z32 front calipers- Aluminum vs. Iron - Which is best?

[S14KoukiMonster]

Hey, I've got a pair of '90 z32 30mm aluminum calipers for the swap I'm going to do. I originally got these thinking that aluminum would be better than iron due to the un-sprung weight difference.

Yesterday I called my buddy that owns a tuner shop, to order some rotors and lines for them. He said that the reason Nissan switched from the 26mm+30mm NA/TT aluminum, to 30mm iron calipers for both NA/TT, was because the aluminum bodies would flex, and sometimes even warp under extreme braking. HAS ANYONE EXPERIENCED THIS???

I just assumed they switched to a 30mm iron caliper for both NA+TT was because iron is cheaper and one size of calipers/rotors for both models is just easier for everyone.

Any POSITIVE helpful feed back is greatly appreciated. THANKS...

[nismofly]

nope, its one of those things where its theoretically possible, but youll never see it actually happen, theyll never get hot enough to be at that point

keep the aluminum, youre better off

[chmercer]

aluminum

[AZhitman]

Your buddy is wrong-o-matic.

Nissan did no such thing.

[spider_slayer]

your buddy is correct. send your alum. calipers to:

Michael Withrock1005 N. Rock Rd.wichita, ks 67207

[onosqv]

Ok, here's the dealio (from what I understand):

Nissan switched bcs a lot of ROTORS were getting warped under HEAVY driving conditions. It was believed (by consumers at least) that the aluminum calipers were causing this. However, even after they switched to iron calipers, rotors were still getting warped ON THE 300ZX. The caliper itself doesn't warp.

Our 240's are about 800lbs or so lighter. For the rotor on a 240 to warp w/ a setup that was made for a 3600lb car, you would have to be driving VERY VERY VERY hard.

Ppl have destroyed crossdrilled vr4 rotor upgrades (due to rotor design problem), but I have yet to see ppl destroy 300zx rotors on the 240 due to hard driving.

So yea, get the aluminum if you can... in the end really doesn't make much of a difference unless you are doing some major competition where every lb counts.

[S14KoukiMonster]

Thank you for all of your input. I originally assumed that it was one of those CEO money saving decisions(not that Nissan's cheap). Cast iron being cheaper than aluminum and 1 size for NA+TT being cheaper/easier to produce. Does anyone know if that's why they switched?

Thanks again!

[nismofly]

more than likely yes, thats probably why they switched

they couldve chosen between a little less unsprung weight, and ease of production and cost savings, fairly easy choice since it wasnt like they were building a supercar or anything

[S14KoukiMonster]

Thanks again to everyone. I'll stick with the 30mm aluminum calipers that I have, and order my z32 lines, rotors, and M/Cyl.

[Juujai]

if you're afraid of rotors cracking stay away from cheapo aftermarket drilled rotors like the "brembo" kind you find on ebay. where it's just randomly drilled by shop guys that don't really care. you get what you pay for they're basically just oem replacements. i haven't heard of any calipers warping or snapping at all ever.

[elwesso]

The key you need to remember is that you dont actually want the "drilled" rotors to be "drilled". The holes need to be CAST in, because thats the only way they can maintain their integrity..

I dont know much about the aluminum vs iron, but I have iron calipers on my Q45 and I installed the aluminum ones on another Q and the aluminum are MUCH lighter.....