Q45 fronts, now what?

[sleepyS14se]

I have q45 front brakes installed (twin pistons). Since then i had a bad RR caliper so we replaced it and everything is bled out so there is no air in my lines or system. It seems like the brakes just arent AS strong as they should be. I am wondering if i was supposed to replace the BMC with one that is more directed to the use of the brake upgrade. My brakes work good just not like they should ( i think)

Can you guys suggest a BMC i should be using that I just do not know about.

TIA, i posted this once before and got no response. So just figured i would try again.

UPDATE ON PG 2:

03 altima rear rotors and z31 brackets installed and work perfect. check pg 2

[ultimateirving]

I got q45 calipers ready to go on too. I have heard upgrading to 1" z32 bmc helps with the sponginess. Does it go to the floor now or what?

[zerodameaon]

I have used Q45s on both my cars and have never had any issues. This is on stock BMC which is the perks of the Q45s over Z32s which require a change. Pedal is nice and firm.

What pads and rotors are you using? Are you using your 20yo rubber brake lines because that will make them feel like ass regardless of BMC. Does the braking force fade off or is it just not there at all?

[Wake]

I have Q45s on 3 cars and have NEVER touched my BMC

Never had any issues and 2 of 3 are daily driven. 1 with altima rotors and still no issues

[sleepyS14se]

I have used Q45s on both my cars and have never had any issues. This is on stock BMC which is the perks of the Q45s over Z32s which require a change. Pedal is nice and firm.

What pads and rotors are you using? Are you using your 20yo rubber brake lines because that will make them feel like ass regardless of BMC. Does the braking force fade off or is it just not there at all?

well i do not have sponginess. and my brake force doesn't fade off. It seems like i would have to realllllyy jump on the brakes to lock em up.

I am going to replace the lines with SS ones and try that


I am using::gives:
94 q45 twin piston calipers with matching brakcets
Centric OE pads
stock BMC
rear has new rotors and wagner brake pads.

[ultimateirving]

Did you change rotors? I thought you have to use Altima rotors as a minimum cuz the 240 weren't quite thick enough. That's what my research pointed to.

[zerodameaon]

Well you don't want them to lock up, what size tires are you running and how grippy are they. That will factor into how easy it is to lock it up.

[Wake]

wait are saying it "seems" like it would be hard? or it IS hard to lock em up.
cuz if we are talking hypothetically, your an idiot.

next time it rains or you4 on wet pavement stab your brakes with agood amount of force. they will lock up trust me

to the guy above me. WTF? you use q45 rotors drilled out to 4 lug. or altima rotors with shims. why would you even try to use your 240 rotor? defeats the purpuse of upgrading your brakes.

[Wake]

he obviously thinks he need to be able to lock up his fro94nts for some reason, but its not foinf what he wants on dry pavement. which it dounds like they are operating perfectly.

[97nismo]

When I had q45s they locked up on occasion with new tires and my sentra brembos with shitty tires lock up a lot .... For the money q45s are def the way to go

[zerodameaon]

Thats the thing you don't want them to lock up, its the same idea behind getting more grip in corners to go faster. And part of the reason why ABS was created.

[97nismo]

Yea nonabs car so....it can be scary at times especially when raining

[zooopreme]

Since we're on the topic of Q45 fronts, what pads and rotors are you guys using TODAY? I emphasized TODAY because Hawk no longer produces pads for 90-96 Q45 fronts. I also don't want to go with generic Autozone stuff.

[zerodameaon]

Akebono ProACTs AKACT486, decent but not as good as the Hawks(old stock) on my other car. I ordered them from Autopartswarehouse for about 50 bucks. I also got a free 5th pad for a 2005 Camry in the box.

[crunchy_g]

You mentioned you felt the brakes aren't "AS strong as they use to be". This could be a perception thing. You replaced the RR brake caliper. The LR brake caliper May be dragging, ESPECIALLY if its the original. It wouldn't hurt to replace the LR caliper & replace the stock rubber brake line hoses w/ Stainless steel brake lines. I have a S13 w/ remanufactured Q45 front calipers & brackets. Running front Q45 slotted/drilled rotors that I drilled to 4 bolt pattern. I'm also running stock BMC. Like stated above the stock BMC is fine for Q45 caliper/rotor/pad Upgrade. Hope u get it figured out.

[sleepyS14se]

Did you change rotors? I thought you have to use Altima rotors as a minimum cuz the 240 weren't quite thick enough. That's what my research pointed to.
First off no i re used the old q45 rotors that came with my conversion.Second off, you may need to re look up the whole q45 front brake install, you will notice info on the rotors you seem to be confused about lol.. :) my s14 (SE original 5lug) has 94 q45 front calipers/rotors/pads/caliper brackets. You use q45 rotors when doing this swap.

Well you don't want them to lock up, what size tires are you running and how grippy are they. That will factor into how easy it is to lock it up.

I am running g35 oem 19" rays engineering wheels 19x8 f and 19x8.5 R

225/40/19f these are in like new condition
245/40/19R these are balding from me blowing the tires off
wait are saying it "seems" like it would be hard? or it IS hard to lock em up.
cuz if we are talking hypothetically, your an idiot.

next time it rains or you4 on wet pavement stab your brakes with agood amount of force. they will lock up trust me

to the guy above me. WTF? you use q45 rotors drilled out to 4 lug. or altima rotors with shims. why would you even try to use your 240 rotor? defeats the purpuse of upgrading your brakes.

yes they will lock up if i made them. but i mean during normal city driving it just feels like it needs a smaller bore master cylinder. (keep in mind i am a newcomer from building hondas for the last 10 years...which on hondas changing the master cylinder to be appropriate to the front and or/rear brake upgrade you install.

he obviously thinks he need to be able to lock up his fro94nts for some reason, but its not foinf what he wants on dry pavement. which it dounds like they are operating perfectly.

i do not "want" to lock up but i felt like it needs more pressure sent to the calipers than it is receiving as of now.

You mentioned you felt the brakes aren't "AS strong as they use to be". This could be a perception thing. You replaced the RR brake caliper. The LR brake caliper May be dragging, ESPECIALLY if its the original. It wouldn't hurt to replace the LR caliper & replace the stock rubber brake line hoses w/ Stainless steel brake lines. I have a S13 w/ remanufactured Q45 front calipers & brackets. Running front Q45 slotted/drilled rotors that I drilled to 4 bolt pattern. I'm also running stock BMC. Like stated above the stock BMC is fine for Q45 caliper/rotor/pad Upgrade. Hope u get it figured out.

i have replaced the RF and the RR calipers so far because when i received my q45 set up it came with one bad caliper.

SO, with all this summed up.... I have installed rebuilt RF and RR caliper (the rr was leaking!!! wtf? lol) and as it stands right now i got the LF and the LR rebuilt calipers below my computer desk here at work waiting for me to come off the money so i can install them.

I also plan on installing SS all the way around.

[sleepyS14se]

i also would like to add, i guess i am just not used to the nissan brakes. I know i keep bringing up hondas but it's what i know best.

On a civic, lets say you remove the 9" front brakes and install 11.1" rotors and bigger single pot calipers, In that case you would remove the 13/16" and put a 1" BMC on to accomodate for the new brakes so the end result is a firmer pedal.

On my s14 my pedal isn't too responsive and its not too firm, it feels right. I honestly think i am just overthinking the situation. :hyper:


i think I should put the left side front and rear caliper on and do some SS lines at the same time and just go from there. :/

[zerodameaon]

IDK about hondas but this is not one so get rid of the smaller bore idea, if anything you would need a bigger BMC bore. EDIT: I see in your post above you are talking about going to a bigger BMC so which is it?

But that is the greatness with this swap you do not need to swap up to a bigger BMC because you are not using brakes with that much more surface area on the pots vs stock. They use two 42.8 mm pistons instead of one 54mm piston to increase clamping force, which yes is about 30mm bigger but its not the huge jump(3x as big as stock) which requires that larger BMC. Two Q45 calipers are about equal to one Z32 in terms of pot size. This swap is tried and true and if you're BMC is in good working order it does not need to be upgraded until you step up to Z32 territory.

[ultimateirving]

wait are saying it "seems" like it would be hard? or it IS hard to lock em up.
cuz if we are talking hypothetically, your an idiot.

next time it rains or you4 on wet pavement stab your brakes with agood amount of force. they will lock up trust me

to the guy above me. WTF? you use q45 rotors drilled out to 4 lug. or altima rotors with shims. why would you even try to use your 240 rotor? defeats the purpuse of upgrading your brakes.

Sorry my noobness I have the calipers waiting to go in. Just haven't gotten any rotors yet. And I should have said diameter. But I want to rebuild these calipers before I drop them in. Junkyard rubber tends to degrade fast in az

[Wake]

Yeah new ones usually arent very expansive. I would say $65 a caliper? you can always use those old ones as cores.
I always just bought everything new from a parts store and drilled the rotors out to 4lug myself. Bought a benchtop drill press specifically for it.

You can do the whole swap under $200 brand new, which is totally worth it in my opinion

[sleepyS14se]

the q45 brake swap is good. i was amazed by how tiny the little front stock s14 rotors were. Side by side it makes ya laugh lookin' at the little s14 oem rotors, they are so thin and have small diamater.


I found a guy who said he has the z31 caliper brackets so i would be able to do the altima rear rotors upgrade but i need some additional parts such as the z31 brackets.



From what i read it seems like the z32 brakes on the rear are too much BS with the drum style e brake...i would rather do the altima rear rotors w/oem calipers. this is just a street car so q45 fronts and the altima rear rotor upgrade would be ideal for me being i DD to and from work with my s14.

[97nismo]

I have the sentra brembos and altima rear and it stops with a very little front biased

[sleepyS14se]

sentra brembos? care to share more about this and how it is related to q45 fronts?

im in macon ga btw

[sleepyS14se]

i just ordered rear calipers WITH brackets for a 85-86 NA z31. I couldn't find just brackets anywhere, so here at the distribution center i work at i.....

ordered:
crb116251
crb116250

they are 85-86 rear calipers with mounting brackets.

I plan to remove the brackets and just use them with my s14 rear calipers paired with 03 altima rotors.

[sleepyS14se]

i received my 85 86 300zx rear calipers/brackets

so i also went ahead and got a pair of 03 altima rear rotors.
Going to grind on the brackets a tad before install, I will update and let everyone know how it goes.

[warnner]

What's better the 300zx or q45 brakes?

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

[zerodameaon]

That is a open ended question based on what you want.

You already started a thread about this, and were told to search, then posted in small questions. Pick one spot and stick with it instead of posting the same crap all over the forum. Again search and you will find your answer in a hell of a lot more detail than any of us are willing to post because it has already been covered in detail.

[onehundredoctane]

Q45s up front with Hawk HPS pads, stainless braided lines, Z31 rear caliper brackets, Hawk HPS pads, 2003 Altima rotors and braking will be very balanced! This will also make braking more predictable. I stopped locking up the fronts once I had all of these things done.

[sleepyS14se]

Q45s up front with Hawk HPS pads, stainless braided lines, Z31 rear caliper brackets, Hawk HPS pads, 2003 Altima rotors and braking will be very balanced! This will also make braking more predictable. I stopped locking up the fronts once I had all of these things done.



100octane, do i need to get anything else to do the conversion?

i got:
my 85 z31 brackets
03 altima rotors
new oem pads


anything else i need to get before i start? i am doing it tomorow.


it seems like with my q45 fronts and stock rears my bias is like 88 front 12 rear

[beauwalnut]

Hawk doesn't make pads for 95 q45's any more. I saw someone said they are using Akebono ProACTs. I wonder if q45's with Akebono's are much of an upgrade from stock w/ Hawk hps or hpPlus. With my stock 14's calipers and HP Plus' pads I could stop on a dime but I had to replace them after 3 or 4 months of daily driving, they were noisy as a rusty Amtrak and my rims always looked like shit. Right now I have HPS pads and they are just OK. Waaay better than OEM replacements but I would not take them on a track. Without hawk pads I really wonder if a q45 upgrade is worth the trouble.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

[onehundredoctane]

100octane, do i need to get anything else to do the conversion?

i got:
my 85 z31 brackets
03 altima rotors
new oem pads


anything else i need to get before i start? i am doing it tomorow.


it seems like with my q45 fronts and stock rears my bias is like 88 front 12 rear

That's all you need! It's all very straight forward, it's almost weird how all those parts work together!


Hawk doesn't make pads for 95 q45's any more. I saw someone said they are using Akebono ProACTs. I wonder if q45's with Akebono's are much of an upgrade from stock w/ Hawk hps or hpPlus. With my stock 14's calipers and HP Plus' pads I could stop on a dime but I had to replace them after 3 or 4 months of daily driving, they were noisy as a rusty Amtrak and my rims always looked like shit. Right now I have HPS pads and they are just OK. Waaay better than OEM replacements but I would not take them on a track. Without hawk pads I really wonder if a q45 upgrade is worth the trouble.

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Mine were 2001 Q45, so that may be the reason I actually found them.

[zerodameaon]

Hawk doesn't make pads for 95 q45's any more. I saw someone said they are using Akebono ProACTs. I wonder if q45's with Akebono's are much of an upgrade from stock w/ Hawk hps or hpPlus. With my stock 14's calipers and HP Plus' pads I could stop on a dime but I had to replace them after 3 or 4 months of daily driving, they were noisy as a rusty Amtrak and my rims always looked like shit. Right now I have HPS pads and they are just OK. Waaay better than OEM replacements but I would not take them on a track. Without hawk pads I really wonder if a q45 upgrade is worth the trouble.


Its very much worth the trouble, which there is no trouble because its just as simple as replacing stock calipers. The rotors are bigger needing much less bite to achieve the same stopping force as the smaller stock rotors due to the way physics and leverage work. Next is heat, your thinner stock rotors are going to retain a lot more heat causing brake fade. There are better pads than the Akebonos like Axxis Ultimate pads but for a street car the ProActs are plenty, they last a long time and make no noise plus stop the car on a dime.


Mine were 2001 Q45, so that may be the reason I actually found them.

That's the reason you were able to buy them. They stopped making them for the standard bolt on years which was up to 1996 Q45s.

[beauwalnut]

Its very much worth the trouble, .... There are better pads than the Akebonos like Axxis Ultimate pads but for a street car the ProActs are plenty, they last a long time and make no noise plus stop the car on a dime.

You are saying the axxis ultimates are silent or just the akebonos?

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[zerodameaon]

Just the Akebono, I have only had experience with one car with the Axxis and you could not hear them over the straight pipe V8 so IDK.

[sleepyS14se]

i will be installing the altima rotors and z31 brackets today. I was busy doing my "thing" with our 96 civic hatchback. I am a honda guy at heart and do some amazing builds on hondas and unfortunately my honda crap eats up my spare time needed to do some small things to the s14...

also got a corbeau brand racing seat with pyrotect 3" harness but cannot figure out how to do the seat belts. ( i got the seat and 500$ for a beat down s13 hatch i sold)

[onehundredoctane]

I am a honda guy at heart and do some amazing builds on hondas and unfortunately my honda crap eats up my spare time

http://25.media.tumblr.com/5a5ff373b8cf61021f6f7b3b8d243e22/tumblr_mv0ptaaDjh1s2xw7yo1_500.gif

[sleepyS14se]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/5a5ff373b8cf61021f6f7b3b8d243e22/tumblr_mv0ptaaDjh1s2xw7yo1_500.gif



ROFL!!!!!!:wackit:

dont hate me for my love of hondas! i have been building them for years!!! LOL


i am excited about doing the rear brakes today...

hey 100octane.... i am running g35 19" rays and it seems like my ebrake just wont lock em up good when trying to initiate drift. My s14 was a auto for its first 257k miles... so my ebrake is SUPER tight like maybe 3 or 4 clicks and it is very tight... so i know my cables are good.

will this brake upgrade help with locking up the rears when you yank the ebrake. I wish there were more local s chassis people near me who could give me some pointers on how to control my s14 during drifting because i am all over the place lol like a drunk driver.

[onehundredoctane]

hey 100octane.... i am running g35 19" rays and it seems like my ebrake just wont lock em up good when trying to initiate drift. My s14 was a auto for its first 257k miles... so my ebrake is SUPER tight like maybe 3 or 4 clicks and it is very tight... so i know my cables are good.

will this brake upgrade help with locking up the rears when you yank the ebrake. I wish there were more local s chassis people near me who could give me some pointers on how to control my s14 during drifting because i am all over the place lol like a drunk driver.

I'm just giving you shit man, it's required hazing when a Honda guy comes into the Nissan world. I got the same when I ditched my H22 Accord and got and S13 back in the early 2000's.

As far as your ebrake. . . you might want to check and see if you need to adjust the ebrake handle.

[beauwalnut]

19's are kinda big. Try some smaller wheels. I have a hunch that will fix it.

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[sleepyS14se]

I'm just giving you shit man, it's required hazing when a Honda guy comes into the Nissan world. I got the same when I ditched my H22 Accord and got and S13 back in the early 2000's.

As far as your ebrake. . . you might want to check and see if you need to adjust the ebrake handle.

I have been building h22's forever it seems. i put them in everything (civics accords preludes tegs ETC)
i currently have 6 hondas and 2 s14s lol

[sleepyS14se]

I'm just giving you shit man, it's required hazing when a Honda guy comes into the Nissan world. I got the same when I ditched my H22 Accord and got and S13 back in the early 2000's.

As far as your ebrake. . . you might want to check and see if you need to adjust the ebrake handle.

adjust it? how?

and being my ebrake seems like it was never used until i owned it and did the 5spd swap i feel like my ebrake cables have got to be ok and should need no adjusting.

[onehundredoctane]

Not sure if you've mentioned it or not, is this an S13 or S14?

[sleepyS14se]

Not sure if you've mentioned it or not, is this an S13 or S14?



95 s14 <-- it is a se model and it is pearl white with green fenders...and yeah..lol:goyou:




bored at work....mondays suck

[onehundredoctane]

When you pull up the e-brake, look down under the e-brake handle and there is a hole in the plastic where you can tighten it. It's been forever since I had to do it, but it should be a 10mm or 12mm.

[sleepyS14se]

it should be within spec being the car was an auto and the ebrake feels like new when u pull it.

[onehundredoctane]

I'm confused, I thought you were asking how to adjust your ebrake. . . ? Were you asking if this would help lock up the rears more easily?

[sleepyS14se]

yeah i am trying to figure out why my rears are so hard/almost impossible to lock up.

my ebrake feels super tight like a new car would feel cause my car was a auto and i am guessing no one ever used it being it only goes 3 or 4 clicks and it is tight as hell.

[sleepyS14se]

UPDATE:

I INSTALLED:

03 altima rear rotors
z31 86' 300zx rear caliper brackets.

everything lined up perfect and it works perfect, no problems whatsoever.
Ebrake brackets cleared the end links(actually not even close to hitting)


So for future reference. z31 (86 specifically is what i used) and 03 altima rotors are a direct fit and work flawlessly.

[Chronicle]

UPDATE:

I INSTALLED:

03 altima rear rotors
z31 86' 300zx rear caliper brackets.

everything lined up perfect and it works perfect, no problems whatsoever.
Ebrake brackets cleared the end links(actually not even close to hitting)


So for future reference. z31 (86 specifically is what i used) and 03 altima rotors are a direct fit and work flawlessly.

Thank you for actually posting the part and year of what you used. This post is now bookmarked for future reference.

[sleepyS14se]

yes with the 86 model 300zx rear brackets and 03 altima rotors i had no issued at all. Fits perfect and works even better.

The OEM 240sx bolts that holds the bracket to the knuckle is about 5mm too long so i used a flat washer on each bolt so it didnt go in too far. The oem 240 bolts with no washer Will hit the rotor.

[rabbitph]

I have been rocking q45s in the front with the oem s13 BMC. Will be up for sale in a couple days when I get images. Im going with z32 calipers and z32 bmc w/ new lines. pm me if anyone is interested ahead of time.

[sleepyS14se]

:coold:<--- me driving using q45 fronts and altima rears

[Chrifstine]

Does it go to the floor now or what?http://www.pczuha.com/9.jpg

[sleepyS14se]

???
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