These brackets will guarantee the proper fitment of Akebono calipers on your Maxima or Altima. Say goodbye to pad overhang and knocking off wheel weights when running your 18s!
The kits will be made out of 6061 high-strength aluminum. I am currently in talks with the machinist to see if I can do a separate run of steel brackets though. I was quoted $45 USD more (subject to change).
The aluminum kits will cost $225 plus shipping and PayPal fees. ($50.00 Deposit Required)
Important Note: These brackets for only for the front calipers. The rear Akebono calipers are plug-n-play but only for the 04+ Maximas/ 05+ SE-R Altimas.
Improvements (Over Previous Brackets):
Mounting holes to the knuckles have been shifted to the correct spots to fix the pad overhang problem.
A notch has been made to clear the curvature of the caliper as it was not allowing it to seat on the bracket properly.
The caliper mounting holes were oversized. This is also corrected.
Ok, so since this is something that’s becoming ever more popular, I decided to compile all of the information you need to upgrade the front brakes on your 5th gen to the 6th gen brakes with 12.6″ rotors…
First check your wheel clearance to make sure you have enough room for the brakes to fit. Measure from the center of your wheel to the inside of it, and if you don’t have at LEAST 7 5/8″ these brakes will not fit on your car…they do fit the 5.5 gen 17″ SE wheels like a glove, but they don’t fit with the 5.0 gen SE 17s…
f you do have enough clearance, the next step is to purchase what you need for the upgrade. Here are the things you need to get your hands on:
6th gen calipers (I bought mine from Dave B. for ~$60 each)
6th gen 12.6″ rotors (I bought mine from automax’s GD; brembo blanks for ~$100 shipped)
6th gen front brake pads (Also bought from automax’s GD; PBR metal masters for ~$50 shipped)
6th gen front brake shim kit (got mine from Dave B. I think for under $20)
Brake fluid of your choice
These are DIRECT BOLT-ON for ALL 5th gens (5.0 and 5.5 alike) but you can also opt to get Matt Blehm’s relocation bracket on the 5.0 gen (but not the 5.5 gen) and use your stock calipers.
Installation for me would have gone smooth if I had a right and a left caliper, but I accidentally got 2 left ones! DOH! Make sure when installing the calipers that the bleed screw is on TOP. (shown in the picture below.)
For me, the pedal feel was GREATLY improved (although this may be because I was running on my stock brakes at 50k). The pedal feels firm, and even after beating the sh!t out of my car at MSR during Maxus, I didn’t get an ounce of brake fade with my ATE Super Blue Dot 4 fluid.
I bed the brakes in just after installation and so far no abnormal noises or vibrations. There is great feedback from the brakes and they don’t seem to lock up under extreme braking as they did before.
From a performance point of view, I could not tell any difference in acceleration. These rotors did feel really heavy, but IIRC they are only 5 or 6 lbs. heavier than stock, which also felt really heavy, so it would be pretty hard to feel any adverse effects on acceleration.
As for the paint on my calipers, I used the G2 silver paint kit. I applied the paint only where you could see the caliper from the outside, and I applied 3 coats with much more paint to spare. The decals are just stick on (I put a couple of coats of clear over it just to make sure they would stay).
Any other useful information is welcome, as I believe this is all I have. Good luck to anyone that attempts it, and in my eyes, it was a very worthwhile mod.
My rear brake line on 4thgen Nissan Maxima had a pinch in it and caused a brake fluid leak. I was going to replace it with another stock line but ended up ordering stainless steel brake lines from eBay. You get all 4 brake lines shipped for $67 bucks which is a great deal. The quality is great and serves its purpose well. Shipping took about a week since it came from Canada. After installing, I performed the brake bleeding procedure. Took a quick drive I can feel better braking overall with these lines.
As for stopping power, it’s a hell of a lot better than stock. It’s a lot smoother and you can actually feel the brakes grip. There is a little roar when braking hard because of the slots and holes in the rotors rubbing on the pads.
Pedal feel is a little softer, but you get used to it. I went from a stock brake system of 4 pistons total in the calipers to 12 pistons. There is more fluid to push so yeah…. expect a softer pedal if you’re going to use the stock brake booster.
The new e-brake that has to be used with the 300zx rear brakes isn’t as good as our stock e-brake but works okay. The lever is a lot firmer and you really have to pull it up to hold the car on a hill.
Additional Info: You have to mill down the diameter of the rotor, not the friction surface. the same would go for 5th gen rotors.. just because they’re 26mm thick rotors doesn’t mean they bolt right on. you have to worry about offset from the hub and inner and outer friction surface diameter. thus you would be better off to just use 26mm 300ZX rotors and mill them down 3mm and call it a day if you want to go that way.
For all the setups you will need to remove the dust shield, Obtain hardware, and calipers and rotors must be for the same setup, either 26mm or 30mm. These parts are not interchangeable.
The inlet for the clutch line is a 1/8-27 non-inverted flare. So usual regular SS one-piece lines won’t work as-is. You’ll need a SS line made along with a 90-degree adapter. That is pretty easy to get made locally so you won’t have to use any special conversion adapters. Also, there is no need for slave cylinder rod spacers because this pushes plenty of fluid.
90-Degree Adapter with Custom One-Piece SS Line
Product Info
Wilwood’s Compact Combination Master Cylinders have been designed for limited space applications requiring the output capacity of a full size master cylinder. The ultra short 3.37”compact body provides 2.16” of additional clearance between the mounting flange and the fluid outlet. A full 1.12” of piston stroke meets or exceeds the stroke capacity of most full size cylinders. With 1/8” NPT fluid outlet port located at the top radius of the cylinder bore, reduces the chances for trapped air. Enhanced fluid inlet port allows mounting of the standard reservoir included in kit and also contain 11/16-20 internal threads for custom reservoir arrangements. The black E-Coated aluminum body resists corrosion and maintains a durable long lasting finish.
This is a 5thgen Nissan Maxima with EVO 8/9 Brembo calipers and Cobra Rotors.
Setup Details:
2003 Evo 8 4-Piston Brembo Calipers. Most members find these used on eBay or local junkyard.
You need Hub Centric Rings for this to work. They need to have an inner diameter of 66.1 mm and an outer diameter of 70.3 mm. You can order here. They cost $35.00.
2003 Cobra 13″ Hart Rotors (You can use any Mustang Cobra Rotors from 1994-2004). RotorPros has a good deal on these shipped. $120 Shipped
Power Stop Brake Pads
Custom Relocation Caliper Brackets ($175 — Contact @CGR for More Details)
Techna Steel Braided Brake Lines 6thgen for the fronts and 5.5th in the rear
Until someone can TRULY engineer perfect Akebono brackets that bolt on to front Altima with zero modding needed, I only recommend this to people who are mechanically inclined, are willing to DIY, and go through some trial and error and use your intuition. Z1 motorsports 300ZX Z32 to Akebono adapters totally work but only for the DIY-enthusiast willing to modify them and spend some hours in the garage. Caliper lugs have to be shortened 6.85 mm to almost flush with the bracket. Also sleeving 14 mm bolt hole for 12 mm bracket bolts. Plus grinding a recess in the bracket for CV joint clearance.
Z1 Motorsports Akebono Front Brake Bracket Kit (300ZX)
Description: The Z1 Motorsports Akebono Front Brake Brackets are intended to mount the Sport model, Akebono Brake Calipers from the ’09+ Nissan 370Z or ’08+ Infiniti G37 Sport onto your 300ZX.
Each Z1 Akebono Brake Bracket Kit includes two black, hard anodized aluminum front brackets and all necessary hardware to properly install the calipers onto your ’90-’96 Nissan 300ZX. Designed and tested extensively in house, these are the best brackets on the market with the most even pad sweep. Our unique single piece design also makes installation a breeze. In addition, the one piece bracket design also means our brackets are more rigid than other pieced together kits on the market. These brackets do not require any additional machining or modification of the caliper itself in order to complete the installation.
Installation & Write-up
Rear is perfect install on knuckle with NO ADAPTER needed. No fuss no muss. You need the rear 370Z akebono calipers, rear 370Z rotors (I got Centric 120.42101 blanks), rear 370Z pads (I got Carbotech 1521 pads), Altima Stainless Steel Lines and you must specify the Akebono banjo bolts for these lines!
Perfectly centered, no shims necessary.
All 4 brackets were spaced for rear. Returned them and bought the Z1 adapters.
Z1 300ZX Z32 to akebono adapters. Quality 1 piece design. Altima front mount is 14mm and 300ZX is 12mm so some modding will be needed.
Re-drilling and tapping from 12 mm to 14 mm requires precision fixturing for diameter control as well as perpendicularly to existing holes, something I can’t do at home. Therefore I’ll sleeve the knuckle lugs with 1 mm shim stock coiled into a split bushing to eliminate any slop when mounting the adapters with 12 mm.
Axial positioning of calipers is outward approximately 1/2 inch. The alignment would probably be right on if the adapter thickness positioned calipers at the original lug surface. I suspect the 300ZX knuckle had a different offset.
Caliper lugs have to be shortened 6.85 mm to almost flush with bracket. Some other people who had issues with mounting 300zx brackets said they needed a few washers to space out the bracket from the knuckle and shave the top crevice of the caliper for the rotor to spin free A few washers adds up to what I did. I ended up using two slightly thicker OEM caliper bolt washers (6.85 mm total) and it seems to provide perfect centering
Sleeving 14 mm bolt hole for 12 mm bracket bolts. Plus grinding a recess in bracket for CV joint clearance. Should fit even better
At the local fastener store and got automotive grade revised bolts (didn’t have the proper lengths on hand)
Some pad overhang is negligible and at the pad is at the OD where it belongs. Swept area doesn’t cover full rotor radial which must be by design and still has massive capacity that will not get hot unless you’re at the track.
For front rotors, I am using are Lancer EVO X Centric High Carbon rotors which are 13.78 inches instead of 370Z’s 14 inch. There was controversy that 370Z rotors wouldn’t fit so I got the Mitsubishi ones. Doesn’t matter, they are same thickness and everything just 0.2 inches less diameter – never gonna make a difference.
Finally got the fronts centered and mounted. Had a problem with bracket interfering with caliper reinforcing rib when torquing down final assembly and had to disassemble and do more minor bracket mods.
1) Loosen the lug nuts on the wheels corresponding to the brake pads you are planning to change.
2) Jack up the car (refer to How To for examples). Make sure you use wheel chocks and do not engage the emergency brakes.
4) Lay out your new brake pads (and new brake kit if you ordered a new brake kit. The brake kit includes new shims in case your old ones are cracked or worn. But, I’ve seen others’ who were cracked pretty bad. It’s up to you whether or not you want to pull things apart and discover things are cracked and then go get a set, or get it anyways. In my case, I could have stuck with the old set).
In this picture, the two pads are in the center of the picture, then going outwards, are the two shims that came with the aftermarket pads, then the two stock shims that come with the brake kit (or were there with the stock pads), and then the outside is the stock angular shim, and then finally, the small bracket that goes on the top of the pad assembly. I ended up using the aftermarket shim instead of the grilled stock shim. The aftermarket shim had adhesive on one side to stick to the back of the pads. (If your new brake pads only have one of the two pads with a wear indicator, put it on the inside of the caliper).
This is how your shims should look when assembled onto your new pads : Brake Pad Side (you can see the small ‘assembly’ bracket at the top of the pad backing)
Backside of brake pad, with shim, angled shim, and then the small ‘assembly’ bracket.
5) Remove the cap of your brake fluid reservoir off, and put some towels around it in case of overflow of brake fluid.
6) Turn the steering wheel so that the front of the brake caliper you are working on, is facing you as much as possible.
7) Remove the spring that hooks into the holes in the top and bottom pins. Use your fingers or a pair of needle nose pliers.
8) Using needle nose pliers, push from the inside on the pin and pull from the outside with your fingers. Remove the top pin. However, pull the pin out slowly and brace your fingers against the flat spring that will want to launch out at you.
9) Then remove the bottom pin and the metal spring will fall out easily.
10) Grip the brake pad backing and pull it out (this will remove the brake pad and all it’s shims). If it is tough to pull out, try wiggling it slowly by pulling a bit on the top part and then a bit on the bottom part. Remember to pull out both the inside pad and the outside pad on either side of the rotor.
11) When removing the pieces from your caliper, lay them down on the ground so that you will remember how they go back. Here’s a picture of what I did as an example.
This is what your caliper will look like with the pads out.
12) Now, if the old brake pads were quite worn, you will have difficulty in getting the new and THICKER brake pads back into that little space. This is where you’ll have to push back on the pistons to make room. And this is why you removed the cap of the reservoir in case a lot of brake fluid gets pushed back up the system and overflows your reservoir. See the picture below, the shiney part is the piston and surrounding it is the rubber dust boot. You want to make sure to NOT damage the rubber dust boot and just ‘squeeze’ the piston back into the caliper.
This is my favorite ‘persuader’ tool. Got me out of a fix when I once overtightened my oil filter.
You should put tape around the persuader, or put cloth against the caliper if you are afraid of damaging the finish on the caliper. Firmly and slowly squeeze the pistons back in. You’ll notice a see-sawing effect. As you squeeze one piston, the others will have a tendancy to come out a bit. But, just alternating squeezing the pistons will bring them all deep enough to fit in the new pads. Just go round and round squeezing the pistons until you have enough clearance.
13) Do a dry run but assembling the brake pads (WITHOUT greasing it yet), just to make sure you can fit both new brake pads in without any clearance problems.
14) Ok, if you’re sure that BOTH new brake pads will go in, start assembling the shims onto your brake pad and apply the anti-squeal grease on the shim. The grease stuff is pretty toxic, I always use latex gloves when working with this stuff.
Assembled and ready to go? Then drop them back in and just reverse the disassembly procedure. Put the pad assembly back in the caliper. Place the lower pin in first. Place the upper pin partially in, and then put the metal spring in place and tuck the top part of the metal spring underneath the top pin and push the top pin across completely. Insert the small spring on the inside of the caliper and hook the ends of the spring through the holes in the upper and lower pins. Put the wheels back on. Put the lug nuts back in. Lower the car back to the ground. re-torque your lug nuts to spec.
