disc brakes Help

[benrob]

hey im tryen to put disc brakes on my 72 521 these are the brackets that i bought and i thought that they were supposed to fit isuzu rodeo calapers. so i bought them and no such luck.Did they give me the wrong calapers or am i wrong about those calapers . . any help is much appreciated

Picture of brackets is my profile shot.

[benrob]

these are the brackets

[mrbigtanker]

who did you buy them from,are those the beebani ones and also can you put a bigger picture of them so we can help you better.

[xxmass]

east coast !

[flatcat19]

east coast !

 

The Red Sox suck!

 

 

Those do look like Bee's brackets.

Send the pic off ti him to verify...

He'll also be able to give you the exact specs.

 

Now you know that just the calipers will not bolt to the bracket, right?

You need the torque member/caliper bridge to bolt to that bracket.

[benrob]

i dont remember who i bought them from. i started this project 5 years ago and and am just getting bac to it now . for some reason this site wont let me post pics, ne one have a clue y, any way so i improvised and made it my profile picture.

[flatcat19]

If they are Bee's, the rear calipers and torque members are Isuzu.

The fronts are Isuzu rotors and Nissan Hardbody calipers and torque members.

 

Just remembered this as I took a quick peak at my parts collection

[benrob]

so can i get the torque memebers at like auto zone or something

[flatcat19]

You sure can.

They charge a core on them though.

But they are available.

[skyblue]

this how you post pics.

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/691-how-to-post-pictures-and-keep-online-photo-albums/

 

use photobucket.com.

[mrbigtanker]

this how you post pics.

http://community.rat...e-photo-albums/

 

use photobucket.com.

good find.

[nismo dr]

I think those are early versions of beebani's if so

 

The fronts use

Brake Calipers with rubber brake lines

- Maxima 1985-88

- Pickup 720/Hardbody 1983-97

- Stanza 1985-89 including wagon

280ZX master cylinder

2002 Isuzu Rodeo rotors

 

The rears use the rotors and calipers from an 88-91 Isuzu Trooper, 89-93 Amigo, or 88-95 Pickup

 

 

 

 

[benrob]

[benrob]

[benrob]

http://s1061.photobucket.com/albums/t464/benrob89/?action=view&current=VID_20120606_175736.mp4

 

should be the a video still tryen to figure this stuff out

[benrob]

so with this setup do you use a brake booster, if so what should i use or dose it matter . thanx again for all the help this site really makes this project alot easier

[Phixius]

dont need a booster, just the 280zx master 7/8 or 15/16.

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/20432-disc-brake-installed-on-a-drum-brake-truck/

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/10169-73-620-disc-brake-swap/

[flatcat19]

15/16" is damn near impossible to find.

 

Booster is not needed.

[benrob]

so i have a master cylinder and its a 15/16'' but i wana say its out of 240z that shouldn't madder should it?

[josh817]

15/16" master can be found for under $50 at O'Reilley's. I bought one for my Z when I went to bigger brakes. Do not use it if you are running a 521 though. It's a dual line master cylinder, a line for the front, a line for the back. It is a safer setup but you will have to redo all the metal brake lines on your truck.

 

 

I bought a new STOCK master from O'Reilleys and it works fine. You can certainly get MORE brakes using a bigger master but I didn't have the money at the time. The vehicle WILL stop WELL but you won't be able to lock the wheels up (or I can't at least with 205's). I now have a Wilwood 1" master, again a single line. The catch with it is that the line from the T junction mounted on the passenger side firewall, that goes to the master, the fitting on there is too short I think. When I initially installed the master, the line itself could still wiggle even though the fitting was tightened all the way down into the Wilwood unit. The 521 is a mixed year so you MAY have metric you may not. Mine doesn't have metric and therefore it is easy for me to get a 3ft section of metal line, with a longer fitting (single flare) to run from the Wilwood master to the splitter on the firewall.

 

 

I too have the Beebani setup, this is my invoice for all the parts I bought. Most of the stuff, if not all of it, came from Rockauto or ebay, whichever was cheaper.

 

Something to note; on the 2002 Honda rotors, make sure they are the type that have the six lug holes. There was another type that bolted to the back of the hub like a Z's stock front brakes. Either the ebay guy messed up or Honda had two different types of rotors so just be aware of that.

 

 

Front swap was easy. Take off hub, unbolt backplate, put on bracket. Make sure you use the proper washers because the holes in my bracket to mount onto the spindle where a bit bigger than the bolts. I didn't use a sufficient size washer and what would happen was the bracket would be able to move when under load. So I would reverse, step on brakes, hear a clunk. Then I would go forward, step on brakes, hear a clunk. Every time you changed direction it would clunk back and forth.

 

Also, the front brackets are pretty spot on when mounting to the caliper. It was a pain in the ass to line up both bolts and get them started without cross threading.

 

 

The rear brackets were more difficult if you didn't have access to a shop. I did all of this in the drive way with minimum tools and an air compressor so... it can be done! I had no desire to keep the old brake shit so I removed the axles and cut off the back plate. It's a tight fit for a cutoff wheel as you get closer to the axle/bearing. With a rag covering the bearing housing, I cut until I got about 3/4" from the housing. I then got a hammer and a chisel and worked the rest of the way. The back of the drum has a lot of shit going on, lots of obstacles. I chose the easiest location to make my first cut and as usual 180º on the other side, it was jammed with obstacles. Instead, I only went 60º over to make my next cut. You wind up removing a wedge piece of backplate and from there you can remove the rest by hand.

 

I installed the axles again. The bracket bolts onto three of the four bolts holding the axle. My axle was caked with A LOT of dirt. This prevented the bracket from sitting flat. Clean the surface of the area so the bracket will sit flat! My bracket MAY have been warped a little bit. I'm not going to shit on Beebani's work, no one said they're going to fit perfectly like a puzzle. Again, the bracket is pretty spot on when it mounts to the caliper. My bracket had the hole off every so slightly to where I couldn't get the bolt started into the caliper. I did a little filing and it fit well.

 

More things to consider; the drums may be stuck on your hubs pretty well. I beat mine with a hammer but just be conscious that you could crack bits of hub or fuck up lug threads that you may want to use. Also again, if your 521 has metric you are going to need to do something about the brake hoses to the calipers. Both front and rears on mine were SAE. If you have metric on your truck then you might as well go with the 15/16" Z master.

 

 

As for parking brake... hardware store. The angles for the cable to run are TERRIBLE when it comes to the caliper. Everything is nice and straight until you reach the axle. The parking brake lever on the caliper is on the opposite side of the axle, facing the rear of the truck. You have to somehow loop around the axle and into this bracket. When you remove the rear drums, remove the cable from there. Midway under the truck, the parking brake has a threaded rod with a channeled bit shaped like a U. That's for the cable to connect to one caliper, run through that channel, and to the other other caliper. This way it pulls both calipers evenly. The parking brake lever looks like this:

 

And this. The red circle in the picture below is the lever. The blue circle is the same bracket thing that is circle in red in the picture above:

 

Your cable will have to run in this funky direction. To the caliper, under the axle, through the bracket with the hole in it, and onto the lever:

 

Going under the axle keeps your cable from making that sharp angle to make the hole. Now, I must say this, I never use my parking brake. I only use it when I get inspected. The way I have mine hooked up, with the cable making a rather sharp turn into the bracket with the hole in it, without having it run through one of those channeled curves, I bet that will wear through the cable if used constantly. What do I do when I park? Leave it in gear, especially in the winter so your cable doesn't freeze with the parking brake engaged!

 

Alright so how did I attach it to the lever. The lever is, as you can see, to pieces of metal with a hole through them. I stuck a bolt through them and made a loop in my cable. I used the little cable crimp things and yes, you "need" a tool for that which I didn't have. I did however have chain cutters and a blunt chisel/drift and a hammer. Either way will work. Mine haven't slipped loose but I didn't really like that option anyway. There are these U shaped bolts with threaded ends that allow you to run the cable through and that tight the bolts down. I like that idea but I could see it slipping if you don't wrench them tight real well.

 

 

Another thing, front brake lines. It's a two piece line or whatever and its fucking long. You don't need all that length. I knew I had extra but didn't think it would be a problem. I soon find out that the line is rubbing on the lip of my rim. Just ever so softly laying on it but that was enough to wear a groove in the line. That could have been BAD news for me since I'm running a single reservoir master! I tiewrapped the excess line to the metal bracket line and then I added those spiral things that go around things like... yah brake lines. Save the trouble and go with stainless if you can find it but that may be expensive or difficult so save yourself from that mess and get the spiral things. Run them over your lines before you install them. And, try not to use plastic ones like I have because obviously those will wear just like rubber. So, get metal coils, and tiewrapped excess line. Even if the tiewrap breaks, the metal coils will save you from any sort of failure. I have new lines shipping as we speak because I don't want to risk anything. I will install them while doing my Wilwood master so I don't feel like I'm having to bleed my brakes because of a stupid mistake. If anyone knows where to get the metal coils, that would be cool, otherwise I will just use my plastic ones.

 

Here you can see the path of my line. I have that entire extra loop of excess line! And no, the hose isn't tugging on the metal line either! When you get your hoses, and you see its like two parts are whatever, you really only need one of the two parts (in length).

 

 

 

Lastly, this setup won't fit over 14" rims, and not even 15" rims for the front I don't think. I have 16" Xterra rims and the front brakes FILL the wheel; no more room! And as you can see above, if you use Xterra rims it would be wise to use a spacer too.

 

 

I had a lot of grief doing my brakes. Running low on money, time, and patience. The information was here but sometimes we can't all organize it together so you wind up running into one thread, reading what you think is all that needs to be done, go out and do it, run into problems, find another thread, etc. That's just the nature of the beast I suppose. I almost shat my pants when I read that I may have had to redo all the metal lines. I was ready to sell the stupid thing.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Edit, another note, get the 15/16" master with two separate reservoirs if you're going to go that route. There was a single reservoir type however it will not work unless if you redrill holes in your firewall! The single reservoir type has horizontal ears to bolt onto the firewall, the dual reservoir has vertical ears. You want vertical! Both have metric fittings by the way. It will not matter that it is from a Z other than the facts stated above. It is dual line, metric fittings, make sure its vertical ears, and since it was typically used with a brake booster, you may need the fork thing to connect it to the brake pedal. Wilwood master and stock master will bolt right up but they are single reservoir/single line setups so if you lose one caliper or line, you will lose it all. Then again, if you take care of your vehicle and check on her routinely that will most likely never happen.

 

Correct '79-'81 280ZX:

 

Incorrect '82-'83 280ZX master:

[benrob]

now why cant i run 2 separate lines from the master to the T bracket ? and leave the rest

[josh817]

The splitter is distributing all the fluid from the master. If you ran two lines from a master to the same splitter, you are essentially running a setup equivalent to a single line master. The fluid from two lines joins into one area and is distributed front and rear. So no matter if you have a leak at the front or rear, it is all coming from this junction, therefore it's like running a single line.

 

The stock T or splitter has 4 lines. One from the master, one that runs to the rear, and then one line for front right, one for front left.

 

If you were really wanting to use that master, you could run both lines to the junction, so you now have two lines going in from the master, one line comes out for the front, one line comes out for the back. In the back, on the axle, there is a T connection so the one line that comes from the firewall splits into two for each caliper. You could run another one of those on the firewall so the one line now coming from the splitter for the front brakes can be split for both wheels. The only catch here is making sure that splitter thing on the firewall doesn't have a check valve or something in it. If it is a simple junction with no sort of one way valve or something then you should be able to plug TWO lines in and have TWO lines out rather than the stock setup with ONE line in and THREE lines out.

 

Also, there may not be any check valves but I would look into whether or not the T connection in the rear or the splitter on the firewall has some sort of proportioning system bullshit thing going on inside of it. The truck was 4 wheel drums to begin with so I wouldn't think there is a stock proportioning system but be sure. If you find yourself a T junction from a 620 or 720 that had disk in the front and drums in the rear then I would make sure those don't have proportioning valves in them either.

 

Manual can be found here:

http://www.datsun510...is_and_Body.pdf

 

Again though, if your 521 is SAE, then you will need metric fittings on the master side, and SAE on the firewall splitter side. If your 521 is metric then have at it!

 

Stock:

What I was describing/what you may be wanting to do:

 

Again, this setup will not be any different than having a single line/reservoir however it sounds like you want to use what you have on hand. If you don't care about the safety benefit of having dual lines/reservoir then this will do just fine!

 

Lastly I might add, with my stock master and with the Wilwood, I don't run a proportioning valve or a residual pressure valve that I have read about. The car stops hard, the front end squats as expect, everything works properly.

 

 

I also forgot to add the picture of the slight misalignment of the holes on one of my calipers as I was discussing in the post before:

 

 

 

 

The splitter I am talking about;

[nismo dr]

you need to run new lines anyway, the 521 has sae brake hardware and the swap is of course all metric,plus of course, if yours is anything like mine was, as soon as you start opening up then system you will find that the 40 year old brake lines needed to be replaced anyway. I ran the rear channel to a t that hardbody's use with a flexible hose built in for rear end movement, and a 510 dist block for the front - easy peasy

[josh817]

This is where the confusion sets in.... When I ordered a "1971 521 master cylinder" it was SAE, all the year make model brake parts in my Excel file I posted are ALL SAE. You need to check to make sure you which one you are but in my case, and I'm not going to tell nismo dr that he is wrong, but MY 521 was SAE all around.

 

How will you tell which you have? Well if you order the same shit I did (if it were me, I would, knowing it worked for someone else it should work for me), then take on of your front brake hoses and try threading it onto your existing brake line. If it fits, you're all set up front, do the same for the rear. The parts from my part list, like I said for THOSE YEAR MAKE AND MODEL's are SAE. Period!

 

I will reiterate what the invoice says:

1989 rear caliper and hose from Isuzu Pickup (doesn't matter what engine) is SAE

1997 Nissan Pathfinder caliper and hose (doesn't matter what engine) is SAE

 

I cannot speak for any other years or models that were mentioned as an option to use.

 

 

And yes, the rear line coming from the firewall splitter to the rear axle, goes through a rubber line first and then the T junction like nismo dr said. I would actually like to replace mine for that matter!

 

 

 

To be even more clear, the 521, if SAE, should be 3/8" - 24 aka 3/8" fine thread. You could just find a 3/8" fine nut and and see if it threads onto your lines. I suspect that the earlier (if not all) 521's were SAE and the later ones were metric as Nissan transitioned over since the 620 is metric.

[flatcat19]

The brake hose fitting going into the Isuzu calipers and the hardbody calipers is a banjo fitting.

And that banjo is metric threaded.

 

Although Josh is giving solid info...

things are way easier that that, as NismoDr. states.

 

Plan on replacing your lines.

Don't hope they're solid, just replace them.

You will thank us after every rusted flare nut breaks off.

 

Buy a dual resivoir master.

79-81 280zx is the 15/16".

The theory is those Z's came 4 wheel disc already.

No proportioning valve headache.

Another member, socaldataun, used a 7/8" from an earlier Z and said his is solid.

 

There are 2 splitter/T valves you need to source.

Peek through socaldatsun's build for the Nissan part numbers I, NismoDr, and socaldatsun used.

One is NLA from the dealer, but can be had on eBay for about $10.

The other is plentiful from the dealer for $25.

 

Bulk 3/16" steel brake line and a handful of metric fittings can be had for less than $40 from many online retailers.

Buy yourself a decent flaring tool, and practice flaring. A lot!

 

Calipers, rotors, pads, hoses, and fluid.

 

It will not be a quick affair.

Have fun; take lots of pics.