Front Brake Upgrades

[Aussie260z]

Found lots of useful information about upgrading the front brakes on my Zed,

But........was wondering - if you wanted to upgrade to 4-spot ALLOY calipers, is it possible to keep the original Caliper mountings, or do you have to go with a custom mounting?

&

Can anyone recommend someone who sells a good front brake kit???

Ive got a few different quotes from SWR, All Z Spares - but im not 100% sold on their kits yet...........

[TomoHawk]

Modern Motorsports. : http://www.modern-motorsports.com

[dogma420]

The cheap upgrade, at least to 'try out' 4 piston to see if this is the route to go, is go to an auto parts store and purchase early 80s Toyota 4x4 front calipers...these bolt right onto the stock S30 Zed...go get some cores at a junk yard if you don't want to pay that...total cost is somewhere under $200...these calipers are 4 piston, and much much cheaper than a 'kit' from a rice shop. If you like the performance, then go for a vented setup.

Rear discs are mainly for looks....the drums work just fine...in fact, my Z didn't have the rear brakes even hooked up for a year, and it braked just about the same...(not to say to do that, but the rear brakes are maybe 10-15% of your braking at the max, kinda like a motorcycle).

I wouldn't waste your money on rear discs unless the 'look' was important to you in conjunction with big nice looking wheels.

Just my .02 dollars.

[messenger]

I have the 1980 toyota 4x4 4 piston calipers up front. They where 36 dollars each from autozone fully loaded with pads the whole deal.

I never drove the car with the stock setup so as for a major difference im not sure, but for the price you can't really go wrong. Oh and as for a core I just put my Z calipers in the box and they didnt even question it.

[texasz]

I have the 1980 toyota 4x4 4 piston calipers up front. They where 36 dollars each from autozone fully loaded with pads the whole deal.

I never drove the car with the stock setup so as for a major difference im not sure, but for the price you can't really go wrong. Oh and as for a core I just put my Z calipers in the box and they didnt even question it.

Hi messenger! I'm in Austin also. What part of town are you in? I'm also curious what Toyota 4x4 calipers you purchased from Autozone (i.e. 4Runner, Tacoma, etc)?

[messenger]

Hi, I am located in the northern area.

The calipers I got are just 1980 4x4 "truck" calipers, sounds silly I know but that is what they refer to them on the website.

[Dan Baldwin]

FWIW, there is still 30% of the car's weight on the rear tires at 1-g braking, unlike a motorcycle which has a MUCH shorter wheelbase and higher center of gravity. Stock setup biases the fronts. Further biasing towards the front should actually INcrease ultimate stopping distances, as the rears will be doing even less at impending front lockup. Fortunately, the Toyota truck calipers only have 4% more piston area than stock. Still, I don't really consider this mod (front 4-pot truck calipers ONLY) an "upgrade".

[zguitar71]

Look at www.arizonazcar.com, the fronts are $750 and the bolt right up and look great. I have the stock set up and have not had a problem though. I use very sticky goodyear slicks on the Autox course and have no problems with fade or lack of stopping power. With the sticky tires on I can stop suprizingly well (when they are warm, cold they lock right up (not the brakes fault though)).

[Aussie260z]

Thanks for the replies guys,

The kits available from ArizionaZcar look insane,

But i live in Australia, its not that i can see any dramas fitting this stuff to a R/H drive Z,

But from $750 US for the front brake upgrade kit = $950 AUS, then i gotta pay for 15% Custom's excise, 10% GST and then pay for shipping to Australia,

Kinda get screwed - i cant remember how its calculated, but i probably wouldnt get out of it for under $1500AUS if im lucky by the time i've got the kit

[RP975]

Hi,

Have you tried Hoppers Stoppers? http://www.hoppers.com.au/index.html

They do lots of brake upgrades, this is en email that was sent to me:

Robert.

First for the front.

We have been trying to get the Datsun range all down pat as there is a lot of interchangability through the lot from 180B to Bluebird, 240k and earlier Skylines up to R31, Stanza ,240Z and so on it seems that the basic spindles dont vary that much on the bigger cars when they have struts.Best we can tell they all use same bearings and the caliper mounts seem to be similar in spacing etc.

We have done most but havent had them all here to be sure if there are subtle differences from one to the other.

Basically all our Nissan stuff is based on Ford AU3 XR8 290 by 28 thick rotors and twin piston calipers, usuallly in 5 stud Ford or Commodore pattern but 4 stud Nissan would not be too hard as we have blank rotors etc.

However we never claim that we can do it until we are sure so we have to have a 260Z come in or at least a strut here to be sure.

If it all fits like I think it does then we can sell the above for $990 with smooth rotors, $1150 with slotted and $1200 with drilled and slotted.

Minimum 15 inch wheels required and 1 inch master cyl ex Patrol needed which we sell for $200 if required.

For the rear , havent even been asked to do that to date, and the handbrake will always make it an issue, I think 300ZX have totally different type of independant rear's dont they.?

regards

Peter Koning

So they may be an option, they also have ads in lots of Hot Rod mags.

Robert

[TomoHawk]

Aussie 260-

I apologize for mentioning Modern Motorsports as they are in the U.S., because If I go by your handle and most of the replies, you're down under, and my list of suppliers is U.S.-based.

Sorry mate. You might consider updating your info so people know which country you're in.

Might I ask why you want to upgrade your front brakes?

[Aussie260z]

No worries mate,

I used to drive a Valiant Charger with 11" vented rotors and 1-Spot cast calipers and that thing used to stop really well,

My Z brakes feel terrible in comparison, just dont feel like ive got enough braking power - want it to be more like the Charger brakes,

Spoke to HoppersStoppers and they do do a brake upgrade for the 1970-78 Z,

They use,

300mm XR Falcon Rotors,

2-Piston PBR Alloy Ford Calipers,

and comes with everything required to mount onto your Z,

Does increase offset by 8mm though,

$1200 for Smooth Rotors,

$1300 for Slotted,

$1350 for Cross-Drilled & Slotted,

Would need to go to 15" to 16" rimms for clearances,

Plus,

Unless you have a 1" (15"/16") Master Cylinder in your Z already you will have to upgrade,

They sell a Patrol 1" Master Cylinder brand new for $200 that is a straight bolt-up