Is This Too Good To Be True?

[180 wanabe]

Came across this on the net

Big Brake Kit 350Z, G35 RACE 13" 4 piston Wilwood calipers

Would seem everything needed comes in the kit

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380275147966&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

If the postage cost is right then it would be about $1069 to Australia + im guessing another 10% as customs dutys? = $1175ish?

Given that a 2nd hand pair of brembos front and rear can go for close to 2k without discs.....

Problem of course is that unlike the brembos people are going to notice that these things arent stock.. which makes me wonder about mod plates/defects/insurance

Any ideas from you guys?

[g33k]

If i were you, i'd offer to buy them, on the condition that they declare the value as less than $1000 AUD - this way, there are no customs charges - most suppliers (especially eBay, don't care)

Convince them by stating that the ACTUAL value to THEM is less than that of the sale price, and therefore it mayn't be a false declaration.

As to the defect, i've never heard of anyone getting defected for brakes. Most cops don't even know what a V35 is, and even if they do, say it came with the car? shrug =/ - What is the argument? That it brakes better than stock? =/

You're allowed to replace brakes like for like.

As to insurance, notify them you've had a brake upgrade to IMPROVE performance, you may even get a discounted rate for safer brakes!!

** Just advice =) Im no lawyer, my father is.

[daisu]

Dept of transport has a mod code for brake system modifications. I don't see it being a problem.

If you are concerned about people noticing they aren't stock due to the visual appearance, just paint black over the wilwood logo.

[R3N]

will need to be engineered to be legal as they use dog bones

[PM-R33]

Just so you know the reason those are cheap is because they are the bottom of the range 4 piston Wilwood calipers.

Has been covered a few times in the past and I also went into detail regarding it in the Wilwood group buy thread.

[180 wanabe]

will need to be engineered to be legal as they use dog bones

WTF are dog bones? Sorry never heard that term used before

Just so you know the reason those are cheap is because they are the bottom of the range 4 piston Wilwood calipers.

Has been covered a few times in the past and I also went into detail regarding it in the Wilwood group buy thread.

"A lot of kits around (including some of the Wilwood kits) used their entry level cheap calipers. While they may look good in a picture (big and shiny), it is all the specifications of them that must be looked at"

To quote you directly "it is all the specifications of them that must be looked at" So lets compare them to my poverty spec single piston OEM nissan brakes?

The kit

ROTORS, 323mm diameter, 30mm thick curved vane directional, cross drilled "not a fan of cross drilled but for the price cant complain"

4 Piston caliper

OEM

Rotors, 296mm diameter, 24mm thick

Single piston caliper

As you can see spec wise this is quite an upgrade on my OEM brakes, cant see how these would not be as good if not better than the factory brembos on the 6 speed V35s/350Z

[omp]

Hey matey, the "dog bones" is the adaptor for the calipers to fit. They are the brackets that, in the picture are on the lower left under the discs.

I have heard that Wilwood aren't that great, I can't remember where I saw that though.

It could also be that these calipers could flex etc.

For a few hundred more you could get the Akebono kit from the states.

Also take into consideration, replacing bit's and pieces, what type of pad's are those discs easily available when it comes time to replace?

Edited March 4, 2011 by omp

[180 wanabe]

Hey pete where did you see this Akebono kit?

Oh I also asked about the replacement rotors/pads and got this reply

"The rotors are for the 350Z with Brembo Track brakes (324mm). The pad "D" number is D41.

We've been supplying Wilwood pads for the past 23 years. Pads are also available at most online high performance distributors like Jegs and Summit. Outside of the Wilwood pads, there are probably 10 other friction companies making pads for Wilwood calipers including Raybestos, Performance Friction, Porterfield, EBC, Padgit, Hawk, Ferodo, Carbotech, Finishline etc... There are literally hundreds of choices. Street pads are around $65 / axle set from us.

We can ship pads for $18 in future if you like."

Edited March 4, 2011 by 180 wanabe

[omp]

Seller on the G35driver forums.

He quoted me $395 for postage. I declined as you require spacer on V35 coupe wheels and I just got the blasted things. Not keen to use spacer as the wife uses it as a daily driver.

Brake Kit

I was going for the solid disc version.

Edited March 4, 2011 by omp

[180 wanabe]

Got to print out a template 2morow to see if the e-bay kit I found will fit my rims

Ill also do the template from that link you posted for the Akebono and see if they fit

price wise im going to be up for $1195 + the $395 postage... if I just go the fronts with blanks

The Akebono also use dog bones as well?

[180 wanabe]

Oh also I had some povo RDA slotted rotors fitted today as I was getting concered about the noise coming from the cracked rotor even when I was braking lightly. When I picked up the car I was told that my inner controll arm bushes were worn and needed to be replaced. I will be getting camber arms within the next 4 weeks, Im guessing that the new camber arms will replace the Control arm bushes as the camber arm is the control arm?

[R3N]

Yes the akebono kit uses dog bones as well on the fronts, rears are direct replacements. No, the LCA arms are different. Nissan do not sell the bushes as they only sell the arms seperately. Whiteline sell the replacement bushes but they need to be pressed in so you need to take them to a suspension place to do that

[PM-R33]

"A lot of kits around (including some of the Wilwood kits) used their entry level cheap calipers. While they may look good in a picture (big and shiny), it is all the specifications of them that must be looked at"

To quote you directly "it is all the specifications of them that must be looked at" So lets compare them to my poverty spec single piston OEM nissan brakes?

The kit

ROTORS, 323mm diameter, 30mm thick curved vane directional, cross drilled "not a fan of cross drilled but for the price cant complain"

4 Piston caliper

OEM

Rotors, 296mm diameter, 24mm thick

Single piston caliper

As you can see spec wise this is quite an upgrade on my OEM brakes, cant see how these would not be as good if not better than the factory brembos on the 6 speed V35s/350Z

Never said the rotors weren't good. Talking about the calipers. Also if you are going to qoute me, how about actally taking it in context. I was talking about the specifications of the calipers. What piston area do they use? Will it shift your brake bias forward or rear? Will the master cylinder need changing to better suit the new ratio? What is the area of the brake pad used in the caliper? Is half the face of the rotor actually not going to be used because the pads are small? These are the specifications and more that I was referring to. Not just listing the size of the rotors and therefore judging a kit on that.

They are the bottom of the range Wilwood calipers and are about 1/4 of the price of the billet superlite calipers that I did for the group buy. Plenty of info about them on the net and why they are cheap, please do your own research before trying to defend them just because you think you found a great deal. They are in no way better or as good as the Nissan used Brembo's on the R34 GTR/350Z/V35's.

Also your V35 use a single piston sliding caliper. Just because you hear "single piston" doesn't mean it is the same as a single piston Skyline rear caliper. Completely different.

At the end of the day, yes they will outperform your factory front brakes. Never said they wouldn't. However this is mainly due to the larger diameter and more importantly thicker rotor. If you know anything about braking it is all about heat transfer. The calipers are crap however, simple as that.

Also yes you will need an Engineer to check over them (mod plate/ safety cert etc). The brake lines supplied will not pass Australian specifications however if you are worried about that. So you will need custom ones made up (like I did for our group buy).

Not trying to put you off them at all, they are an OK buy. I just wanted to lay all the cards on the table. I spent quite a lot of time researching Wilwood brakes so know quite a bit about them hence my comment.

Here is a thread on basically the same kit but for a Skyline. Pay particular attention to Roy's comment:

The reason for my stay away comment, is Wilwood make calipers for many applications. Thats why they are great and so popular. But, that model of caliper is about the cheapest 4 piston caliper they make. These 4 pots are 30-50% of the price of the 4 pot caliper that you would generally be wanting in your kit. Effectively they are no different better then the std Nissan 4 pot caliper. You are basically changing calipers which is costing you money and limiting the range of pads you can run for no benefit

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/312532-wilwood-brake-kit/page__hl__wilwood

Cheers

Phil

[180 wanabe]

Never said the rotors weren't good. Talking about the calipers. Also if you are going to qoute me, how about actally taking it in context. I was talking about the specifications of the calipers. What piston area do they use? Will it shift your brake bias forward or rear? Will the master cylinder need changing to better suit the new ratio? What is the area of the brake pad used in the caliper? Is half the face of the rotor actually not going to be used because the pads are small? These are the specifications and more that I was referring to. Not just listing the size of the rotors and therefore judging a kit on that.

They are the bottom of the range Wilwood calipers and are about 1/4 of the price of the billet superlite calipers that I did for the group buy. Plenty of info about them on the net and why they are cheap, please do your own research before trying to defend them just because you think you found a great deal. They are in no way better or as good as the Nissan used Brembo's on the R34 GTR/350Z/V35's.

Also your V35 use a single piston sliding caliper. Just because you hear "single piston" doesn't mean it is the same as a single piston Skyline rear caliper. Completely different.

At the end of the day, yes they will outperform your factory front brakes. Never said they wouldn't. However this is mainly due to the larger diameter and more importantly thicker rotor. If you know anything about braking it is all about heat transfer. The calipers are crap however, simple as that.

Also yes you will need an Engineer to check over them (mod plate/ safety cert etc). The brake lines supplied will not pass Australian specifications however if you are worried about that. So you will need custom ones made up (like I did for our group buy).

Not trying to put you off them at all, they are an OK buy. I just wanted to lay all the cards on the table. I spent quite a lot of time researching Wilwood brakes so know quite a bit about them hence my comment.

Here is a thread on basically the same kit but for a Skyline. Pay particular attention to Roy's comment:

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/312532-wilwood-brake-kit/page__hl__wilwood

Cheers

Phil

Fair enough, I would have liked to have gone brembo all round but Im not having any luck finding anyone local whos offering a set or anyone in the states willing to post to aus

Might have to check out one of those web sites that acts as a broker as far as buying stuff over in the states and sending it over to australia

[omp]

Hey Stuart, check out zclub.com.au. There was a chap (from the Gold Coast) on there that had a set of Brembo's up for sale. They took him about 2 or 3 months I believe to sell. He had them up just before christmas and sold them a week or so ago. Unfortunately we get kicked in the arse with the big bills around this time, so I had to skip it, any other time of the year though.....

For shipping from USA to Australia, check out ebay motors. Find a wrecker who is willing to ship Australia, this is how I got my replacement inner door seal. I saw someone selling a door willing to ship to Aus. So I just asked the question and he had what I was after, so I now have the door seal on it's way His username is faziz98houston.