G35 Sport Akebono Upgrade

Subscribe
Feb 10, 2012 | 03:05 AM
  #1  
I had a 03 g35 sedan with akebonos and I absolutely loved them, my new 07 has the sport brakes, 13" rotors front and back, and the rotors shutter really bad.

Is it worth repairing the existing brakes or going straight to Akebonos?

Why is there so many warping issues with the g35 sport brakes?

I have the sport 18s, if I install Akebonos, I just need to run 15mm spacers front right?

Anyone do a Sport brake to Akebono conversion? regrets? or recommendations?
Reply 0
Feb 10, 2012 | 03:17 AM
  #2  
The shuttering you have is a TSB. If you're still under warranty, send the car back to the dealership and get it fixed. They need to install back plates to stop the shaking.

You'll need to run spacers to fit them and get a G37 spare tire. Lots of people have done the swap and from what they say it's pretty good.
Reply 0
Feb 10, 2012 | 03:25 AM
  #3  
Quote: The shuttering you have is a TSB. If you're still under warranty, send the car back to the dealership and get it fixed. They need to install back plates to stop the shaking.

You'll need to run spacers to fit them and get a G37 spare tire. Lots of people have done the swap and from what they say it's pretty good.
Yeah no warranty here. I'm surprised the 18s will clear because I had a pair of 19" 370z wheels, and there was barely 1/4 of a inch between the caliper and wheel.

Do those shields really help that much in regards to the rotors warping? I mean I drove 10k miles on Akebonos with no dust shields whatsoever without any warping issues?
Reply 0
Feb 10, 2012 | 07:26 AM
  #4  
I think this is a case of YMMV.

I had the 13" sport brakes and never had warping issues with it, it was tracked, too.

I then swapped it for the Akebono's, didn't change the front shields but trimmed the back. It was also tracked a couple of times and have had no issues with it either.

Between the OEM 13s and the Akebono's, i honestly could not tell much of a performance difference except maybe in terms of thermal capacity. The Akebono's shone when i swapped the pads from OEM to Stoptech. But then again, you can likely say the same thing for the OEM 13s with better pads.

Try swapping the pads out first and turn the rotors. A lot of Nissan pads are known to be rather soft, depositing pad material onto the rotors which eventually translates to a vibrating feel when brakes are applied. This is a known Nissan problem from years past... not just the G.
Reply 0
Feb 10, 2012 | 01:14 PM
  #5  
^^ +1 , Mike's got it right!

The most common (real) reason for people replacing Sport brakes for Akebono's is for the bling factor. I am unconvinced that the splash shield is necessary to avoid judder. I think it's more of a band-aid approach to the problem of poor rotors and pads. IMHO, just replacing them with better quality pieces will eliminate judder and is FAR cheaper than paying for the whole BBK conversion. Unless you seriously track your car (and I do mean track! ... hard street and occasional autocross WILL NOT do it) and need the added heat capacity, the performance is virtually identical.
Reply 0
Feb 10, 2012 | 03:12 PM
  #6  
Quote: ^^ +1 , Mike's got it right!

The most common (real) reason for people replacing Sport brakes for Akebono's is for the bling factor. I am unconvinced that the splash shield is necessary to avoid judder. I think it's more of a band-aid approach to the problem of poor rotors and pads. IMHO, just replacing them with better quality pieces will eliminate judder and is FAR cheaper than paying for the whole BBK conversion. Unless you seriously track your car (and I do mean track! ... hard street and occasional autocross WILL NOT do it) and need the added heat capacity, the performance is virtually identical.
the oem pads are so lame even my local infiniti service dept uses aftermarket ones lol. Though that could be a trick to make more money, I just did them myself and got aftermarket rotors. Still happy with my ones from ocautosports and still no rust.
Reply 0
Feb 11, 2012 | 01:32 AM
  #7  
Weird stuff, I mean my brakes are horrible, could the calipers be seized or worn out on the sliders? I'm going to have to pop the wheels off and inspect exactly whats going on with my brakes, because they are definitely not performing up to standard.

I think I'm just going to do this; if the calipers still look ok, and aren't seized or worn out on the slider, I'm just gonne toss on new pads and rotors, I'll get aftermarket stuff, anyone suggest a best bang for the buck rotor / bad combo? I figure ebc greens with stoptech rotors? yey or nei?

If not Akebonos it is, I'll space the front with some extended studs/spacers, I've done it so many times on the V35s that I have it down to a 15min job a side lol.

Thanks for the input guys!
Reply 0
Feb 11, 2012 | 12:34 PM
  #8  
^^ You definitely want to check out your sliders. If they aren't working properly you'll definitely have issues regardless of which pads and rotors are used. I think StopTech rotors should be fine, but I don't think I'd recommend the Green Stuff for the pads since Green isn't recommended for heavier cars or cars with over 200hp (crank). These cars aren't exactly light and you've got more than 200hp (wheel), so perhaps you should consider Red Stuff instead.

.02
Reply 0
Feb 11, 2012 | 12:41 PM
  #9  
Its the poor quality OEM rotors and not the splash shields causing the warping, i had same issues on oem around 15k(or around) then swapped over to r1concept d/s rotors which are a better grade (think its 3500grade) with ceramic pads and have had 0 issues so far with about 50k on them and i never got the TSB done.
Reply 0
Feb 13, 2012 | 03:28 AM
  #10  
Had the same issue on both the Sport stock brakes as well as the Akebonos. Not sure if it's actual warpage or uneven pad deposits but either way they **** me off really bad. And now my Akebono's will squeak when braking slowly after the brakes heat up. I need new aftermarket pads to see if that solves both issues.
Reply 0
Feb 13, 2012 | 03:56 AM
  #11  
Quote: Had the same issue on both the Sport stock brakes as well as the Akebonos. Not sure if it's actual warpage or uneven pad deposits but either way they **** me off really bad. And now my Akebono's will squeak when braking slowly after the brakes heat up. I need new aftermarket pads to see if that solves both issues.
So, just to be clear, are you talking about using Akebono pads here on the early version sport brakes, or are you talking about the Akebono BBK setup ??
Reply 0
Feb 13, 2012 | 03:57 AM
  #12  
My Akebonos squeak like crazy when braking slowly too, but I thought it's because of the Ferodo DS2500 pads.
Reply 0
Feb 13, 2012 | 04:14 AM
  #13  
Quote: So, just to be clear, are you talking about using Akebono pads here on the early version sport brakes, or are you talking about the Akebono BBK setup ??

Akebono pads on Akebono calipers/rotors and stock Infiniti pads on Infiniti sport rotors/calipers.
Reply 0
Feb 13, 2012 | 11:40 AM
  #14  
Quote: Akebono pads on Akebono calipers/rotors and stock Infiniti pads on Infiniti sport rotors/calipers.
Well, that's the first I've heard of complaints about judder on the Akebono BBK brakes.
Reply 0
Feb 13, 2012 | 11:51 AM
  #15  
May have been due to uneven pad deposits, which is not uncommon even with the Akebonos.
Reply 0