Noela

Hi,

I feel some shimmers when i suddenly have to apply my brakes, especially during freeway driving or sudden stops in the city (around 60 mph). It sounds like a warped rotor. As far as i know, the car still has the original parts - it only has 45K.

I thought i should start preparing for rotor replacement, if it can't be "shined". I will have the car checked later this week.

In the meantime, what rotors and pads would you recommend. I just want something more reliable over stock. I use the car mainly for daily driving.....to the office, school, occassional long distance trips.

thanks - NN

Maxima-Ness

I just went through the same thing. I ended up with the Porterfield R4S pads (www.porterfield-brakes.com and they offer a discount for org members), and the Powerslot rotors. You can even get the SS lines from the GB sections of the forum.

scopium

contact Automax_95
he's running group deal on Brembo rotors.. any cut you want and PBR pads.. (imo best pads ever used)
and his prices are very reasonable...

Noela

Hi M-Ness, how much were they -- i just checked their site - there are different types of pads (R4s) - which of these would your recommend or which ones did you get? And do you get the powerslots from them?

cheers - Noela

Maxima-Ness

Im not sure what the parts numbers are, but they ended up being $71.96ea (set)for the front pads and $63.96ea (set) for the rears after our Org discount. Im telling ya, these last forever and have no squeal and minimal dusting.

The rotors I was able to get here from a local supplier. They were the same price as what I found online, but I saved a lot on shipping. They are awesome rotors! You can usually find them cheaper than the Brembos and IMO are top quality. automax_95 has the SS lines.

nicks79

iTrader: (4)

These guys have Brembo blank rotors for $40/piece..http://www.importrp.com/
Any one see anything shady about that? I hope they are better than NIssan OEMs.

Bobo

It's beyond me how anyone would need new rotors after 45K! The car must be driven like a race car for that to happen.

nicks79

iTrader: (4)

You obviously not using them brakes at all up there in canada. Those OEM rotors get warped even before they are being put on the car.. Don't know how you are driving, but if you have to hit the brakes on the highway - cause some moron cut you off (and we have that in New England alot), then rotors just decide not to be straight anymore.. THATS WHY.

MAXRB8

iTrader: (19)

What diameter are the 02-03 rotors?

maray

iTrader: (2)

Brembo now makes front rotors for the '02-'03. You can get blanks here for $57 a piece:

'02 - '03 Brembo Blanks (FR)

nicks79

iTrader: (4)

Does anyone have any experience with Brembo Blanks? Are they good? I know they rust faster.. But stopping performance and warping... I am interested in that?
THanks

Maxima-Ness

Brembos wont warp. At least from what I have learned. You cant get any better than Brembo as far as rotos are concerned. But on the same note, I just went with the Powerslots because of availability, looks and performance.

scopium

i'm on my third set of rotors.. and i'm at 50k.. those rotors are too small to stop.. 3000 pounds..

scopium

those that rust .. are not zinc plated... i've gotten rotors from automax_95 and none have rusted.. since they are zinc plated..
slotted imo is better since it cleans the pads...

stopping as to do with your pads also.. i've tried.. hawk, raybestos, oem and by far the best on is PBR pads.. same company as axxis

Maxima-Ness

^^^You should try the Porterfield R4S's

Lumbee1

I have heard of a few Maxes with warped Brembos. I didn't want to deal with any of that **** so I got frozen powerslots from Tirerack.

BTW rmurdoch, my rotors were warped at less than 1000 miles and they are warped again at 45K miles.

ZIPPIN

iTrader: (32)

brembos are fine for about 15K. then you will need to get them turned-down...i am getting them done and will install OEM pads. i hear they are pretty much dust less and have OKAY stopping

screamindman

There is company called raceconcepts and they have real nice rotors. they meet all iso requirements and are cross drilled and slotted. They also are silver zinc plated and are the exact size of the original brakes in my 2k2 se so o fittment problems and they can be used with all the factory hardware. I looked at a ton of brake options for this car, and was very leary about chucking any junk on my car. These rotors look legit and all four are $150 for the whole set, and after shipping the bill came to $186. Now toss in some Hawk pads from the tire rack $120 shipped roughly, and for a little over $300 you've got a nice brake setup. My rotors should be here soon,along with my pads. By the end of next week I should have everything installed.

MAXRB8

iTrader: (19)

Hey don't you people converse with lowly 4th gen's?? LOL COuld someone please tell me the diameter of these rotors, I know the 6th gen are 12.6" and I'm working on a big brake conversion, thanks

Noela

screamindman, so does it mean the brembo rotors will need to be adjuted to fit the 2k2 factory hardware .....do i need to buy any other hardware if i go with brembo rotors?

thanks - Noela

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

Mine were fried at 15k, and I'm still driving on them at 30k.
City miles are ok, but highway speeds is almost scary. Rotors are wicked warped and suffer from ridiculous embedding/friction material deposits.

I'm going to buy frozen rotors www.frozenrotors.com
when I finally cough-up the dough for new brakes, and likely Hawk Pads.
The rotors are $200 per set for a 5th gen.

I think 1) the brakes are too small for these cars and 2) the pads are too hard, thereby causing excessive heat build-up and premature warping of the OEM's.

The only sensible thing to do is buy cheap rotors and replace them every 10-15k miles, or get larger diameter brakes to handle the weight of the vehicle.
Naturally, I'm doing neither of these options.

gr

silverkorn

iTrader: (3)

rotors do NOT warp, its impossible to actually warp a rotor.

that vibration you are feeling is from a deposit in the rotor from the pad. The stock brake pads that come from Nissan as designed for everyday driving, which means their operating temp is very low. So if you do multiple stops from 60-0 without time to allow your pads and rotors to cool you will overheat the pads and if they come into contact of the rotor when the rotor isnt spinning (stopped at a light) then the pad will leave a "footprint" into the rotor. that is the vibration you now feel slowing down.

If you intend on driving the car hard and makeing frequent stops then you should be using a more agressive pad that has a higher operating temp. But that does not mean you should go with a race pad as you will not get the pad hot enough to be effective, thus making the pad material too hard and then starts wearing away the rotor itself.

to fix this vibration take your rotors to a place that can cut them, then put in good pads depending on what type of driving you are doing.

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

[QUOTE=silverkorn]rotors do NOT warp, its impossible to actually warp a rotor.

Granted - this is generally true in passenger cars, but it is also UNIVERSALLY accepted that the term WARPING is used when decribing a rotor that has developed and uneven surface.

I'm not a fan of lathing rotor surfaces, but for most drivers, it is an acceptable band-aid for a larger problem.

gr

nicks79

iTrader: (4)

SOMEHOW i DON'T BELEIVE THIS, THAT ROTOR DON'T WARP.

silverkorn

iTrader: (3)

true, but the fact still remains people think when a rotor "warps" it actually warped like a piece of wood and then its garbage.

as long as the place you take the rotor to have cut is a good shop and can tell you the tolerence they will machine it to then i say go for it. If Nissan, or any other can maker for that matter, didnt want you to cut the rotors they wouldnt tell you the min thickness of the rotor. I mean they have done R&D into the amount of material that needs to be left on the rotor to ensure safety, otherwise law suits would come out against Nissan for poor rotor quality and thus would create a recall.

the "larger problem" in this case is the operator of the vehicle and the pad material. The Maxima was never intended for racing applications or even hard driving, if it was you would see Nismo support or even 350Z parts put onto our cars by dealers.

silverkorn

iTrader: (3)

http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm
written by Carroll Smith

http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/warpaway.htm
how to fix the brake pad deposits

bvenvert

I replaced my rotors and pads about a year ago on my 2000 SE. I went with the Brembo Drilled and Slotted Rotors and Axxis Ultimate Ceramic Pads all around. No comparision to the stock braking setup. I love the way the D/S rotors look on the car and man was it an improvement in braking. My car stops like a dream with little or no fade, even from high speeds. This pad and rotor combination does not produce a lot of brake dust, so the wheels stay much cleaner. If I get to where I need a new set, I will go back to this combination. It looks great and I love the way they stop my vehicle. I have close to 115K miles on my Max and it it still going strong!

nicks79

iTrader: (4)

Again, STOPTECH makes brakes. Anything written by them, will most likely have some bias towards their stuff.

silverkorn

iTrader: (3)

First off if you know anything about auto racing and its history you would know who Carroll Smith is.
http://www.carrollsmith.com

The article is provided by STOPTECH not to sell products but as a helpful guide to their patrons to clear up some of the misconceptions about brakes and braking all together.

second where does it say in either of those two articles i posted saying you HAVE to buy their products to solve this problem. The second article recommends a race type of pad to remove the deposits in the rotor, which they do not make. They could of easiy said that its their own special blend of materials and jacked the price up another $50 a set, but they tell you EXACTLY what pad to use, who is to say you buy it from them or not.

ZIPPIN

iTrader: (32)

how many miles have you put on with that combination? driving style? highway or city?

MAXRB8

iTrader: (19)

What Size Diameter Are 5th Gen Rotors????????????????

Doesn't Anyone Know This?

bvenvert

I have had the Brembo D/S rotors and Axxis Ceramic pads for almost exactly a year. I would say I have put roughly 25K miles on my Max with a 50/50 split on highway/city driving. The combination works really well. The ceramic pads are able to dissapate heat more easily and with the drilled and slotted rotors, they work even better. It seems like the pads start to wear very quickly at first, until they are seated and meeh well with the rotors. After the first couple of thousand miles, they start to wear very slowly. At this point, I don't suspect needing to change anything in my braking for at least another year.

On thing to keep in mind, you can't "turn down" D/S rotors. When they wear out you just have to replace them. I paid about $200.00 for the rotors and $50.00 per set on the Axxis ceramic pads, shipped to my door. Locally, all I could find was standard rotors and they were going to cost $60.00 per wheel. I love the look of the D/S rotors, especially if you have the five spoke stock rims. You can see the Zinc plated rotors clearly and they don't have any signs of rust at this point.

The performance has been very good to excellent. I think I manage to scare a few passengers with my late braking style! But if you are going to own a four door sports car, you should have a good set of brakes on the vehicle.

Lowkey718

iTrader: (1)

sup guys----newbie

I just got the brembo rotors with the PBR pads, havent put them on yet hopefully that will solve my problem with braking...

S00NR1

iTrader: (3)

See, this is why you upgrade to 2k4 rotors using the BlehmCo BBK. I am currently waiting to get my kit in the mail and will be getting RTP slotted 2k4 rotors up front with Axxis Ultimate pads when automax_95 gets them in off backorder.

Lumbee1

11" for 00/01
11.5" for 02/03

00/01 suffered from severe rotor "warpage"
02/03 has similar problem but not nearly as bad.

BTW, I have owned both a 00 GXE and currently an 02 SE. The 00 GXE had the rotors turned twice under warranty. When rotors were at their worst, the car would only shake violently when pressing the brakes at 60+ mph. I had to use the hand brake numerous times to avoid accidents. The 02 rotors issues are only noticable when coming to a stop.

ZIPPIN

iTrader: (32)

or get the 6th gen calipers and rotors. but they will not clear 2k + 2k1

MAXRB8

iTrader: (19)

Great thanks very much, well 2k4 rotors @ 12.6" it is, rather than Cobra 13" no hub centric rings required.

sipock97

I installed frozen rotors on mine about 5k miles ago. i went with performance friction pads and been happy with it. We will see in another 15 k if they are still performing.

jaidieray

i have an o1 gle that i bought with rotor warpage. serious brake shimmy above 50 mph. its the same problem i have on my 90 300z. it amazes me that after 11 years nissan is still skimpin on rotor diameters. the service manager at my local nissan dealership told me that they are havin probs with the new titan and armada rotors warpin with only a few thousand miles. i would of thought they learned their lesson by now. guess not

Oldnewbie

Hi

I had the same problem at about 30K miles. I had to point out the two TSBs to my dealer, but cleaning the rotors and pads were all that was needed. I'm at 55K now and their still running smooth. Check out the following:
TSB# 03-033A, Jun 03 - Brakes - Noise/Judder/Abnormal Pedal Feel
TSB# 00-088A, May 02 - Brakes - Vibration/Judder

If your at 50-60K, you may have warped rotors, but worth checking the obvious first. Hope this helps.