Question about brakes on 03 Nissan Maxima--factory vs. aftermarket?

Question

I've been told that if aftermarket brakes are used, the brake hardware kit must be removed b/c the aftermarket brakes won't fit otherwise.

One guy at nissan says the brakes will just be noisier w/ aftermarket brakes, thus the hardware kit is actually not needed.

Another guy says the brakes probably slide b/c the hardware kit is no longer there.

Any insight on experience with 03 nissan maxima brakes--factory vs. after market?

Answer 1

The other side. I throw away lots of pads with plenty of lining material left on them. I see lots of caliper hardware missing pad back shims left off and basically poor assembly practices. 2003 max has been out there long enough that aftermarket brake shops have seen them. So why do they leave off hard wear? I replace Nissan Brake pads rotors and resurface disks with an on car lathe every day. I never leave anything off and replace any worn springs clips and rubber pin boots and use several types of lubricants. Chances are the poorly assembled brakes will stop OK however the ones I see are making noise then I give the customer the bad news. I can redo the entire brake job with Nissan Pads and Hardware for another $200 to $600 dollars. "the bitter taste of low quality lasts long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten"

Answer 2

The guy at Nissan is just trying to scare you out of getting your Nisan serviced outside of the dealership. After all that's what Nissan's whole service and parts marketing campaign is based on. As a repair shop owner, I get the junk mail all the time with pictures of two identical parts: "Can you see the difference?... Well your genuine Nisan can tell the difference!"
I mean come on It's a brake pad! If it doesn't fit into the caliper hanger with the hardware in place, frankly someone looked up the wrong pads or is installing them incorrectly.

Brake pad technology is always improving and the aftermarket is on the cutting edge of that technology, I'm sure they can make them fit properly. You can buy ceramic pads to protect your precious alloys, you can buy pads with special coatings to improve break in and prevent noise, heck for a while they were using kevlar (that was stupid who's going to shoot your brakes), you can get them with or without shims...

Bottom line is, if you know how to install them correctly they will all give trouble free quiet braking, and lets all hope so because 90% of cars and trucks on the road are using aftermarket brakes. Often times the aftermarket parts will have improvements built in to correct problems that the OE manufacturer never adressed.

Ps. If your hardware kit is not there, you can get an aftermarket replacement for that too.

Answer 3

I recommend sticking with OEM caliper, use an good quality aftermarket rotor (such as a brembo OE replacement rotor) and a good quality aftermarket brake pad (such as hawk, ferrodo or carbotech)

There is no need to upgrade the factory brakes unless the motor is significantly modified.

Answer 4

It matters the 2008 Nissan Altima 2.5 S is newer but the base model. The 2006 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SL is older but its the SL. I would would take the 2006 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SL.