So I picked up everything on Saturday from the JY off a loaded 1993 GXE with ABS (duh) and decided to install it today (yesterda actually) Degreased the crap out of the assemblies and powerwashed em, then I sprayed em with some black rustoleum spray paint.

Took me 1.5 hour to remove everything at the JY with handtools but took a total of like 4-5 hours to install everything even with power tools between the GFs dad and myself but keep in mind that I had to degrease and let the paint dry as well.

While we were removing my "new 1 year old, 15k miles" struts to install on the disc strut assembly, turns out both of my rear struts were bad. Brian lol??? so luckily I had 2 spare brand new in box GR2 to toss on while I have Brian warranty the other two which failed prematurely.

So everything went on smoothly BUT the hand brake cable bolts, those 12mm bolts were lil b!tches, even though I heated them up since I snapped everyone of em at the JY. Anyway, got everything on, bled the system, tested brakes and everything was perfect. It stops WAY better than with drums and the pedal feels a helluvalot better too!

After everything we noticed that the rear wheels were very close to the struts and our fingers could not fit in between. it was just about barely touching. Has anyone that has done the swap had this problem before? Do I just change my HUB assembly since the donor car had ABS and mine doesnt?

new pads and rotors will come eventually but the ones that came with were pretty much unused so its all good for now.

Thanks in advance guys

 

ok i have drums and i got same rims as you. I had 225 45 16 and it rubbed against my strut. I put on 215 45 16 and no rubbing. Check you tires cause out maximas cant have more then 215. At least mine gxe 93. BTW if u adjust the drum brakes good they will work fine i dunno y u didnt like them.

 

I know they work fine if you adjust em. Thats why I got rid of em, cuz I had to keep freakin adjusting them in order for them to work fine. Beside with the 5spoke rims you wanna have disc, not show off some ugly rusted drum that you cant keep from rusting

As for the wheels I got 215/55/16 which is stock size for those rims. Never had issues with the drums and those wheels.

I'm wondering if the hub changed...

 

slap some spacers on and call it a day.

 

I'm thinking maybe the brake drum facing(the part that your wheel mounts up against) is thicker than the rotor facing,hence the reason your wheels are closer to the strut now.

 

Exactly what I was telling someone last night...I'd hate to use a spacer as my studs would just shorten...

What size spacer should I get if at all?

I'm still gonna try the other hub before going out and buying spacers.

 

try swapping the hubs first... doesn't take long. that's a strange issue tho.. I never noticed a difference between disc/drum before regarding wheel clearance with the strut.

 

Thanks, thats what my gfs father suggested as well. I'm gonna go ahead and probably swap one in after work and see if that does it.

As for testimonial, I drove the GF to work today and took the highway...boy oh boy do these feel better than my drums, not only pedal feel but the nose doesnt dive at all like it did before. Car doesnt wobble in the rear either like it did before. (POS egg shaped drums)

Cant wait to see what it'll be like once the ES parallel link bushings are in

 

did you end up doing the upgrade or just stock?

 

I kept it all stock as it was all pretty meaty still.

I'm about to change the hub, anyone know what size nut that is??

 

30mm

10char.....

 

bump?

i'm doing this soon on my car so hopefully i can learn from your recent experience.

 

update, changed the hub but no difference at all. Both seemed to be same size with slight differences.

thanks for the spacer size Matt, only problem is that theres very little of the stud coming out of the open end lugnuts. If I were to use a spacer the stud would either not come out at all or just be out to the point where the lug looks flush with the spacer.

Is it safe to use the spacer with those descriptions? I really dont feel like changing the studs

 

Theres a more expensive spacer that has studs built in. As in you bolt the spacer to the hub, and there are new studs in the spacer its self so that stud length isn't an issue. How ever I don't know whats the narrowest spacer in that style and they are semi expensive.

Though, it'll give you better wheel figment and look better since the tires/rims will be flush with the right spacer.

~Alex

 

but those are typically for 1/2" plus spacing.

John- I have a pair of spacers that you can try if you want. they were used to space the rear on a 3rd gen with Z32 wheels.

 

so there is no way to space the brake/hub itself, rather that spacing the wheel?

 

Brian, I'd love to try em on, sorry I didnt stop by for those bushings....I had to work today and got out not too long ago. If its not too late right now I can still stop by, just give me a call.

 

i once was running 245/45/r17's in the back of my old 93 se and had just alil bit of rubbing. Sounds weird to me that you would have it rubbing with a tire size of 215/55/r16. Could it be maybe you threw off the rear toe and thats why you tire is now sitting closer to the strut housing. right now my current maxima the VE5 93 has the Eibach springs all around with KYB GR-2 Gas shocks running the same rims as you the 97+ se rims. with 205/55/r16 tires and it has plenty of space between the tire and strut housing.

 

Changing toe/camber wont affect tire clearance (in johns case) as the hub is the mount for the suspension.

~Alex

 

changing front camber will affect wheel clearance.. but not in the rear.

 

dang...I wish I could have the clearance I had. Its not rubbing or anything but still, cant pass a finger in between strut and tire. I wanted to get 225/50/16 for my next tire purchase since car might get eibach/koni and it'd look nice with thinner/wider tires. Spacers brians loaned me didnt work cuz of studs.

 

Just get some longer wheel studs,slap the spacers on and be done..

http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...28&postcount=4

 

not to sound cheap but damn...I've got no rubbing at the moment and I'm almost done "mechanically restoring" think I'll wait.

Now, there's no harm in having LONG LONG studs even if you dont have bigger wheels/spacer or will the have more chance of breaking?

 

The studs being on your rear wheels [no torque to deal with] would not really make breaking a problem...right?

 

the longer the better infact, that way if some one pisses you off enough (or suck at driving and should have their car immobilized) which is often in chitown, you can do it.

~Alex

 

I hear ya,my wheels are +45 offset=i have 205-50-16 tires and can go no larger without studs/spacers.

I'm just going to let them ride until i get new(to me) wheels.

 

i am doubtful that you can take your tire size up to 225/50/R16 if your already at the point where you arent rubbig but have no more space to get in between your tire and shock housing. time to get new rims with a better off set then the 97 SE wheels if you want a wider stance.

 

Now I've been wanting to do this swap for the longest but I have a hard time finding SE's (or 3rd Gen's at all) in JY's in my area.

1st...what were the essential parts you got?? (I know there are articles out there on how to do this but I want to know if you specifically got off of the JY Max...was everything usable or did you have to buy replacement things??)

and 2nd...If I were to find a 4th gen...could that swap to a 3rd??

I don't mean to sound like a n00b...but when it comes to brake swaps...to be honest...I am!!

Thanks man.

 

4th gens are completely different. They have beam suspension. Not even remotely close to being swappable. Too bad for the fourth gens as IRS> Beam

~Alex

 

That is exactly everything I got PLUS the handbrake cable.

So in the picture you see:
*strut assemblies with springs already on em
*rotorts
*calipers
*brake hoses
*pads
*NOT seen handbrake cable

I personally got these off a MINT well taken care of Max that just got the front end hit. Pads, calipers, rotors were rusty from sitting but pretty new so I just re used em after cleanup. The guidepins were smooth as butter! And rubber boots were soft like new one, nowhere near dry.

If you really are having trouble finding the parts, they are very abundant here in Chicago and if you dont mind a fair price + shipping, I can get them for you.

 

I don't wanna start a new thread just for this, but I got a quick question regarding this mod. How do I remove the brake hoses? I don't want to mess it up since I only get one chance to get it right. I looked it up in the FSM and it says I need something called flare crows foot socket. Anyone know where to get it or if I can use something else?

 

whats with that weenie power washer??

LOL!!

 

You can use vicegrips if you dont have a flared 10mm wrench. Dont have a flared wrench nor vicegrips, you can open the bleeder and heat up the hose nut but be sure to open bleeder so you dont cause pressure and burst the hose. be sure to pb blast bleeder so you dont heat up and burst hose that way as well.


Hey Shh!!!! lol its not mine, borrowed it from the gfs mom. 1600psi was enough after having struts soak with degreaser for a couple days, power washed, brake parts cleaner drenched for quite some time and sprayed some more. Turned out nice..I didnt have time to take to work for sandblasting as it was done over the weekend on short notice..

 

Hey so did you ever find a solution to this prob?

 

What problem the small gap between strut and wheel? if so, no. But it doesnt rub so its not too bad of a problem.

If I decide I want 18s all of a sudden THEN it'll be a problem

 

Gotcha. Thanks for the input.

 

No prob dude. Man I took the day off work today to work on homework for class tonight but I'm kinda feeling like doing my z31 upgrade I've got the 89 torque members since last month but sickness has kept my compressor/airtools quiet. Bet the neighbors have been thankful for a quiet month

 

mine are sitting in the shed until i get time to put on new rotors, pads, and replace the strut packing w/ some KYBs. plus i have to fix the driver-side strut's backplate.. it got bent somehow but the brakes are still good. had to steal a slide pin off another car b/c one of them was missing a bolt and in that time the threads of the slide pin became messed up (or perhaps the messed up threads are the reason the bolt was missing in the first place. hmmm..) but yeah. i'm doing this mod soon.