Thans in advance
actual brake upgrade
actual brake upgrade
I have a 2004 QX-56 and was wondering has anyone actual did a brake upgrade to include larger rotors? If so which products did you use, pro and cons or upgrade, and your opinion of its worth. Really don't want to buy a new vehicle, but the features the new QX is offering are becoming more and more intysing..
Thans in advance
Thans in advance
-
C-Kwik
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Re: actual brake upgrade
I had the Stillen Monster Brake Kit a few years ago. It was quite nice, but ditched it when I decided I wanted a more rugged look for the Titan and went with the Off-Road wheels. It did at one time develop a slight judder. I had the rotors turned slightly and it was fine. I suspect it was due to uneven pad deposition. A better pad might have avoided the problem. I doubt it warped. The rotor section is quite robust, The clearance was tight to the LE wheels, enough that I ended up grinding a slight amount off the corners of the cage as it slightly touched the wheels under turning loads (as the wheels flexed) and made a clicking noise. The last downside was the pads hung off the rotor slightly so the pad developed a small tab of pad material that hung over the edge of the rotor. It had no effect on performance though and I believe it had to do with the fact that the calipers were replicas of one of the domestic truck brakes.
As for positives, the braking was great. The pedal was slightly softer but required less effort to stop. It felt plenty stable during hard braking. The caliper also had a coating that was impervious to brake fluid. Stillen's brake sales manager said he soaked one in brake fluid overnight when they first got one with the coating and it didn't peel. The rotors are noticeably light due to the aluminum hat. Though the rotors are non-floating so there may be some coning under extreme heat. But for daily driving, I doubt its a problem. They had the paint marks on the edge of the rotors that are used to determine if you reached certain temperatures. The lowest colored one never changed on mine. And I drive pretty hard and did some moderate towing. So I doubt there was that much coning occurring.
All that said, I noticed Stillen dropped the product from their site for a while and then it returned. I'm not sure if anything with the kit had changed during that time. But it was also during the time when Nissan increased the brake size on the Titan/Armada. And speaking of which, the newer brakes are bolt-on to the older models. Neither the Stillen Kit nor the newer brake will fit over the Off-Road wheels or most 17 inch wheels. As I understand it, either set fit over any of the OE 18" or larger wheels.
As for positives, the braking was great. The pedal was slightly softer but required less effort to stop. It felt plenty stable during hard braking. The caliper also had a coating that was impervious to brake fluid. Stillen's brake sales manager said he soaked one in brake fluid overnight when they first got one with the coating and it didn't peel. The rotors are noticeably light due to the aluminum hat. Though the rotors are non-floating so there may be some coning under extreme heat. But for daily driving, I doubt its a problem. They had the paint marks on the edge of the rotors that are used to determine if you reached certain temperatures. The lowest colored one never changed on mine. And I drive pretty hard and did some moderate towing. So I doubt there was that much coning occurring.
All that said, I noticed Stillen dropped the product from their site for a while and then it returned. I'm not sure if anything with the kit had changed during that time. But it was also during the time when Nissan increased the brake size on the Titan/Armada. And speaking of which, the newer brakes are bolt-on to the older models. Neither the Stillen Kit nor the newer brake will fit over the Off-Road wheels or most 17 inch wheels. As I understand it, either set fit over any of the OE 18" or larger wheels.