[clifton062]

this weekend i replaced the shoes on my rear drums, after taking them apart i realized i never want to have to do it again, i would much rather change pads than shoes, so i am thinking about doing a rear disk conversion.

i already looked at the process, take off the hub, put on the adaptor bracket, etc etc

the onyl question i have is running the brake line, how is it ran? new line and fittings or is it plug and play?

thanks

 

[IanH]

The conversion kit comes with a new SS flex line for the brake line.
didn't have any issues when i did mine.
Bought the whole kit, calipers, E brake lines and rotors from a member on the forums.
The seller had problem with the bolts holding on the caliper to the bracket.
Dont know why, but make sure you keep your old bolts or get the right threaded bolts of the correct grade. Turns out the bolts holding the brake back plate are the correct thread. I had spares so used them !!!
(Back plate/adapter plate attachment is 35 ft lbs;Caliper attachment 30 ft lbs.)

 

[jwin200sxlove]

well if u change them to disk breaks ive been told by my ASE certified teacher that you wont have as much stopping time compared to drum breaks ...drums breaks arent that hard to change once u get the hang of changing things. :givebeer:
thats just my 2cents worth

 

[avusilvia]

the problem with drums is they don't have the cooing efficiency of discs. they also aren't as simple to operate as discs are. drums have more moving parts. with crappy cooling comes ineffisient heat disapation and earlier brake fade. that's why many performance rotors are slotted and/or drilled. its all about heat,friction, and brake fade man. if drums were better you'd have drums on the front and discs on the rear.

 

[clifton062]

i was jsut mullin over the idea of doing a conversion. yeah i had trouble with it casue my adjuster arm some how came off on my way home from replacing the shoes, ended up having to do some metal work to get it looking like it did, now they work jsut fine, jsut got to bleed them soon cause they feeling alittle smooshy. i dunno it seemed like a lot of trouble to replace shoes than pads.....

 

[IanH]

I replaced mine because they developed a tick tick tick when braking....
The Nissan service writer said they would replace a whole list of part until it was fixed BUT they wouldn't guarantee it wouldn't come back again (this was at around 60,000 miles 6 yrs old.)
So off with the drums and on with the disks.
Nearly all the braking is on the front wheels because the FWD cars have 60% of weight up front and then the weight transfer effect.
So result is very little braking is done by rear brakes.
If you change the proportioning valve the disks then work as per the SE-R.

 

[clifton062]

yeah that ticking was probably the adjuster! those littte bastards gave me alot of trouble and that sounds like what would make the noise, anyways explain more about the porportioning valve, i get braking dynamics, just not how to adjust

 

[IanH]

Well its not adjustable per se as its built into the master cylinder.
I didn't change mine, some have, I purchased better disc pads that have more bite cold for both front and back.
You can use any master cylinder from a 4 wheel disc Sentra 200Sx Altima from the 90's
search here and there is a thread with pressures and master cylinder sizes pro's and cons...
Maybe in another sub section though... dont remember

 

[IanH]

i put my whole rear disc brake kit up for sale in the classifieds here and said act quick or it goes with the car.
no response so sold the car as is with the Rear disc brake kit.
If you buy the parts new its about $600
Look in the classified you might get lucky for 250 -300
Don't forget you need the E-brake cables (2) and the calipers and rotors on top of the fast brake adapter kit.

 

[IanH]

the fast brake kit was just under $200 new, and i believe they reduced the price, dont know if you can still get it though.

 

[GA16DE]

They raised the price from $230 to $300, and they still have it listed on their site.

 

[IanH]

Damm they got real proud of that !!!
Last i saw it was something like $190 and later reduced to $160 about 3 yrs ago !!

 

[GA16DE]

Haha, yeah. I think Greg can get them cheaper. Let me check.

EDIT: It's only $295, but he also can get the e-brake cables and maybe the others. Not sure on the SE-R calipers, but you can always check.

 

[avusilvia]

Ditch the dust guards/shields they're not worth the brake fade! Who needs clean wheels anyway? lol

 

[avusilvia]

Personally I'd go with the calier adapter then spend the weekend and bolt up a pair of NX caliupers. Its a well documented modification and is proven to work. Bigger calipers and rotors all the way around.

 

[avusilvia]

oh yeah use NX2000 discs and calipers I believe NX1600's are still disc up front and drum in rear(i.e. no difference)

 

[clifton062]

are there any size boosts in the NX master cynlinder, calipers, rotors, etc compared to the front oem gear on my 200sx se? casue i might jsut put my front discs(current oem 200sx) towards the rear and put NX calipers in the front and boost the mastercylinder. then i only have to buy one set of rotors and calipers, plus i could prolly get em from a junk yard. but i am sure this would be a rigging of a lifetime even with the fastbrakes kit

 

[avusilvia]

NX rotors and calipers w/ Maxima master cylinder I believe is the entire parts list for the swap. The maxima master cylinder is larger adn will help with a more solid pedal feel. They're also easier to find than NX2K master cylinders. You could always check the p[arts stores and sometimes junk yards have a list of inventory so calling them up and asking never hurts.

 

[sonicgundam]

Ditch the dust guards/shields they're not worth the brake fade! Who needs clean wheels anyway? lol

If anything those shields keep from dust related brake fade. brake fade do to HEAT does not happen with disc brakes, as rotors expand towards the pads, whereas drums expand away from the shoes.

as for losing the self engergizing action of the servo drums, thats what the metering valve is for. really its pointless for drums to appear on the rear after the introduction of the metering valve. delays the action of the front brakes until the rears have deployed.

 

[avusilvia]

then why is overheating pads and discs always associated with brake fade on discs? If the expanding thing is true then you'd be calling many magazines and forum posts false. the dust sheild simply keeps your wheels clean and free of brake dust longer. Maybe in some rare instances it directs airflow to the calipers and rotors more efficiently, but on a car like the 200sx and sentras Nissan wasn't concerned with high performance, just cheap effiecient commuting. other than keeping your wheels clean that they serve no purpose. keeping the brake dust on,between, or even near the pad is bad anyway. it decreases their effectiveness due to a lack of friction against the rotor and the dust act as a medium between the pad's surface and the disc's to attract and hold the ambient heat produced from the pad/disc friction. Like i said before, heat is the #1 enemy of braking systems and causes brake fade. Sorry for the physics lesson, that's just how I understand brake cooling and the principle of friction and its ambient heat.