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I'm thinking about upgrading my crappy standard 05 brakes to the OEM Brembos and was wondering if using remanufactured calipers is a good idea?
I often see sets of 4 used OEM Brembo calipers going for around 800-1000 on ebay. This is for calipers only, no pads or rotors. The condition varies but usually the powder coating looks pretty scratched up.
It seems like you can get remanufactured OEM Brembo calipers for ~150ea at a bunch of places online.
Yet, I can't find any info on people using remanufactured calipers...just people buying "used" calipers from the forums/ebay etc.
Aren't the remanufactured calipers actually better AND cheaper than random used calipers?
I bought a set of reman front calipers from NAPA online, and they were perfect, although unpainted. Paid ~$310 shipped IIRC, about a year ago. Rears are usually quite difficult to find, and you may order and then find out they're not actually in stock.
You also need all 4 new rotors, new bolts for the rear calipers, and pads/hardware/lines. Straight bolt-on, but you need to trim the rear dust shields for the rotors to fit.
For other cars (my old BMW's and Alfa's) I've bought rebuilt hydraulics and had sh!tty luck - master cylinders, mostly. Cheap seals, and often assembled improperly. Lesson learned. It's tough to screw up putting pistons in a caliper, but I'd still disassemble and check the seals and that they were properly installed and lubricated.
I bought a set of reman front calipers from NAPA online, and they were perfect, although unpainted. Paid ~$310 shipped IIRC, about a year ago. Rears are usually quite difficult to find, and you may order and then find out they're not actually in stock.
You also need all 4 new rotors, new bolts for the rear calipers, and pads/hardware/lines. Straight bolt-on, but you need to trim the rear dust shields for the rotors to fit.
For other cars (my old BMW's and Alfa's) I've bought rebuilt hydraulics and had sh!tty luck - master cylinders, mostly. Cheap seals, and often assembled improperly. Lesson learned. It's tough to screw up putting pistons in a caliper, but I'd still disassemble and check the seals and that they were properly installed and lubricated.
I randomly came across this guy that makes adapters to fit SRT8 6 pot brembos on the 350z. After looking up the cost to get all the parts i was surprised that with the adapters, 4 calipers, rotors (off a 370z sport model), pads, hardware etc it's only around 1500 bucks.
Swapping to 350z OEM Brembos with remanufactured calipers comes out to around 1k after you add in the other parts. It's be closer to 1500 if you go with "used" OEM Brembos instead of remanufactured ones.
It's good to know at least one person can confirm the remanufactured stuff works ok.
Last year sometime, there was a thread here where a guy said he bought reman Brembo's and they weren't genuine. Never posted any pics, and I don't believe that actually happened, but who knows? I can't imagine any company knocking off 350Z Brembo's, as there just isn't a big enough market for them. As an aside, here's what mine loo like after 3-layer powdercoating:
I randomly came across this guy that makes adapters to fit SRT8 6 pot brembos on the 350z. After looking up the cost to get all the parts i was surprised that with the adapters, 4 calipers, rotors (off a 370z sport model), pads, hardware etc it's only around 1500 bucks.
Swapping to 350z OEM Brembos with remanufactured calipers comes out to around 1k after you add in the other parts. It's be closer to 1500 if you go with "used" OEM Brembos instead of remanufactured ones.
It's good to know at least one person can confirm the remanufactured stuff works ok.
Yea but you have to grind parts off. Thats a no no for me. Rather spend the extra 500, than grind ANYTHING near my suspensions.
Good luck finding rear calipers. It took me over a year to find rebuilt rear calipers, and this is probably why you never hear of using rebuilt. Over all the rebuilt cost less than used(before painting) and are probably in better shape.
If you are willing to wait it probably the best choice but they will come unpainted, and it's mostly impossible to match the original color if you really want the gold.
Good luck finding rear calipers. It took me over a year to find rebuilt rear calipers, and this is probably why you never hear of using rebuilt. Over all the rebuilt cost less than used(before painting) and are probably in better shape.
If you are willing to wait it probably the best choice but they will come unpainted, and it's mostly impossible to match the original color if you really want the gold.
Yah if you want them to be powder coated that's another 60-100 per caliper? Not sure.
For me personally i don't care about the gold color, i might just end up putting a clear coat on the reman calipers for corrosion protection.
But I see what you mean about the rears, those seem to be out of stock every where. But i guess it all comes down to luck.
I'm in no hurry so i can piece the kit together slowly if i decide to go that route.
Powdercoating mine was $325, which included disassembly, stripping/bead blasting, the 3-layer powdercoat, and the logos, which are under the final clear coat. A single-stage powder on rebuilt calipers that didn't need to be stripped, might be $225 - $250. Of course, you could paint them for maybe $25 in supplies. Clear coat on stripped calipers probably wouldn't look very good, as stripped aluminum takes on a dull dark gray color.
It seems like they are the only guys with remans "in stock" and I use the term loosely. I just tried to order tires from onlinetires.com come to realize that some of their "in stock" inventory was not in stock.
Last edited by onebentvalve; 05-22-2016 at 02:09 PM.
The front calipers I received from A1 cardone are not true brembo calipers. They do not have the brembo logo or name in the casting. These might be the knockoffs someone was talking about. Not sure on the quality so if anyone has used them before I would love some feedback.
not my picture, but identical from ebay, also sold as A1 Cardone
Nissan stopped using brembo calipers because the generic ones perform just as good if not better than the early z/g with the brembos. And why people think they're 03' brembos that are 13 years old have a value as much as brand new akebono calipers directly from Nissan is beyond me. Smh
The front calipers I received from A1 cardone are not true brembo calipers. They do not have the brembo logo or name in the casting. Not sure on the quality so if anyone has used them before I would love some feedback.
not my picture, but identical from ebay, also sold as A1 Cardone
I don't know, but they look the same otherwise. Maybe they grind it off for some reason? Why not contact Cardone and ask? Here's what mine look like:
Nissan stopped using brembo calipers because the generic ones perform just as good if not better than the early z/g with the brembos. And why people think they're 03' brembos that are 13 years old have a value as much as brand new akebono calipers directly from Nissan is beyond me. Smh
No, they don't, and I upgraded from the later 2-piston front calipers on my car. After using the Brembo's for about a year, I had to put the original calipers back on for a month, while I was having my Brembo's powdercoated, and there was quite a noticeable difference in initial bite and overall performance and feel. In both cases I was using EBC Redstuff pads and Centric C-Tek rotors, so that really eliminates the other variables.
I'm only guessing, as are you, that Nissan didn't put Brembo's on all the Z's because the other calipers are less expensive, and they certainly work well enough for all but the most spirited street use. They're also easier to service and rebuild, and are probably quieter, too, especially when using cheap pads/rotors.
Nothing wrong with the Akebono's, except they're heavier, harder to get pads for, and don't clear a lot of wheels that the Brembo's will. Since they're heavier and use slightly larger rotors, that surely have a larger heat capacity, which may be useful in some cases.
Nissan stopped using brembo calipers because the generic ones perform just as good if not better than the early z/g with the brembos. And why people think they're 03' brembos that are 13 years old have a value as much as brand new akebono calipers directly from Nissan is beyond me. Smh
The akebono won't fit under my wheels otherwise I probably would have gotten them.
Originally Posted by dcains
I don't know, but they look the same otherwise. Maybe they grind it off for some reason? Why not contact Cardone and ask? Here's what mine look like:
I will, but even the casting pour points look to be different and the name doesn't look like it was ground off. You can still see the faint marks from the cutting of the pour points so I would think the grinding would show up.
05-12-2016, 09:30 PM
Remanufactured Brembo calipers?
