03 M45 Brake job

[DRIPS]

The time will be arriving shortly to complete a brake job on my m45. The front have been done when I bought the car. I will want to do the rear myself. I have done several brakes jobs before, but like to know what i am getting into.

My main question is...has anyone done a brake job themselves? And just as important, do we need to deal with pressing bearings into the rotors or is the job as simple as taking the caliper off and popping the rotor off.

[ClutchKick]

Nothing out of the ordinary...

If you have done brakes before, you will be fine...

Especially if you are only doing pads...

I always say, make sure you check the tolerance on your rotors before you turn them down... unless you are putting on new rotors of course...

[Andrew224]

The brakes are easy. No messing with bearings or anything like that. Just four bolts and you'll have the calipers and rotors off. I took some pictures when I did mine about a month ago. I'll try and dig them up so you can see what you're getting into before you get into it.

Andrew

[DRIPS]

pics would be great. Just ordered the pads and thinking about what rotors to buy but I should be good to do the job in a few weeks.

[szh]

pics would be great. Just ordered the pads and thinking about what rotors to buy but I should be good to do the job in a few weeks.

Yes, but do avoid cheap rotors! It is all too easy to find something that does not have good quality iron in it, or weighs too little, etc. The density and weight of the iron is important ... it is the heat capacity and dissipation (particularly into the brake fluid through the hub) that makes all the difference between good and bad rotors.

Z

[sr79labrat]

Yes, but do avoid cheap rotors! It is all too easy to find something that does not have good quality iron in it, or weighs too little, etc. The density and weight of the iron is important ... it is the heat capacity and dissipation (particularly into the brake fluid through the hub) that makes all the difference between good and bad rotors.

Z

HAHA Funny I find this now! I just bought cheap EBAY slotted and drilled rotors....all the way around. They did weigh in at 66lbs so I cant imagine that is to light. Are the rear pads as tiny as they look in my hands here?

Thanks! KTW

[szh]

Well, many of the eBay suppliers are pretty good anyway.

I have bought rotors for my old Q45 from irotors.com and was pretty happy with them (although some others did report problems with irotors.com). These were cross-drilled and slotted Bradi rotors. Bradi is a sister company to Brembo and I would expect good quality stuff from them.

In general, if you get Stillen, Brembo, Bradi, or Powerstop rotors from a reputable eBay source, you will probably be perfectly happy - even with cross-drilling or slotting (remember that slotting will make the "sound" of the rotors different when braking). Just avoid the cheap far-eastern knockoffs ... that do not cast the iron properly, or have poor density material, etc., etc., etc.

In hindsight, I may get lightly slotted rotors again, but will probably avoid the cross-drilling ... this removes iron (reduces weight) and thus reduces heat capacity and, if not machined right (with chamfered holes) on a CNC, it could cause cracking in the iron near the drilled hole.

Z

[Andrew224]

Yes, the rear pads are relatively small compaired to the fronts. Most of your braking is done up front. At 30,000 miles my rear pads were still about 75%.

I got cross drilled and slotted rotors from ebay too because they look cool. Probably not the best reasoning but oh well. My car stops when I press the brake petal. I hardly ever brake hard unless it's an emergency. I don't notice any difference in braking. But like I said, I don't brake hard. So far, after 1,000 miles, I'm happy with them. Time will tell if these rotors will hold up. But they do look good!

Andrew

[Q45tech]

If you know the rotor and car loaded weight easy to calculate the rotor temperature rise in any stop................what most don't realize is the brakes have 2-3 times the HP/torque of the engine,

A car accelerates to 60 in 7 seconds yet can stop from 60 in less than 3 seconds.

[szh]

I got cross drilled and slotted rotors from ebay too because they look cool. Probably not the best reasoning but oh well. My car stops when I press the brake petal. I hardly ever brake hard unless it's an emergency. I don't notice any difference in braking. But like I said, I don't brake hard. So far, after 1,000 miles, I'm happy with them. Time will tell if these rotors will hold up. But they do look good!

Hi, Andrew.

Please provide more info ... "pretty please" what brand of rotor, the eBay source, price, etc.!!

Z

[sr79labrat]

I got the back done last night but left the old pads on because they were as you said 75% or so worn. The front is making a weird noise so I am not driving the car until I get the front pads on with the new rotors. What is up with the drum brake looking thing? Is it the parking brake? I would say if any people use the parking brake while jacking the car up you need to release it to get the rotor off easily. I would venture to say my rotors and pads are probably the cheapest I could find for now. Rotors were just $200 or so after shipping. Pads for F and R were $70.00 shipped. Not bad for a full brake job. I guess if the seller had any bad feedback it would show up, and so far everyone I bought from is 98 or 99% positive. That is comforting to me. The rotors looked a tad rough up close, but not horrible....maybe rushed or something. I did drive the car and everthing seems fine except my old pads are not sticking to the caliper once released so they kinda drag. It is only noticible with the windows down at a slow speed. On my legend I did the same thing and have driven it demandingly for 12k or so miles and they work great!

Hope this helps! I will post once I get the front on as well.Kyle

[szh]

Please do remember to set the pads in properly! Repeat ten times, with no interval in between (to avoid too much cooling off):

1. Get it up to highway speeds.2. Brake hard till you almost come to a stop (don't actually stop ... that will leave pad material in one spot on the rotor).

After you are done with the ten repeats, drive normally and let the rotors/pads cool down before you come to a halt.

It is the proper coating of pad material on the rotor (without clumping) that provides the best stopping power ... without the lumpy pad material deposits that people may sometimes mistake for warped rotors feeling.

Z

[sr79labrat]

Interesting, and good advice! Thanks! Kyle

[Andrew224]

Please provide more info ... "pretty please" what brand of rotor, the eBay source, price, etc.!!

Z

The rotors were from R1 Concepts out of California. They were $214 shipped for all 4 wheels. I don't know what brand rotors they are (brand name removed from box). They look like they are good quality and have a nice finish to them (zinc). The cross drilled holes and slots look very professionally done. I can only describe them as clean and finished.

Front pads are genuine Nissan replacements. Rear pads are the originals.

I broke the brakes in per the service manual's instructions (very important) and to date I am happy with them (about 2 months and a little over 1,000 miles so far, both city and highway driving).

So far, no rust anywhere on the rotors. No sqealing or vibration under braking conditions. A slight grind when you brake hard and are listening for it. Under normal braking, no noise or vibration at all. I don't notice any drag or unusual occurrances.

They really stand out behind the wheels. (I also painted the calipers red while everything was apart)

Here's the ebay link to the rotors:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

What is up with the drum brake looking thing? Is it the parking brake? I would say if any people use the parking brake while jacking the car up you need to release it to get the rotor off easily. Kyle

Yes, that is the parking brake. I think the rear rotors would be difficult to get off with it engaged (I've never tried).

And here is a link to a page with a couple of pictures of my brakes / wheels:

http://www.geocities.com/aarmi....html

Like I said, I've only had them for 2 months. Time will tell if they hold up. I'll keep you posted if I have problems / complaints. But for now, I'm very happy with them. I'll try and take some better pictures of how they look on the car overall and post them up soon.

Andrew

[szh]

The rotors were from R1 Concepts out of California. They were $214 shipped for all 4 wheels. I don't know what brand rotors they are (brand name removed from box). They look like they are good quality and have a nice finish to them (zinc). The cross drilled holes and slots look very professionally done. I can only describe them as clean and finished.

Thanks for the info and the link! I will try to find out more info about what blanks they are using.

Front pads are genuine Nissan replacements. Rear pads are the originals.

Good! I am a believer in using the Nissan pads too. Our collective experience with them (including our resident expert, Q45tech) has been much better than other brands.

I broke the brakes in per the service manual's instructions (very important)

The Service manual brake burnishing procedure (see below for the info from it) is good, but has a few things that I change - see my earlier post too.

First, it is better to be faster (55mph rather than 30mph) and stop harder (not medium braking) than they recommend. Most importantly, it is best not to come to a complete stop in between the repetitions ... when the pad and rotor are still hot (particularly with a harder stop), it can deposit more pad material in one spot on the rotor than you would want. You can sometimes see pad-shaped material imprints on improperly treated new rotors from hot stops! This is not a good thing to ... way better to keep moving till you finish the sequence, and then let the pad/rotor cool down, before you come to a complete stop.

So far, no rust anywhere on the rotors.

Zinc plating does indeed help this issue - the plating does wear off where the pad touches the rotor (no rust at that point since it wears off), but prevents rust on the rest of the rotor! Good!

A slight grind when you brake hard and are listening for it.

That is the "different" sound I mentioned, caused by the pads moving over the slots - does not happen with blank rotors or cross-drilled rotors!

BTW, here is the procedure mentioned in the Service Manual ... I still believe the modified method I mention (see above) - based on early posts from Q45tech - is a much better approach!

Brake Burnishing Procedure

Burnish the brake contact surfaces according to the following procedure after refinishing or replacing drums or rotors, after replacing pads or linings, or if a soft pedal occurs at very low mileage.

CAUTION:

Only perform this procedure under safe road and traffic conditions. Use extreme caution.

1. Drive the vehicle on a straight smooth road at 50 km/h (31 MPH).

2. Use medium brake pedal/foot effort to bring the vehicle to a complete stop from 50 km/h (31 MPH). Adjust brake pedal/foot pressure such that vehicle stopping time equals 3 to 5 seconds.

3. To cool the brake system, drive the vehicle at 50 km/h (31 MPH) for 1 minute without stopping.

4. Repeat steps 1 to 3, 10 times or more to complete the burnishing procedure.

Z

[Andrew224]

Thanks for the info and the link! I will try to find out more info about what blanks they are using.

Z

I contacted them and they told me that they use Centric rotors. Here is a link to their homepage:

http://www.centricparts.com/prod02.htm

Andrew