If you are looking to replace the Axles on your 2009-2015 7thgen Maxima, the A1 Cardone brand is a very good option and alternative to OEM. All owners that have installed A1 Cardone axles confirmed they DO NOT have any vibrations when driving at highway speeds. In fact, many couldn’t tell the difference between OEM.
Order Link:https://www.ebay.com/itm/303897376210(A fellow member confirmed these are Cardone) Additional Note: If you are in Canada, you can order Cardone Axles from partsavatar.ca Price: $319.41 Shipped (Includes both Driver and Passenger Side Axles)
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.
6gen brakes swap into 4th gen Maxima that clear 16in rims
I’ve seen plenty of 6th gen brake swaps into 4th/5th gens but I’ve never seen them modified to clear 16in rims.
I have 16s, spring and stuts, I plow through potholes in NYC, I’m never going to drive low and SLOW and avoid all potholes like some others with huge rims and lowered cars. With that being said, I needed bigger brakes to help me SLOW down better.
I already had 11″ 2000 Max rotors and 4 piston wilwood dynalite calipers. Good for 60-0mph stops, but doesn’t fare too well with repeated high speed braking (100mph+). So back to the drawing board I went – The result is this thread
Old brake setup: 2000 Maxima(thicker than 95-99) 11″ rotor with Dynalite 4-piston Wilwoods
they clear 15s with no problem!
OLD setup vs New (11″ rotor vs 12.6″ rotor)
Here’s where the fun begins:
To put 6th gen brakes into a 4th gen you need to enlarge the caliper mounting holes on the spindles.
Stock is 12mm
Need to enlarge holes to 14mm
So I got spare spindles, drilled them out, replaced wheel bearings, and cut off the heat/splash shields to clear bigger rotor. I mounted the 6gen rotor and caliper to spindle with a wheel spacer to hold it in and test the fitment on 16s.
It didn’t fit so time to bring out the grinder! I grinded off the following parts of the caliper:
And then grinded some more and some more…
And then test fit it…
And got it down to this…
Once it cleared without issues I painted them
Old SS brake lines were all nasty and weathered so: New Goodridge SS brake lines
I did not need to use wheel spacers – they fit under the rims SO TIIIIIIIIIGHT!!! I love it!!!
Braking is greatly improved. Had this setup since the end of summer and no rubbing, no issues just good brakes.
How do they compare to the wilwoods?
The wilwoods did have a better initial bite (4 piston clamp vs 1 piston) but when you step on the 6gens they just hold and hold like no tomorrow. Wilwoods would hold until a certain point and then start slipping (rotors gets hot)
For a typical drive around there’s no difference in braking 50-0, but when you push the car hard repeatedly, or braking from high speeds – they perform very well.
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.
