Maxima emergency brake brackets.

[Chickenman]

For those of you thinking of a switch to Maxima rear calipers on their S30 I have a bit of a warning.

I installed the Z Car Depot rear emergency cable brackets on my 1976 280Z. I am using the larger 11.4" / 289 mm rotors off the Canadian model NA 300ZX .  This requires a 1986 Maxima rear caliper which has a larger frame offset than the smaller 10.1"/ 256mm . Note that reman calipers often have the wrong frames supplied. So it can be a real PITA finding the correct frames for the larger rotors. Took us Four sets of calipers to finally find the correct ones. Note. A-1 cardone and Centric seem to be the only manufacturers that list the different frame brackets.  

Any how. Two problems with the Z Car depot calipers.

1: As delivered. The center hole is too small for the 280Z rear cable to fit through. It has to be drilled larger by about 0.80". Actually a carbide tipped grinder works better as the hole has a cutout to slip the cable through. That causes the Drill to " walk " and create an oblong hole. Nuts!!

2: If you are using the larger 289mm 300ZX rotors, the cable bracket will align the emergency cable smack dab in the middle of your rear sway bar. Not good. You have to Bend the bracket some more to change the angle. Not good as it's freakin" thick.

3: If you are using the smaller 256 mm 300ZX rotors, you will probably be OK... as the emergency cable should now clear the rear sway bar.  

 

I needed the larger rear rotors to balance my brake bias. I have 11.750" front rotors with Z32 4 Pot aluminium calipers. Need all the rear brake I can get. 

 

[AZDatsun]

I know your pain on the brackets just sent back my first A1 cardone calipers because the ones I got had kind of a curvy bottom instead of flat and it won’t mount up. If you don’t mind what calipers did you end up ordering that worked?


Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

[Chickenman]

Took me a bit of digging through invoices. A1_Cardoen Part numbers with large frame.

Right rear = 19B978A

Left rear = 19B978A

 

Edit: If memory serves me correct, the suffix " A " is the difference between frame size.with A1-Cardone. 

Still could be a crap shoot on whether or not you get the correct caliper frame size. We ordered some AC Delco professional series. The left caliper has a large frame and the right caliper had a small frame. FFS!!! 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Chickenman

[Chickenman]

This is the style of bracket you want. The left side mau be hard to find. 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Chickenman

[Chickenman]

This is the small bracket. Notice the smaller offset for the mounting lugs.

Edit: Don't be confused by " Parallelism ". Pictures were shot at different angles. Look only at the difference of the Lug length form Caliper sliding bolt to caliper mounting bolt. 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Chickenman

[EuroDat]

Wow, That is hard to tell apart without having them side by side. Such a shame you're stuck with all this R&D for an aftermarket upgrade.

Did you measure the distance between the bolt centers? Would be a nice refference for others when they fall in this rabbit hole. Maybe even write a short technical article over these issues.

If they sell calipers for this upgrade it would be nice if they drill out the bracket 0,80". Or they could offer it as an option.

They make the adapter bracket to fit the caliper to the S30 axles and let you figure the rest out yourself. A simple instruction leaflet with info on these "issues" would be nice.

[Chickenman]

 

I did have the dimensions of the bolt spacing written down somewhere. On one of the 97  " sticky notes " covering my work desk. If I find the dimensions again I'll post them. 

It's really kind of silly that pretty much all the Vendors for these Caliper brackets  use a Caliper from a mid-1980's car. They could have chosen something much modern. But they all copied each others design.

I believe Silvermine does offer a Stage 4 design that uses a late Model Ford design. Much easier to find, no issues with two different caliper frames like on the Maxima, and wonder of wonders, the brake pad actually covers the whole rotor surface, instead of half of it like the Maxima rear caliper. 

This is the 1986 Large frame Maxima Caliper mounted on the large 289 mm rotor. Now this will work as far as swept area , but it would be nice if the whole rotor area was covered. This is how all  the Large rotor have the Maxima rear caliper positioned.  The smaller Z31 256mm rotor with the Maxima calipers has most of the rotor area covered. 

Z31 289 mm rear rotor with 1986 Maxima Caliper ( Large offset frame ) 

[Chickenman]

 

IHere is the Centric Part number for the Large frame Caliper ( Right Rear )

 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Chickenman

[Chickenman]

Here is the Centric Part number for the small frame Maxima rear Caliper ( Right rear ). Note it has the Bracket casting number of K53R 

[Chickenman]

Found the dimensions of the Large frame Maxima caliper bolt spacing. I knew I'd saved it somewhere:  1.93"

 

Edit: Note there are at least two different Large Frame castings that I know of. Both have the same bolt spacing, but the connecting bridge appears a bit different. This looks like an original Nissan casting with 75N cast in. I have seen other large frame brackets that look " flatter " and have no casting number. Those are probably re-cast Chinea brackets???

Edited August 5, 2018 by Chickenman

[Chickenman]

And here is a picture of yet another large frame Maxima caliper. This one looks like a re-cast bracket. Note the flatter appearnce than the OEM large frame bracket. No casting numbers either.

[Patcon]

The best way to tell the difference is the bottom line of the frame. The small bracket is sort of rounded with two convex humps. The large frame is straighter with a concave indention. I have the smaller frames. I didn't know there was an option Good to know Chickenman! I agree the Ford rear disc upgrade is pretty nice because they are so readily available and have a good selection of pads to choose from.