Can 370z calipers fit on a 4th gen? Prove me wrong

[Conrad283]

So 4th gen maxima owners think their brakes suck (and they do) so they get 300zx brakes

z32 owners think their brakes stink and they upgrade to z33 brakes

Now an article in modified magazine shows that the z34 brakes are superior to the z33 brakes (sport edition)


So if the maxima owners got the 300zx brakes to work with slight fitment issues (rim offset/size).

All these measurements are taken from stillens website looking at AP racing BBK's.

1994 300zx AP Racing 4 piston caliper:

• 2.98 inches from center of the rotor (width) to the outermost part of the caliper.
• 7.31 inches from center of the rotor (diameter) to the top of the rotor

1994 300zx AP Racing 6 piston caliper:

• 3.21 inches from center of the rotor (width) to the outermost part of the caliper.
• 7.80 7.31 inches from center of the rotor (diameter) to the top of the rotor

2009 370z AP Racing 4 piston caliper:

• x.xx inches from center of the rotor (width) to the outermost part of the caliper.
• x.xx inches from center of the rotor (diameter) to the top of the rotor

2009 370z AP Racing 6 piston caliper:

• 3.09 inches inches from center of the rotor (width) to the outermost part of the caliper.
• 8.11 inches from center of the rotor (diameter) to the top of the rotor (14.25 inch rotor used on measurment sheet)

So the 370z caliper is not THAT much bigger than the 300zx caliper and it offers superior stopping ability. I would assume that the OEM calipers are smaller than the aftermarket calipers.

From my point of view, it looks like all that would be needed would be an adaptor bracket similar to the one from BlemCo.

Feedback?

**I don't have digital calipers to take an exact measurement for the 370z 4 piston caliper.

[Matt93SE]

You can make anything fit on anything if you want. you may need to modify the control arm and build a bracket and get different wheels, but you can make it fit if you want to bad enough.


The problems will be:
1. competing with the other 50000 "brake kits" out there.
2. paying OEM prices for pads and replacement parts
3. Sourcing 370z calipers for a fair price. good luck with that.
4. getting someone to design the bracket and machine it for you if you can't do that yourself.

[RAZ76]

Why?? It would b cheaper to just buy a Brembo kit just for your car.

[Fr33way™]

Got enough tire for stopping power like that?

[Conrad283]

Originally Posted by Matt93SE

You can make anything fit on anything if you want. you may need to modify the control arm and build a bracket and get different wheels, but you can make it fit if you want to bad enough.


The problems will be:
1. competing with the other 50000 "brake kits" out there.
2. paying OEM prices for pads and replacement parts
3. Sourcing 370z calipers for a fair price. good luck with that.
4. getting someone to design the bracket and machine it for you if you can't do that yourself.

I wouldn't be worried about competing with the other brake kits. I would like to try and pioneer something . I'm not sure what you mean by paying OEM prices for pads and replacement parts. I could get replacement parts at Pepboys, etc. I know that the 370z is pretty new. But I'm sure on their forum, they would be available. Some idiot is going to total their car and then part it out. I looked on the courtesy website and I think they were $250 a piece. The bracket would be the most difficult thing, IMO.

Originally Posted by RAZ76

Why?? It would b cheaper to just buy a Brembo kit just for your car.

If I recall correctly, the brembo BBK was discontinued. There are only a few manufacturer's left. One reason why I would want to try the 370z caliper is because of it's superior stopping ability to ours. Their stock caliper could have better stopping power than our BBK's

Originally Posted by Fr33way™

Got enough tire for stopping power like that?

Well, right now I don't even have a maxima. But I'm looking into getting a "new" one. I'd get a lightweight rim with Toyo Proxes ...

[RAZ76]

Unless you are competing and and doing crazy speeds where you need to stop on a dime, I can't justify spending 1500+ on brakes. You can do a dual piston caliper and will work just fine.

[Conrad283]

Originally Posted by RAZ76

Unless you are competing and and doing crazy speeds where you need to stop on a dime, I can't justify spending 1500+ on brakes. You can do a dual piston caliper and will work just fine.

The brembo gran turismo kit costs 3g's. The wilwood kit costs $1100.

OEM calipers and custom made brackets would be <$1500. I estimate it would cost around, probably a little more than how much the BlemCo kit costs.

[Nealoc187]

why the heck would it cost him $1500 lol

anyway, how much justification there is for this boils down to what you plan on doing with the car. if you're not going to be doing road course lapping or high speed blasts that require quick stops at the end, there's really no performance justification for it. your car will only stop as well as the weakest link between your brakes and tires, and most often it's the tires (meaning if you can lock up the stock brakes with your selected tire, you're just going to lock up upgraded brakes easier, and you're going to have spent all that time, effort, money for exactly the same stopping power that you already had). this doesn't account for brake fade of course, but that goes back to your intended use for the car.

the single most important change you can make to your car in terms of braking is pads and tires. a completely stock brake system with good pads and good tires is going to out stop by far any bbk with with worse tires.

if you're going to actually be requiring the bbk for lapping or repeated high speed stops then go for it (or if you want it for looks). but if you're just street driving like 99.99999% of the people in the world do, you're just wasting your money.

[Conrad283]

Originally Posted by Nealoc187

why the heck would it cost him $1500 lol

anyway, how much justification there is for this boils down to what you plan on doing with the car. if you're not going to be doing road course lapping or high speed blasts that require quick stops at the end, there's really no performance justification for it. your car will only stop as well as the weakest link between your brakes and tires, and most often it's the tires (meaning if you can lock up the stock brakes with your selected tire, you're just going to lock up upgraded brakes easier, and you're going to have spent all that time, effort, money for exactly the same stopping power that you already had). this doesn't account for brake fade of course, but that goes back to your intended use for the car.

the single most important change you can make to your car in terms of braking is pads and tires. a completely stock brake system with good pads and good tires is going to out stop by far any bbk with with worse tires.

if you're going to actually be requiring the bbk for lapping or repeated high speed stops then go for it (or if you want it for looks). but if you're just street driving like 99.99999% of the people in the world do, you're just wasting your money.

Thanks Neal, I was hoping you would chime in. I plan to get another maxima as a "project" car, whereas improved braking would be necessary.

[Matt93SE]

Originally Posted by Conrad283

I wouldn't be worried about competing with the other brake kits. I would like to try and pioneer something . I'm not sure what you mean by paying OEM prices for pads and replacement parts. I could get replacement parts at Pepboys, etc. I know that the 370z is pretty new. But I'm sure on their forum, they would be available. Some idiot is going to total their car and then part it out. I looked on the courtesy website and I think they were $250 a piece. The bracket would be the most difficult thing, IMO.

Have fun with the labor- just be aware you're never going ot make a ton of money on it.
When I refer to paying OEM prices for replacement parts, I mean for pads and whatnot. a performance pad for a Nissan/ Brembo caliper are about $250-300 per set. The same pad for a Wilwood caliper is $100 a set. Street pads are cheaper, but a set of street pads will last you for years where a track pad will last for months. At the end of the day, the largest cost of the brake system will be replacement parts- pads and rotors.

So depending on the overall goals of the car you're putting them on, you may be better off buying an aftermarket race caliper, or you may be better off sticking with an OEM supplier- Nissan or Brembo. depends on how fast you want to go.

[Conrad283]

Originally Posted by Matt93SE

Have fun with the labor- just be aware you're never going ot make a ton of money on it.
When I refer to paying OEM prices for replacement parts, I mean for pads and whatnot. a performance pad for a Nissan/ Brembo caliper are about $250-300 per set. The same pad for a Wilwood caliper is $100 a set. Street pads are cheaper, but a set of street pads will last you for years where a track pad will last for months. At the end of the day, the largest cost of the brake system will be replacement parts- pads and rotors.

So depending on the overall goals of the car you're putting them on, you may be better off buying an aftermarket race caliper, or you may be better off sticking with an OEM supplier- Nissan or Brembo. depends on how fast you want to go.

Thanks for the advice Matt.

[wirelessdude04]

makes you wonder sometimes

[Jeff92se]

FYI, the stopping power isn't inside the caliper, it's more has to do with the size of the rotor. The g/Z 37 sport brakes work very well but then again, they have huge arsed rotors. 14.25" if your post is right. So to get that power, you'd have to use those rotors.

Guess what? Those boat anchors weigh anywhere from 26-28 lbs EACH. A stock 6th gen rotor is about 15lbs. Your stock 4 gen rotor is probably 13lbs each. You're strapping on 13-15 more pounds per front wheel.

[Matt93SE]

OEM 2004 Maxima rotor:

[Jeff92se]

Odd my 06 z rotor at 12.6" is about 17lbs if I remember right

[Nealoc187]

Originally Posted by Jeff92se

FYI, the stopping power isn't inside the caliper, it's more has to do with the size of the rotor. The g/Z 37 sport brakes work very well but then again, they have huge arsed rotors. 14.25" if your post is right. So to get that power, you'd have to use those rotors.

Guess what? Those boat anchors weigh anywhere from 26-28 lbs EACH. A stock 6th gen rotor is about 15lbs. Your stock 4 gen rotor is probably 13lbs each. You're strapping on 13-15 more pounds per front wheel.

the AP racing bbk rotor is 14.25". the oem front options are 13.0 and 14.0 - pretty freakin huge. I don't remember if I ever weighed cobra rotors, do you recall a weight for them jeff?

[Shift_Max]

a 2 piece cobra rotor from baer is 14 pounds.
I do not know how much a 1 piece cobra rotor weighs though
but dang 20 pounds for a stock maxima rotors is alot.

[Conrad283]

Very interesting ... Thanks for the info