on the edge for other cars and the track). But, just my 2 cents. Just looking for a good set of plain rotors.

 

Unfortunatly, if stock OEM is the way you want to stay, I would still buy the Nissan manufactured replacements. A rotor will warp if it is overheated and then stressed as you know). Regardless of the manufacturer, since all the replacements are within general specs, it sounds like a design error with the braking system, ie: rotors are too small for the force created so they run hot. Since I believe it sounds like a system design flaw, warping is likely to happen on any and all replacement OEM rotors under stress.

On the other hand, slotted rotors are a pretty big waste, as you probably already know since you are track experienced, since all the modern day pads made no longer need to "gas-out" because of combustable compounds. Cross-drilled rotors will cool things a bit, at the expense of pad life and increased stopping distance. The fewer holes, the better.

 

Yeah, if you got 40k miles on stock rotors/pads than stick with Nissan parts. Don't believe everything you read here. Some people don't know how to drive, speed like mad, ride their brakes, and like to complain.

Are your rotors warped and need replacement or are you just doing a thorough brake job?

I have used all those rotors(not on Nissan but various cars over the years). Some don't fit well. But, on the whole all were decent OEM replacement for normal drivers.

Drilling/slotting/dimpling is a waste for stock diameter rotors. The brakes need all the mass and surface area possible. Reducing either will reduce effectiveness and lead to cracks. But, it looks cool

Pick any rotors and get some good replacement pads like hawkhps or ebcgreenstuff. I also noticed at the autozone site that the aimco shipping weight = 16.4 lbs and that the beckarnley = 15 lbs. Time for further research of weight and quality of the various brands. Anyone out there work for the autoparts stores?

 

Yes, DeadRX7, you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. Current rotors aren't warped, just a bit used and grooved and I'm not really in to surfacing them. My pads are down to about a 30% after 3.5 yrs and as long as I'm in there I'd just as soon do the rotors and forget about them for another 40k. Will probably do OEM but thought I'd inquire as to others experience with the 3rd party products.

My experience has been that there can be significant metallurgical differences between manufacturers. As a materials engineer I can definitely say that not all gray cast iron is the same, particularly in therman dimensional stability. If the design is marginal to begin with (i.e. Maxima) quality of material can make a significant difference in the life of these things. As you point out, driving style can make a difference too.

I had a '95 Impala SS for 7 years, and like every other original SS owner, the GM rotors warped in the first 5 to 15k miles. Even though they were well over 12" and massive they were just poorly made. Rather then endlessly repeat the warranty process as some did, many of the owners, myself included, switched to Bendix rotors and the problem just went away and the brakes went for 50k. In that case it was all materials, seems like the Maxima issue may be part design and part materials. I was hesitant to pay the price of the Bendix parts unless someone chimed in and sang their praise, but it doen't look like its going to happen.

I appreciate everyone's input. It has been an interesting discussion.