Racin_Jason Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 So I think Ive decided to stick with a fresh set of 240z front brakes on my street V8Z. Then I quickly found out that converting the rears is a bit more complicated than i remember. Availability and/or part costs have changed it seems. The maxima rear brackets are not available it seems. The proper 240sx calipers for the MM kit are pricey! Silvermines kit is overkill when matched to the stock fronts. Can I still do a basic rear disk conversion by piecing together *available*parts? I'm simply trying to convert my rear to disk and match it somewhat closely to the stock 240z front setup. TIA Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mditt8671 Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Did you check out the Desert Z brake kit from Shaun Schlappi? I bought a kit from him a year or so ago, I haven't installed it because I'm not to that part yet. Very reasonable price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rejracer Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 A bolt on solution is the following: RWD maxima brackets 82-83 280zx Rotor 82-83 280zx Caliper. The only difficult part is finding the RWD maxima brackets, just search the yards and be prepared to pull a stub axle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racin_Jason Posted February 28, 2013 Author Share Posted February 28, 2013 I hadnt heard of Desert Z but am looking at his stuff right now.Thanks for the tip mditt. rejracer - Those maxima brackets seem a little hard to come by but Im lookin. I welcome any other links or suggestions Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihiryu Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 There was a vendor or someone that used to make brake kits as well. I believe he was Joe D. or Jon D? I posted in his thread, and he said he would consider making more brackets. Dessert Z still seems like 500 bucks or so though right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mditt8671 Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Desert Z, in Dec 2011 was $424 shipped for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexter72 Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 The cheapest way to get the rear Maxima brackets may be by searching through the junk yards in your area over the weekend. Maybe you and a friend can comb through different yards and see what's out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winstonusmc Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Or you can get the FWD maxima brackets and machine them down like I did. Cost me $80 to have them machined and I got the brackets free with the calipers at the yard, so about $200 for everything, including pads and rotors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3ryce Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 A bolt on solution is the following: RWD maxima brackets 82-83 280zx Rotor 82-83 280zx Caliper. The only difficult part is finding the RWD maxima brackets, just search the yards and be prepared to pull a stub axle. What year for the maxima brackets? What about the break lines? Is it all bolt up? Or are thos parts just bolt up and get you started? I plan on doing this as soon as i get my z but if there is more information on how to that would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I have to ask, are the rears not sufficient or you simply want a visual upgrade of rear discs? Consider keeping the current drums and just glass bead them and keep the bare aluminum or paint so they appear nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I'm with 1tuffz. I have the maxima package and it has a great emergency brake function, but it is no better in stopping power than the stock drums-maybe worse. Disc brakes ARE, however, eaiser to work on, so I have enjoyed how easy it is to remove a caliper when I tear down my rearend for coil spring swapping and stuff like that. Unfortunately, the only rear discs that seem to work worth a flip are the Silvermine kit, but they require larger wheels than 15" and I've got several sets of 15" that I use and I don't want to replace them all (daily driver tires, drag wheels, autocross tires). As usual, Nissan did a pretty good job designing the brake system that they put into production 40 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racin_Jason Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Besides the disks being much easier to service, I also think the prices for the drum rebuilt pieces are ridiculous. The exaggerated charge for wheel cylinders alone was enough to make disks my choice for the rear. I'm still on the fence about doing 4x4 front calipers up front with the maxima rear swap. I think a good, rebuilt set of stock front brakes may balance well with the maxima rear single pistons. Balance is important for over all stop distance and I dont want to mess with a proportioning valve really. Opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihiryu Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 For me it's a maintenance thing. Looks are just an added bonus. WinstonUSMC: Do you have any pics of how you got it modified? Also what year did were the brackets you got? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3ryce Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I like the ease of maintenance, the e-brake working better is something I ilke as well and yes the looks ide say are a nice bonus. However I will most likey go with the MM kit. I found a link in one of the pinned threads. I know I could go with using yard parts, but I like the confort of knowing I have all new parts. Brakes are something im not going to cheap out on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) Besides the disks being much easier to service, I also think the prices for the drum rebuilt pieces are ridiculous. The exaggerated charge for wheel cylinders alone was enough to make disks my choice for the rear. Not positive but I think that you could swap the 240z backng plate for a 77-78 280Z backing plate and keep the drums, with wheel cylinders costing about $15 each. You'd have to pull the axles to get the plate off. Or you could swap the whole strut assembly and get stronger axles also. Might be worth considering with a V8, if you come across the parts. If you're running an R200, or plan to, it might also relieve the u-joint half-shaft binding problem. Edited March 3, 2013 by NewZed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racin_Jason Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 I already have an R200 with CVs. My struts are converted to coilovers also so no swapping for me. I'm still leaning towards rebuilt stock front 240Z calipers w/drilled solid rotors & some sort of maxima bracket w/280zx drilled rotors and caliper in the back. I am thinking this combo will be well balanced in stopping power front to back and not require a larger master cylinder. I havent bought anything yet though.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I have stock fronts and maxima rears. With proportion valve completely open the rears are still too weak to be "balanced." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rejracer Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 The 280zx rear caliper has a larger bore than the Maxima. If you notice the 240z has a larger diameter rotor than either the maxima or 280z. The 240z and maxima have the same bore of FRONT caliper. This means that even though they have roughly the same clamping force from the calipers, the 240z has more braking effort due to the larger rotor. If you are shooting for a balanced rear setup you would need to either enlarge the rear disk diameter or go with a larger piston in the caliper. Below are the stats for 240z/280zx/Maxima. 280zx rear bore size: 1.69". Rear rotor diameter is 10.15" Maxima rear bore size is 1.5". Rear rotor diameter is 10.15" 240 front 2.12" 10.67" 280zx front 2.38" 9.92" Maxima front 2.12. 9.83" I am currently running a stock master cylinder, stock fronts and 280zx rotor/caliper with maxima bracket. My brakes feel great. The reason for me upgrading at the time was aluminum rotors were not available, and some of the hardware was becoming scarce. Also the discs give more consistent brake force compared to a drum. I don't know why people look to the maxima or 240sx calipers, aside from they can. The calipers are simply too small to balance with stock front brakes. I had the fronts upgraded to the large 4x4 calipers, and I pulled them off. They were way too big in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racin_Jason Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Rejracer. That is exactly the setup I'm planning on so its good to hear that they work well for you. I've already bought the rebuilt 240z front calipers and now Im trying to source drilled rotors for reasonable prices. I'm still 'shopping' for the maxima rear brackets and the drilled 280zx rotors and 280zx calipers. As always, I'm still open to suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1ghtymaxXx Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 A bolt on solution is the following: RWD maxima brackets 82-83 280zx Rotor 82-83 280zx Caliper. The only difficult part is finding the RWD maxima brackets, just search the yards and be prepared to pull a stub axle. Can anyone confirm these parts all work together. And is there a spec somewhere for what machine work it takes to fit the fwd maxima brackets? Or if someone makes a bracket to fit the late ZX calipers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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