~DIY: Larger rear rotor upgrade!

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Razi
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I don't think many people know about this upgrade, so I thought I'd bring it over to NICO.

I've been wanting to do something for the rear brakes ever since I did my Q45 brake upgrade up front.The front brakes would lock up easily, and the rear brakes felt like they weren't doing my good. Then I discovered this upgrade.I had a few questions of my own before doing this and thought I'd answer some here.

First off the parts list is simple.Get Z31 caliper brackets, twin turbo or not, doesn't matter.Then rotors from an Altima, years 2002-2006, V6 or not, doesn't matter. (I found Altima rotors for $25 per rotor at Pepboys.)You keep your stock e-brake and caliper, comes with your car. Works for both S13 and S14.

Also, if you are 4-lug, take it to a reputable machine shop and they should be able to redrill it to 4-lug for you.I also remember someone saying that 88rotors can make you rotors in any lug configuration you want if you call them up.

Now onto the work:

For those that don't know, our stock calipers are made up of 2 large pieces, basically...labeled here in '1' and '2'.Part '1' is what the Z31 part will replace.You keep part '2'.For comparison, Z31 bracket on the left and Stock bracket on the right.

Right...now you take off your wheel. Easy.

Now, here is the caliper, split into the two pieces.Part '1' is seen here still holding the brake pads onto the caliper.

Now take everything off, including the rotors.Stock rotor vs Altima

Heatshield!Since the Altima rotor is larger and also goes deeper towards the hub, I wondered if I would have to remove the whole thing.Turns out that all you need to do is cut off the outer lip on the heatshield and give it a few whacks with the hammer and it will clear your Altima rotors.Dremels are so useful.

Z31 bracket vs Stock bracket.I laid them down so the part that mounts to the rear knuckle are parallel.The thickest bolt you see on the Z31 bracket, is the one that bolts the bracket onto the rear knuckle, you need this bolt from the Z31, the stock one is too long and will rub your rotors. If you forgot them at the junkyard, you should be able to cut your stock bolts, just make sure the tip of the bolt isn't rough or you might damage the threads on the bracket.Also, the slide pins are identical between the 240sx one and Z31 one.

Now put your Altima rotors on, along with the Z31 bracket + brake pads and brake pad shims and assemble your brakes. (Grease your slide pins!)No brake overlap, it is perfect!

All installed:

I don't track my car (yet), and only do a bit of spirited driving on local roads.I have Q45 brakes up front and the brakes always felt way too bias towards the front, this seemed to even it out a bit.E-brake locks up nicely too.

Pedal travel felt different and longer when I drove it around at first, then I applied the e-brake while rolling and now it's back to normal.


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jessetang
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Did it. Love it. Still need to bleed the brake since I switch to steel braid lines. It does take more force to install the caliper to the bracket since the brake line and e brake line are a little too long now.

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motoman399
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doing this!

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Cameron
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definitely will consider this! thankyou!

what is the diameter of these rotors?

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Razi
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I believe a little over 11 inches, I didn't measure it before I installed it.

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motoman399
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how did you find out about this. from all these years on the forums i never saw this before.... crazy but thanks

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Razi
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Yeah, that's why I posted it here.I've seen it on Zilvia and one other forum, never on NICO, so I thought I'd share the info!

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spooled240
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the rotors are 11.5" compared to the stock 10" rotors

i did this swap yesterday and i'm pretty satisfied with the results. There's not much of a difference as far as daily since the rear brakes do only a fraction of light/moderate braking, the real benefit is felt on hard braking and using the e-brake. With q45 brakes up front brake bias is still very offset towards the front with the altima rotors so this mod only makes the brake bias better suited for powerful front brakes imo.



*wheel gap is not as much as it seems haha*

this mod has been around with some speculation that altima rotors will work fine but i think we should give props to codyace, he's the first guy that made the thread on zilvia actually testing out the altima rotors with the z31 brackets

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Razi
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spooled240 wrote:the rotors are 11.5" compared to the stock 10" rotors

i did this swap yesterday and i'm pretty satisfied with the results. There's not much of a difference as far as daily since the rear brakes do only a fraction of light/moderate braking, the real benefit is felt on hard braking and using the e-brake. With q45 brakes up front brake bias is still very offset towards the front with the altima rotors so this mod only makes the brake bias better suited for powerful front brakes imo.



*wheel gap is not as much as it seems haha*

this mod has been around with some speculation that altima rotors will work fine but i think we should give props to codyace, he's the first guy that made the thread on zilvia actually testing out the altima rotors with the z31 brackets
+1Feels great with the Q45 up front and altima rotors in the rear.

And, I wanted to link to that thread in Zilvia but I don't think Nico allows linking to competing forums.But yes, thanks to CodyAce from Zilvia and people at FreshAlloy.This is a nice upgrade.

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DMan II-40
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How well do you think this would reduce bias if I had the Z32 front brakes with a Z32 BMC?

I would rather just do this rear swap than swapping over Z32 rears with the whole e-brake confusion crap.

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IanS
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Thank you Raz. I may do this on the rally car.

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Razi
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DMan II-40 wrote:How well do you think this would reduce bias if I had the Z32 front brakes with a Z32 BMC?

I would rather just do this rear swap than swapping over Z32 rears with the whole e-brake confusion crap.
Hm, I don't know how the Z32 BMC splits the bias so I'm not sure.But this upgrade does help move some more bias towards the rear so I'll bet it would help.
FlatBlackIan wrote:Thank you Raz. I may do this on the rally car.
Woot!

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masterdisaster
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where did you guys find the z31 brackets.. ?

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spooled240
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junkyards

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masterdisaster
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yea.. finding a z31 in a juckyard here is imposible..

i've been living the JDM life for 6 years and i've only seen 2 z31 on the road lol

even courtesy nissan doesn't sell it

anybody know if a 2002-2006 Altima braket works?and if this upgrage is usefull if i have 180sx up front? (93-98 front altima)

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Razi
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It may throw off the bias towards the rear a little too much.

As for the Z31 brackets, maybe you can find someone parting their Z31 out and ask for the bracket.

Also, I don't think the 2002-2006 Altima brackets work.

Try calling up EverythingNissan.com, maybe they can special order it for you, might be pricey though.

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spooled240
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masterdisaster wrote:i've been living the JDM life for 6 years and i've only seen 2 z31 on the road lol
what is this JDM life you speak of? like this?

but there are a lot of z31's down here, well not a lot but you see them..i was lucky enough to find a turbo z31 in the junkyard

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masterdisaster
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HAHAHA too funny.. nah man .. just started working in a JDM yard.. imported some car and stuff

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motoman399
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there is a z31 in our junk yard haha but im swooping in on those

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spooled240
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i should add:

I had to insert 2 washers behind the 2 bracket bolts that bolt on the spindle because the bolts were too long and they were barely touching the rotor. My first test drive sounded like rotors on a brake lathe lol

allmtoreg
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this might sound like a dumb question but u got the REAR Altima rotor and REAR Z31 brackets right?

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spooled240
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yeah that's all you need

w0nderbr3ad
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I gotta try this out when I get my next paycheck. Thanks.

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E7-S14
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Just did this!
except i have a bit of pad overhang on top of rotor..

used rotors from an 06 altima.

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homeslicej2
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I too have a tad bit of pad overhang at the top. I also have this, and wanted to know if anyone else had this "issue" or if bc of the rear caliper's design, it is a non-issue.
Image
This is the Left (driver's) side Z31 bracket
Image
This is a 2003 Altima rear rotor installed on the Left (driver's) side rear with above bracket. I know it's hard to see in the pic, but with the rotor mounted to the hub (I used lugnuts to hold it flush against the hub face) & the bracket bolted on (used Z31 bracket bolts) there is about 3mm of clearance b/t the outboard side of the rotor & the bracket, but only about 1.5-2mm of clearance b/t the inboard side of the rotor & bracket. The rotor does not center in b/t the bracket on mine. I checked Courtesyparts: Z31 used the same bracket for all model years; the S14 & S13 rear uprights, calipers, & wheel bearings are the same part # (since I too referenced Codyace's thread & he has an S14). The only thing I can think of is that maybe the 4-lug hub is a tad bit shorter than the 5-lug hub Nissan used. However, when I installed the caliper & pads, there is room b/t the piston & pad. With the caliper working how it does, will the inboard pad drag on the rotor when the brake pedal is released, or will the piston back off enough to release any pressure? Any thoughts/advice?

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spooled240
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i don't think mine was perfect either but it was pretty centered.

my caliper was a little difficult to bolt on because of the ebrake cable in a different position and i thought the inside pad would stick but my pads don't stick/rub at all. I had my car on the lift yesterday and the rear wheels spin easy.

i would bolt it all on, drive around the block then see if the brakes stick..i think you'll be fine

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Razi
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The piston should back off enough to release any extra pressure that one of the sides would receive, you should be okay.

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spooled240
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basically, the caliper will center itself

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homeslicej2
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That's what I was thinking, but I wanted others to re-affirm. Thanks guys.

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Ender_Zero
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I'll be doing this on my S13 this weekend. Thanks for the DIY Razi <3


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