Brake Pad/rotor Question

[GTRgeoff]

Yeah, while I think DBA are just novelty BS and dislike their slotting concept and kangaroo paw garbage I guess they are about your only option as RDA don't yet have the larger (GTR/350Z) sized discs of 320mm. They will soon though. Either will be a bargain compared to standard discs and I doubt Nissan are actually paying Brembo for discs. They even used the Nissan standard manufacturer in Japan to cast the discs for the GTR34 Z tune so why bother for the tree fiddy.

The Racebrakes RB74's are a good road pad and perform well for me on track and don't tend to produce as much dust it seems as the Ferodos and Bendix, but that is pretty subjective and I'll accept if other disagree. They were coming in at about $170 for the front axle for Brembos last time I checked and I have no idea on the rears.

[SupaFly Skyline]

They make a loud grinding noise when you get on them hard, which is normal. To get rid of the squeak you need to bed them in hard from the start (do one 60kmh - 20km/h slow down to start, then stomp them hard from 100km/h+)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

done it, apparently light braking causes them to glaze a bit, got one more thing to try till i get quieter pads for the street

[LTSJayce]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. It looks like i'll be going with some DBA 4601's for the rotors at around $300 each... compared the the Brembo ones at $1200 each. Still not 100% sure one what I will be getting for the brake pads... suffice to say,  not the Nissan ones for $800

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Whilst I'd consider you're going backwards from Brembo's to DBA's,it's only a slight jump down(not much/if noticable at all performance loss)with a HUGE saving dollars wise.I know of a GTR with 6 spot AP Racing calipers and road legal floating rotors that would be a better dollar alternative to the genuine Brembos(only just-but IMHO a much better setup again)-although it may take some research to get them at the same dollars. If you've spent 75K on a track spec' 350Z,might as well save for the good gear rather than compromise...Just my 2c worth.

[GTRgeoff]

Whilst I'd consider you're going backwards from Brembo's to DBA's,it's only a slight jump down(not much/if noticable at all performance loss)with a HUGE saving dollars wise.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Err, you are talking about rotors, right?

[leech_]

Err, you are talking about rotors, right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well i havent heard of DBA making callipers so i am putting my money he is talking about the rotors

[Amaru]

The OEM Brembo rotors arnt that great, id say theres nothing in it between them and the DBA's (I had a set of genuine Brembos fitted to the front of the car when I picked it up).

DBA 4000 + RB74 pads will pull the car up better than the OEM stuff in my opinion

[LTSJayce]

Err, you are talking about rotors, right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yup!

[Contempt]

A quick cut-and-paste job from another forum I frequent:

First of all let me say thanks to nizmo pete for supplying the pads and rotors at an excellent price as well as helping out with finding a courier (I was quoted $800 from Australian air express Syd to Canberra) You're a legend Pete. Thanks heaps for the help.

...ok now onto the interesting bit:

I got my bits delivered today and as I was off sick anyway I thought I'd call the local brake specialists (ACT brakes) to book a time to have the brake pads and rotors installed. They then told me they had a quiet day and were free after 2pm. Long story short, they pulled the wheels off while I was off getting a coffee and when I got back they basically said, what the hell were Nissan talking about, I don't need new brake pads OR rotors and won't any time soon...

We got out the measuring stick and looked at the thickness of the new pads out of the box 9 millimetres and then looked at what was on the car 6 millimetres front, 7 millimetres back... you f'n what? Those bastards at the Phillip Nissan dealership were going to charge me $5800 when I didn't need either new pads or rotors. The front rotors were dicy wether they could be machined or not but it wasn't warped or aything so there was no need. There is no other way to put it, this was an incredibly blatant attempted screw job by the Nissan dealership!

I had to drop back into the dealership to give the details of my head unit as the cd player is playing up and skipping all the time and got to have a chat with the guy who told me that my brake pads and rotors were stuffed and I needed to replace them. As soon as he saw me he had that "oh **** here we go" look on his face, that pretty much says it all. Several notable things happened during the conversation:

- He admitted that when I told him that I was going to a brake specialist that he suspected I would be back for a chat.

- He said they don't even measure the brake pads when making their "recommendations"

- When I rolled my eyes at one of his answers he stepped out from behind the counter in got right in my face and told me that he wouldn't take that look from me, not sure if this was a lame attempt at intimidation or not.

- He told me that they weren't brake specialists and basically shrugged his shoulders as if to say, how would we know... gee who'd have thought that the mechanics at the dealership that took my $75,000 don't know something basic like the brakes on one of their own cars. (I wish i'd known that before handing over my money)

- Admitted that he too would be pretty pissed to find this out.

- Then he went on about a bunch of duty of care crap, which I would have actually bought if there was 3 or 4 mill left on the pads rather then two or three mills off the factory specs.

I'll definitely be taking this up with Nissan Australia. In the mean time i'll just go pack this $1700 worth or equipment I didn't need in the first place back up for if/when I actually need it.

P.S this really makes me wonder about that new clutch I "needed" to spend a grand on at the last service...

Edited October 18, 2005 by Contempt

[Contempt]

An update to the whole pathetic saga...

I just booked my car into the Nissan dealership at Woden A.C.T again for my 50k service on Friday.

For those that didn't read the thread the first time here's a quick recap: I booked the car in for it's 40k service and was told I needed new brake pads and rotors for my track spec Z front and back at $5800... yes that is correct $5800!!! Instead I purchased DBA rotors and the Brembo pads from Nismo Pete at about $1700 all up. This was $800 less then the dealership quoted for exactly the same kit BTW. Anyway long story short I dropped it off at a local brake specialist who called me back 15 minutes later and asked me why the hell I wanted to replace the brakepads and rotors as neither the front or rear were even 25% worn!!!

The fu#@ers at the Nissan dealership tried to rip me off for nearly $6000 worth or equipment I didn't need. I measured the brake pads which were 9mm stock, the fronts were 6mm and the rears were 7mm. Anyway hilarity ensued when I confronted them about this and for the best part of a year I have had $1700 worth of brakepads and rotors sitting in a cupboard. I was really pissed however I was so busy with work I didn't have time to make an official complaint to Nissan Australia.

Fast forward to Friday...

When I picked up the report for the 50k service and what do I see? This time they had the brake pad measurements for front and rear on the report 5mm front and 6mm back both less then half way worn after a further 10,000 k/m. And the guy who was doing the paperwork said that the pads were fine and would last at least another 10,000.

As luck would have it, the dickhead who told me to replace the aforementioned $5800 worth of kit just happened to be standing about 5 metres away with another customer. My response was about the same as what I imagine most people on here would have done, saying loudly in a customer filled room "Nearly 11,000km later and suddenly I don't need brake pads again, must be a bloody miracle!"

We then had another fun conversation and again only this time he lied to my bloody face!!! He said that they measured them last time and they didn't think they would make another 10,000km which is obviously an absolute lie as last time he pleaded ignorance and said they didn't measure them as I posted here before. The other lame excuse he came up with was saying that these pads are a lot thinner then usual pads and compared to them they looked low... well it's good to know that after spending $75,000 on a car that the dealership doesn't know the difference between a brembo pad and a $75 falcadore special. If in doubt try and charge the customer nearly $6000 for stuff he doesn't need.

and again mid conversation he said something to the tune of "you're not going to talk that way to me" and took a step towards me in the same lame attempt at intimidation as last time. He finished off by saying that he would have replaced the pads and the rotors. I had to stop myself from shitting myself laughing, he is saying to me with a straight face that he would spend nearly $6000 replacing brakes that after 40,000k were less then 30% worn. At this point I had to stop myself hitting the smug bastard so I said this is a conversation we probably shouldn't have and he walked off.

But it's a conversation that I damn well will be having with whoever the head customer service guy is for Nissan Australia. This scumbag just successfully reminded me how mad I am at these bastards for trying to rip me off.

Don't suppose anyone knows the details for whoever the head customer service guy for Nissan Australia is?

P.S Don't buy a car from the Nissan Woden Dealership, and if you have to take your car there for service then don't take the bastards word for it when they say you need to replace anything. Take it to someone who won't rip you off, somewhere that is NOT a Nissan dealership.

Edited May 20, 2006 by Contempt

[Mr Italy!]

Sneaky f**kers! You would think after buying a 75k car from them they'd take care of you...

I guess the mentality is "well, he spent 75k so there must be plenty more where that came from". Bastards.

[Duncan]

BTW funnily enough nissan were kind enough to call me before they changed the pads for me last service.....and at $500 for new fronts I told them I could probably find a better price somewhere....

but the but I didn't realise until later, they had charged me $15 for brake fluid that they had topped up.

The tossers knew the pads were low and filled up the brake fluid at their prices.....which of course is going to spill all over my engine bay when I put the new (thicker) front pads in.

nice one champs Always work with the specialists, right?