Rear Brake Shoe recommendations??

[Marty Rogan]

In October I am headed for Road America for a lapping day event. I am pretty stoked about that. RA can be pretty tuff on a car, so I am thinking of getting more agressive shoes for the stock drums.

The front is in great shape. I just completed the Toyota 4 piston, vented rotor, with SS lines all around, a few months ago. I am running Axxis ceramic pads in front.

I will need shoes that can be driven on the street as well as the track. Any recommendations?

TIA,

Marty

[Victor Laury]

Nismo "Green stuff" shoes on both my roadster and Z. There maybe a better "Pure race" compound, but these have been fine for street and my AutoX outings.

[Marty Rogan]

Thanks Visctor. Any idea what the part number is? Can these be ordered from any dealer? What about price?

Marty

[Victor Laury]

Don't know the Nissan part #. MSA sells them at $140.00 a set, 24-5520 for 70~76 and 24-5521 for 77~78

[Marty Rogan]

Ouch!!! That's pretty steep!! I wouldn't want to spend more than about $50 or so. I got the ceramic pads for the front for only $55.

Marty

[waynekarnes]

Marty,

way back, before i got the V8 in my 72 running, did the brakes.

that was back when we had the email list up and running ... MIKE< PLEASE BRING THAT BACK !!!!

anyway, i quizzed the group, from my last 2 z cars, i already knew i wanted the toyota calipers in front. wanted discs on the rear.

got several responses from the racers.

John Coffey and others, highly recommended the green shoes. advised me, they used the green shoes and aluminum drums on their race cars.

so, new master, toyota calipers, new rear wheel cylinders, green shoes.

i bought the shoes from Kyle at strictly z. was about 40 bucks cheaper than MSA.

remember, if you do go for the green shoes ...

you need to order a front shoe and a rear shoe for the driver's side ...

a front shoe and rear shoe for the passenger side.

nismo, sells each shoe separately ... that way racers can buy the one they need and not have to buy a whole set.

that screwed me up, as i ordered 2 rear shoes, driver's and passenger's rear.

you guessed it ... i got two rear shoes, one pass and one driver's.

as far as how i feel about the brakes on my z ???

i have nothing to compare them to, as far as before and after. z was dead in the water, when it was towed home.

i did the brakes, before i ever drove it. thus, no way to know if it stops better with the "improvements".

i will say that, my 86 PL 720 nissan pick up stops better than my z does. at least seat of the pants tells me that.

however, racing, may be another story ... i am sure that the green shoes will do a better job than the organic shoes on the rear of my truck.

i had velvet touch semi metallics on my 57 nomad, and they worked better when they were hot, after a ride on 17 to santa cruz, than just driving around town.

with the velvet touch shoes, seemed like once warmed up, were two to three times as grippy than when they were cold. might be the same with the green shoes, i just haven't gotten em warm enough to appreciate em.

anyway, i still like the idea of rear discs, bought a used set off Jon M. over at hybrid.org ( he's going larger ). they've been sitting in the box, unopened, for almost a year now.

if i don't get in another financial bind, and end up having to sell this z too ( my son needs close to 2 grand of cavity repairs and termites are eating my house ), i just might get around to putting em on.

drop me a note, let me know what you decide.

oh ... you will need to radius the green shoes to the drums ... so that you get full contact with the drum. remember those days ???

wayne

[sblake01]

oh ... you will need to radius the green shoes to the drums ... so that you get full contact with the drum. remember those days ???

wayne

Are there shops that still do that?

[Marty Rogan]

Hi Wayne,

Long time, no hear. I miss the 240Z Mail List too.

I heard from a couple of racers on this subject. They said that they go through a set of green shoes in 2 race weekends. That is just not practical for their price. One of them said he just gets the cheapest regular compound shoes. Said they last way longer and work just about as good, as long as you have the brakes adjusted properly. So that's what I did. Got a set from Beck Arnley for $12.75. I did 120 track miles at Road America, with great stopping power and absolutely no fade all day long.

Man what a blast! Can't wait to get back there next year.

Marty

[Victor Laury]

i will say that, my 86 PL 720 nissan pick up stops better than my z does. at least seat of the pants tells me that.

Something still needs work. I have Nismo greens on the rear, Axxis Metal Masters up front - stops "NOW", even cold.

[waynekarnes]

hmmm,

i think that there is a tool one can buy from east wood for radiusing the shoes.

from what i understand, most of the mom and pop VW repair shops still radius brake shoes, as do most of those mobile brake shops.

Marty, good to hear from you as well, old days, with the list, one could pick up a topic and then visit a bit off the list, stay in touch. now, no quick messages, no stopping by for a cold one and a little bench racing ... too bad.

Dave Mc Kenzie races in georgia, he's using the stock brakes. i think he has 2.4 liter 6, with a turbo. from what he says, runs pretty good. he has suggested that i should get scca or otherwise certified and see if i can run at laguna seca ... like you, he has a blast !!! he just bought a factory 300zx twin turbo race car, he's been running that and chasing down vipers. he's trying to get me to buy a twin turbo. i drove a few ... one stage III twin turbo ... supposedly 500 horses ... i hit 145 on 280, 4th gear ... in the blink of an eye, 150 into 5th and backed off ... felt like 85 ... surprised the crap out of me ... at that point ... decided, for the moment, my insurance agent would have a heart attack and i wouldn't have a driver's license if i bought one of them. damn, and only 10 grand !!! what a car that would be to take to the track ... too bad it looks like a saturn from the front. but ... from the side and the rear, it gets better ... looks like an 88 fiero gt. only 10 grand for a car that cruises at 140 mph ... 150 with out breaking a sweat .. still has me thinking about it ..

oh back to the brakes ... i think that Dave is also running the best of the raybestos rear shoes and semi metallics in the front.

i'm running stock toyota pads in the front ... may be the reason for mine not stopping as well as i think it should.

if i go shopping for pads ... i should get semi metallic or ceramic in the front ??? are these available at pep boys, auto zone, kragen ??? or a racing specialty shop for toyota ??? are they hard on the rotors ???

Marty, i'll check with Dave, see what he's running on the rear ...

he used to offer a lot of advice, when the list was running ... guess like me, he visits the website about once a week or so.

[Marty Rogan]

Hey Wayne,

Every once in a while I get intrigued by the performance of the 300ZX twin turbos. They are supposed to be terrific performance cars. It just doesn't look like a Z to me though. There's nothing like the classic shape of a 240Z. When I was at Road America, there were tons of people stopping by to admire my 240. Many tooks pictures. Several Porche 928 guys were checking it out. One in particular was really admiring the shape from all angles.

For the front Toyota brakes (wide, vented rotors) I went with Axxis Ultimate Pads. They are a Kevlar and ceramic formula. The specs rate them up to 550 degrees C and 1022 F. They have fantastic stopping power and virtually no fade. I got them off the net at Import Replacement Parts. WWW.importrp.com P/N D 1149 RU, $44.59 + $8.02 S&H. These are for the 1988 4-Runner (V-6) with vented rotors. That is the cheapest I have found. I am not sure if the chain stores handle them. I think Beck Arnley could order them, but their prices were higher.

I can't say enough good things about this set up. I put 3 regular high speed AX days (on a 2 mile track) and one long day at Road America (4 mile, very high speed track, 120 miles) and can see no wear on the rotors.

Well that's my two cents, your mileage may vary.

Marty