Altima Vented Rotors

[fj20spl311]

Hi gang, two things: I did no such modification or addition with different collars n such on the Toyota/Maxima set up using the maxima rotor... As far as I can tell, everything works fine. So, either the maxima disc does not require this, or I have a problem waiting to occur. I am not using the dust shield, but I don't think that would make any difference but it has been several years since I looked at one closely.
.

Changing the spacer moves the bearing out .120" (Mike, correct me if I am wrong), removing the shield gives you more than .120" additional clearance. The only problem with your set-up I foresee is too much heat on the ball joint boot. If your boots are holding up to the heat, then there is not a problem.

[mklotz70]

Thanks. You're more than welcome.

I just got off the phone with the laser cutter....the caliper spacer came in where I was hoping. I've submitted the art to get a quote on having the bearing spacer cnc'd, but I won't see that quote until next week I'm sure. Hopefully, it will come in at a reasonable price. If it does, I can set a final price for the kits and start looking for some pre-orders. If it's too high, I'll just plan on doing small batch runs manually. In fact, I was in the middle of making the bearing spacers when the quote came in from the cutters. When the call back with the final PO amount, I'll be placing an order for over $600 in parts(several projects). The reason I will do it manually if the cnc'd spacers are too high is because it would take a lot more pre-orders(longer to acquire) or I'd have to tie up way too much money on spec that the kits will sell. Anyway.....time to get back on the lathe.

[fixitman04]

out of curiosity how much is the caliper spacer?

rotors came this morning... they look great.... mailman made it known however that he hates the "if it fits...it ships" rule said the box was heavy!

[mklotz70]

LOL! I've sent out some boxes so heavy I almost felt bad about it. I used to take the heavy ones like that to the counter so I wouldn't crush anything in the drop box....but, the clerks are lazy...they don't like lifting them either, so they said it was fine to put in the drop box. They fall into a spring loaded hamper anyway.....but I always imagine crushing something when they drop. :O

I forgot to mention....the caliper spacers will be cut from 11ga, HRPO (hot rolled pickled and oiled) so they should look nicer than the ones I made by hand, but they'll be about .005" thinner than the 1/8" steel. Being thinner will reduce the wheel clearance by the .005". A sheet of 20lb copy/printer paper is about .004" for reference. Not much

[fixitman04]

i really did not think it was that heavy... i just sent a trd clutch assembly that was heavier the other day!

[mklotz70]

Projected turn around time on the spacers is about 2 weeks.

[Gregs672000]

Hi gang, two things: I did no such modification or addition with different collars n such on the Toyota/Maxima set up using the maxima rotor... As far as I can tell, everything works fine. So, either the maxima disc does not require this, or I have a problem waiting to occur. I am not using the dust shield, but I don't think that would make any difference but it has been several years since I looked at one closely.
.

Changing the spacer moves the bearing out .120" (Mike, correct me if I am wrong), removing the shield gives you more than .120" additional clearance. The only problem with your set-up I foresee is too much heat on the ball joint boot. If your boots are holding up to the heat, then there is not a problem.

Well, so far (2-3 yrs or more) there have been no issues with aggressive street driving. Thanks Phil.

[mklotz70]

Changing the spacer moves the bearing out .120" (Mike, correct me if I am wrong), removing the shield gives you more than .120" additional clearance. The only problem with your set-up I foresee is too much heat on the ball joint boot. If your boots are holding up to the heat, then there is not a problem.

Sorry fj20...must have missed this.......yes, that's about what it moves it out. The dust shield can stay in place. Shifty is running his. You just need to push them back a bit.


Gregs.....What year of Maxima for the rotor you used?

[Gregs672000]

'86-87 I think... I list it in the Toyota/Maxima brake mod thread...

[Gregs672000]

Opps, don't even know my own thread... Brake Mod; 4runner/Maxima. I not so brighty after 14hrs in the ER and a little RnR...

[mklotz70]

Here's a link to the 4Run/Max thread for those that want to check out the differences.... http://www.311s.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.ph ... r%2FMaxima" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"


Let me emphatically state up front that I am in no way trying to be confrontational about this in any way!!! I think they are both useable options depending on the owner's preferences....more on this later..... But, I thought, for the clarity of the reader, I'd help add some tangible information they could base their choice on. Hopefully, at least 4 people will decide to go with my offering so that I don't get stuck with modified rotors and machined parts! LOL!!! Anyway...... Greg ...feel free to copy any of this info to your thread if you'd like. I've actually got an idea for your mod, but I'll get to that later and on your thread

I just took a look the other thread and did a bit of research. I've got some other stuff I want to check later today, but I'll post this up while I'm here. Here's the comparisons of the 3 rotors involved in this discussion. I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this here or in his thread, but since he keeps referring to his mod in this thread, I thought I'd put it here for clarity in this thread. Shifty is looking to post a much more concise how-to article on this upgrade, so maybe this thread is a good place to make these comparisons.

The first one is the '87 Toyota 4Runner rotor used by Greg on his mod. This is only to reference the thickness(20mm). Nothing else about this rotor is applies to what we're looking at.




Next up is the '88 Maxima rotor that he used. It's 2mm thicker than the Toy rotor and he said that he had this rotor machined down to fit in the Toy caliper. 2mm is .0784"....we can round that to .080" since the .0016" difference is completely unnoticeable. For reference....a Post-It note is .004" thick. He also says he had the outer diameter machined down a bit too...more on that later, too. The center hole would need to be opened up....he said he used a grinder to clearance his. The other machining can be done on a brake lathe at a parts store, but opening up the center is just not possible since that's where it grabs it. If you don't like the grinder idea, you might as well have all the machining done elsewhere by a machine shop. The outer diameter is too small to be used with the Volvo caliper.




This is the Altima rotor. It's nearly identical to the Maxima rotor, except for the outer diameter. The .1mm difference in height is .00394"....again, back to the Post-It note This rotor could be used for the ToyMax mod, it would just require more of the diameter to be removed than with the Maxima's rotor. The center of this one needs to be opened up to fit the hub, just like the other one. Only difference there is that I opened the center hole up on the lathe to keep the tolerances tight. I'm not sure I'd trust the bolts to line it up concentrically, but I haven't looked at them closely to know that they won't. Opening up the center hole is the only mod needed to make this rotor work with the mod shown in the thread we're in.




I'll throw this up just so everyone is clear that the Altima rotor is the perfect diameter with the Volvo calipers. Hi Leigh(shifty)





I took a bunch of pics, had a fairly long paragraph written about the diameter comparisons.....but what I was coming up with just didn't make sense. Hard to tell in his pics but, as near as I can tell, the top hat on the Max rotor must be a smaller diameter than the Altima one. Since I don't have a Max rotor to measure, I can't shed any light on the differences in outer diameters between the two mods.



Okay.....someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but this is what I have so far. I think I'll do some mock-up today to check a couple of things bouncing around in my head right now.


Part/Mod....................(T)Toy/Max option................ vs. .........................................................(A)Altima option
Rotor...................(T)center bore, thickness, OD(to fit rims).........................................................(A)Center bore(modified rotors included)
Spindle................(T)No mod.....................................................................................................(A)Replace stock with new spacer(included)
Caliper bracket.......(T)Weld on new tabs, shape, drill/tap new holes(req's welder)(Align how?)..............(A)No mod, just use new spacer(included)
Caliper.................(T)No mod....................................................................................................(A)drill mounting holes to 1/2"(can be done with hand drill), must use manifold
Dust shield...........(T)Must remove..............................................................................................(A)can be used, just needs to be bent back a bit



There may be a couple more things, but I've already got about 4 hrs into this post! LOL!

Some of the things I'm going to look at today...hopefully........

Can the spindle spacer be avoided by simply cutting the thickness of the rotor down like is done in the Toy/Max option? Give up the dust shield and make a thicker caliper spacer? I think the Volvo caliper would still be the way to go since it doesn't require any bracket mods.

On the Toy/Max option.....I'm picturing an adapter plate in my head that would eliminate the need to weld/mod the caliper bracket. If the Altima rotor was used for the larger diameter, it would make the plate even easier to design. If there was another Toy caliper option that would fit the thicker rotor, you wouldn't have to machine thickness off a brand new rotor. Can thinner pads be found? This would allow an option using Toy calipers instead of Volvo. I have no clue what the potential benefits are of one over the other.....maybe someone else can add that info.

I just looked at Greg's thread again....it sounds like he only had the OD of the rotor turned down to make sure it fit his rims. I might have a Toy caliper laying around here, but I know I don't have a Volvo one. I wonder what the difference is in their height above the OD of the rotor. If the Toy rotor is shorter, then using it with the Max rotor should clear stock rims. The Toy calipers appear to have shorter cups/pistons...if you're looking at the edge of the rotor(thin edge), the Volvo appears to be wider than the Toy. Maybe someone can add that comparison as well.

If you have a welded, you can do the toy/max option cheaper. If you have to have that work done by a shop, they're probably going to be pretty similar.

Okay....time to hit the shop.

[fixitman04]

one thing to add to the altima option... the volvo calipers can be drilled between the pots to eliminate the need for the manifold.

[fj20spl311]

I'll throw this up just so everyone is clear that the Altima rotor is the perfect diameter with the Volvo calipers. Hi Leigh(shifty)

I must of got lucky in choosing that rotor.......NOT.....

A lot of hours were involved in choosing this rotor.....

And I am glad Mike is making a kit for those who would like them.....

Me, I am thinking about a GM caliper.

[mklotz70]

Phil....you're the originator of this version? I'm sure Leigh has told me before, but since I'm not a regular on here, it didn't sink in.

[fj20spl311]

Phil....you're the originator of this version? I'm sure Leigh has told me before, but since I'm not a regular on here, it didn't sink in.

Yes...

I never owned a car without some little personal touches...LOL

except my F250....still thinking were to cut.....