1/4" Aluminum Good Enough For Brake Brackets?

[black s13]

im starting to buy everything i need to put 3000gt rotors on my 240 with z32 calipers. the kit that ive found (ZTuner (http://www.ztuner.com/brakes.php)) is $350. im sure i can find rotors cheaper than that, and build my own brackets. i have quite a bit of 1/4" aluminum plating laying around, but i have no idea what kind of aluminum it is. it was harder to drill than a KA head, other than that i know nothing.

my question is, what are they chances of this thing heating up, and then just shearing off as soon as i slam on the brakes? im happy to save a few bucks, but not if im gonna risk having my front calipers fall off.

[black s13]

does anyone know what Rotora, or ZTuner, or Brembo uses for the brackets? is it steel or aluminum?

this stuff i have is pretty beefy, i think ill go ahead and try to break it, if i cant then ill use it.

[Jeff240sx]

does anyone know what Rotora, or ZTuner, or Brembo uses for the brackets? is it steel or aluminum?

this stuff i have is pretty beefy, i think ill go ahead and try to break it, if i cant then ill use it.

Aluminum isn't strong. It has a high conductivity, and absorbs a lot of heat. Upon absorption of heat, the metal will fatigue easier. Think about it. You're going to spend $350 or so on a brake kit, but cheap out of the piece that holds the damn caliper on? If that aluminum stresses, you will move the caliper out, or possibly out of alignment, rendering it mostly useless. This is the most important safety item in your car. And you are going to use what you have laying around, rather than getting steel, which if you had in the beginning, you wouldn't second guess and make this post.
-Jeff

[black s13]

alright then, ill find some 1/4" steel and make the brackets. those guys sell just the brackets for $150, id rather make them myself.

[Turbozx]

im starting to buy everything i need to put 3000gt rotors on my 240 with z32 calipers. the kit that ive found (ZTuner (http://www.ztuner.com/brakes.php)) is $350. im sure i can find rotors cheaper than that, and build my own brackets. i have quite a bit of 1/4" aluminum plating laying around, but i have no idea what kind of aluminum it is. it was harder to drill than a KA head, other than that i know nothing.

my question is, what are they chances of this thing heating up, and then just shearing off as soon as i slam on the brakes? im happy to save a few bucks, but not if im gonna risk having my front calipers fall off.

BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS CONVERSION!!! I will try to get my friend to repost the videos of his in car video footage when both his front rotors sheared going WOT into turn 2 at Laguna Seca. It was not a pretty site.

Here is a little background. My friend was one of the first ppl to upgrade his brakes with the 3000GT rotors on his Z32 NA. He had good success with the conversion when he used orginal OEM Mistubishi rotors. He did a couple of autocrosses and spirited street driving with no issues.

Then he and I went to a track day at Laguna Seca. He put on a brand new set of no name cheaper rotors. They actually looked very nice especially with their silver cad plating finish.

His driving partner did a session, but since it was her first time in his car, she drove probably at 5/10's. So in the next session, he is driving with his driving and his driving partner is in the passenger seat. He does a slow first lap and then takes off down the main straight to start his second lap. He comes into turn 2 which is at the end of long straight where he is going over 100 MPH and hits his brakes. You hear something in the video, but you see him running straight off the track into the runoff area and heading towards the tire walls. He uses his emergency brake and just is able to stop the car just a couple of feet before the wall.

When he gets back in the pits, we look at his brakes and both rotors are cleanly sheared off. I will try to find the pics that we took.

He later reverted back to OEM Mistu rotors and has never had a problem again.

Please make sure that you use quality rotors and make sure the brackets are absolutely straight such that caliper and rotors alignments are maintained.

I was never comfortable with this conversion, but it seems to work if everything is right. I may sound paranoid on this, but it scared the crap out of me when it happened.

Glenn

[Jeff240sx]

alright then, ill find some 1/4" steel and make the brackets. those guys sell just the brackets for $150, id rather make them myself.

Yea, there's nothing wrong with making brackets, it's very easy. Simple cutting and drilling. I'm all with TurboZX.. without brakes, you're dead. Its very simple, and not something to dick around with. If you think I came off hard in the first post, I'm sorry, just trying to stress the importance of brakes. My first upgrade to my car, knowing I would make it faster later, was brakes.
-Jeff

[Turbozx]

Ok, here is a link to the pictures of my friend's sheared rotors as well as the video of the incident.

http://www.zfilms.org/Stories/Z32/2002/OTC/Rotors/


Please be careful with this upgrade.

Glenn

[black s13]

thanks a lot guys, im gonna stop by the mitsu dealer today, see how much rotors cost.

jeff: it did seem a little harsh, but understandably so, you have a very valid point. i just cant justify $150 for 2 little pieces of steel.

[ryan hagen]

so are there any catchs to this, i think im gonna start looking for 3000gt rotors now, and adapters

[andrave]

catches?
if you don't get them installed perfectly, when you apply the brakes it will apply a sideways force to the rotors and they will end up like the ones on that video....
other than that? I dunno. that swap has been around forever, I remember a friend of mine with a Z telling me about it 4 years ago.

correct me if I'm wrong, the brackets you posted a link to (Z tuner) appear to just space out the stock 300zx brakes..

[black s13]

correct, the rotors are the same offset, so the caliper just moves outward (toward the front of the car) not to either side, like with the cobra conversion.

went by the dealer today, $112 a piece for the rotors, so its like $230 for rotors, and either $150, or some time for the brackets.

[ryan hagen]

catches as in haveing to run a spacer to clear wheels, i heard 15mm spacers are required, if there are certain year rotors to use etc, also 30mm calipers i assume u need?

[black s13]

yes, 30mm calipers, defenitly more clearance than is needed for normal Z32's. you cant put a specific spacer size on it though, it all depends on the wheels spoke design.

also it would seem pretty important to run iron calipers, people have complained of aluminum ones cracking 300zx rotors, and obviously the 3000gt rotors have a weak spot, i would defenitly use iron for these.

[ryan hagen]

how would a aluminum one crack a rotor but a cast iron one not crack a rotor? i saw that pic, the place that drilled it drilled basically a dotted line across a stress point.


i did a search and found a couple other threads on this and the one recomended 15mm spacers or thicker i think it said

[andrave]

well that would depend on what wheels you had..

[black s13]

just search for pretty much any thread on z32 conversions, they cover why aluminum will craxk the rotors, something about how it disipates the heat to quickly or something.

it really all depends or wheel design. my friend has 17x7 enkies, and has about 30mm of 300zx clearance, he could put like anyhting under them, but my 17x7 only clear z32's by like 5mm. same size wheel, same offset, just spoke design.

[ryan hagen]

oh i think they were refereing to stock z32 wheels......i went to options auto and there seems to be a differnece as they are listed different for power slot rotors, the years 90-93 and 94-96 and the fwd and awd are differnt??

[black s13]

they have to be VR4 rotors, not just 3000gt rotors. ill be getting one for a 94. just get them from the mitsu dealer, you know theyll be good, and not that expensive.

[ryan hagen]

i used power slot for the last few years, i ll get the 94 powerlsots for vr4, power slots are brembo blanks taht have been slotted, or at least my z32 ones were..thanks for the help... power slots are between 100-150 for the 3000gt from them