just took the zed for a bit of a thrashing came to brake at the roundabout and it didnt wanna stop. luckily the traffic had started to set off , so i took it slow and they seem ok but when i push her hard she dosnt want to pull up is this a problem with the zeds , pads and discs look ok. any ideas

need to get it sorted as my confidence in the car is growing and i push it more and more.. :mac1:

Are you saying its just got bad? After you were thrashing it? Or its the first time you've every had to brake firmly from high speed?

 

Standard disks and pads are not so great on the 300zx, its a big heavy car with miserable little disks on the front..

 

The quick fix is a set of good pads, i have mintex 11/44's on mine and they are good, But i also have 324mm grooved disks on the front, courtesy of Smithy's

 

Alternativly the best £/stoppage is going to be a set of Skyline R33 GTR or R34 GTR calipers + disks (which are the same 324mm) The R33 will bolt straight on, the R34 requires a small amount of modification... i.e some 12mm holes being drilled out to 14mm IIRC

 

I went for smithys kit due to the cost of the R33 calipers, and also that with those larger disks ive got the opportunity to upgrade to the better calipers at a later date.

The "big brake kit" comes with some mounting brackets to move your existing standard calipers away from the disks to allow the 324mm disks under there.

 

Bear in mind, you'll need i thik at least 17" alloys to get these disks under there... so if your still using standard rims then this is not an option :) HTH

yes its the first time i have really had to brake at speed

i will look at the new pads and disk options

thanks

a change of brake fluid will help also

Alternativly the best £/stoppage is going to be a set of Skyline R33 GTR or R34 GTR calipers + disks (which are the same 324mm) The R33 will bolt straight on, the R34 requires a small amount of modification... i.e some 12mm holes being drilled out to 14mm IIRC

Would I be right in thinking that the R33 GTR front discs & calipers bolt straight on - with no modifications at all ?

 

 

.

These are what stop mine,they were BMW Discs.

Plus this little lot. :D

Feck me thats a sexy table of braking goodies!

Rocket Ron: You may have boiled up your fluid if you were thrashing it. If your foot unexpectently went to the floor where it normally would have stopped the car then this is what has happened. Zeds brakes are not very good at being abused. New fluid makes the world of difference, as do decent pads and discs, but the best option is to get a bigger brake setup if you have the wonga.

yeah... forgot about fluid lol.

 

TBH, probably wouldnt hurt mine... Might do that his coming weekend!

thanks lads will do that

also worth making sure none of the piston's are seized in the calipers. seems to be a common problem.

also worth making sure none of the piston's are seized in the calipers. seems to be a common problem.

Yer mine were the same you had to stand on the pedal and it still would not work the ABS

I took the calipers off and pumped the pistons so they were nearly out and cleaned all the rust and crap off each piston also the rubber seals can harden up and stick to the pistons i think you can buy the rubber seals as a kit

:hyper:

Plus this little lot. :D

 

 

 

jesus christ vinz, thats awesome!!!

Standard brakes are not as crap as everyone makes them out to be. Fair enough, you can't compare them to Ferrari F50 brakes but then you do need to remember that they are mostly between 10 and 17 years old. Chances are that the fluid has never been changed, the rubber brake lines have either perished or become flexible and the callipers have probably never been cleaned/refurbished. After 10-17 years of abuse they are likely not to be in the best condition.

 

So, if you do not want to go down the route of upgraded brakes (ie a big brake conversion) what can you do?

 

A simple and cost effective solution would be to do the following:

 

1. change the rubber brake lines to braided ones (roughly £85~£105)

2. flush the brake system and refill with new fluid - Dot4.1 is fine (roughly £30)

3. take the callipers off the car and refurbish them, not forgetting to change the piston seals (roughly £30~£40/pair)

4. replace the standard disc with DBA discs (£210/pair)

5. replace the standard pads with Porterfield pads (£140 for all four corners)

 

You don't need to do all of the above, you could just do no's 2 and 3 and replace the pads with standard pads. That will already make a difference.

 

If anyone needs any further advise on replacing brake parts or wanting to "go large" then please get in touch as all brake parts are available to purchase through us.

 

HTH

 

Dan

well said the brakes like the rest of the car just require a little bit of love

Just to add, when I took my stock calipers off to fit my large brakes, I was shocked to find (on one of my calipers, I've not checked the other yet) 1 piston siezed quite well, 2 pistons a bit iffy and 1 that worked fine. As said before take them all out, clean up well and they will be as good as new with more seals in etc etc.

Worth noting - if you do refurb the calipers DO NOT undo the bolts holding the calipers together!!! If you do the calipers may as well go in the bin.... I know people will post up after this that they've seperated theirs and put them back together with no problems but just don't do it!

Worth noting - if you do refurb the calipers DO NOT undo the bolts holding the calipers together!!! If you do the calipers may as well go in the bin.... I know people will post up after this that they've seperated theirs and put them back together with no problems but just don't do it!

 

cheers for the tip andy, out of curiosity why is this? ive recently purchased a 300zx and noticed the brakes arent great. my initial reaction was new pads and discs all round until i could afford a bigger caliper upgrade however im going to give DTA's pointers a try first. i wanted to keep orginal wheels for a while, does anyone know whats the max disc brake size you can get on original calipers and stock wheels? thanks guys

 

kesh

Worth noting - if you do refurb the calipers DO NOT undo the bolts holding the calipers together!!! If you do the calipers may as well go in the bin.... I know people will post up after this that they've seperated theirs and put them back together with no problems but just don't do it!

Is this because of the sealing Andy?

To be perfectly honest I'm not sure. Probably a bit like cylinder heads, with heat and time they warp. While held together this isn't a problem but once they're taken apart need skimming? I dunno tho....

Wheres the best place to get the piston seals from