The Brake still too weak. any suggestion ?

H

hangout

Member
Location
New York
Car
Infiniti Q70L
Hi, I have the 2007 FX35 sport pkg.

this is the second FX i have, I had a 2003 FX with sport pkg before.
I found the same issue on both fx,, the brake just too weak.

I just changed the drill/slot rotors with ceramic pad ,, also the stainless steel brake line,, front and rear.
but still don't improve that much, I only feel the brake power after a long travel from the brake pedal ( almost down to bottom )
is the FX in the luxury car category, so that Nissan don't design the strong brake to hurt the owner's neck?

since I changed the rotors and brake line already,, so, if I upgrade the pads again, any good idea about it?
Not thinking to do the BBK, too much money and too much work.

thank you
 
If your pedal travel is that long, something is wrong. Have them bleed the brakes again. Normal pedal feel should be very firm. Stopping distances are long because the brakes are the same size as G35 which is lighter car. But the pedal on my '07 was always rock solid with OEM brakes. It just took a while to stop. '07 brakes are bigger than '03 brakes (they use 2 piston caliper vs. 1 piston).

And brake lines won't reduce stopping distance, they may give you better pedal feel. Same w/ rotors, that will not decrease stopping distance. Only way to reduce stopping distance is more aggressive brake pads (higher friction coefficient), or bigger brakes.
 
Hangout have you acted on the suggestions in this thread or are you not understanding them? The most likely cause of your problem has already been stated here twice.

If you changed the brakes yourself I would strongly suggest taking it into a brake shop to be checked out. The obvious cause of your problem, as others have stated, is air in your lines. That you are still thinking it's your pads worries me that you won't act accordingly to correct the issue and you could likely put yourself and others at risk if you don't have it fixed correctly.
 
Tires and pads are the only thing that effect stopping distance. Maybe the pads have glazed over or coated with something foreign.

But maybe the braking is fine and you just have different expectations for the truck. After a day of driving a m3 around, I get back into my g35 and I think the brakes are weak. But nothing wrong with my brakes.
 
santiagodraco said:
Hangout have you acted on the suggestions in this thread or are you not understanding them? The most likely cause of your problem has already been stated here twice.

If you changed the brakes yourself I would strongly suggest taking it into a brake shop to be checked out. The obvious cause of your problem, as others have stated, is air in your lines. That you are still thinking it's your pads worries me that you won't act accordingly to correct the issue and you could likely put yourself and others at risk if you don't have it fixed correctly.
Click to expand...

if you really read my post before you give suggestion, then you should understand I changed full set rotors/brake line/pads
I don't think anyone can change the brake lines without pump the air out, also I saw how the mechanic did to the whole system.
GTR is the only car I never touch from Nissan, I think that I still know something about this brand.

As what I stated on the my post, i have two FX since 2003.
I read many post here, and also,the Consumer Report rated BLACK on FX's brake system.
Just want to find out if any new solution for the FX but nissan just don't care.

---------- Post added at 11:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:09 PM ----------
TurTLeG said:
Tires and pads are the only thing that effect stopping distance. Maybe the pads have glazed over or coated with something foreign.

But maybe the braking is fine and you just have different expectations for the truck. After a day of driving a m3 around, I get back into my g35 and I think the brakes are weak. But nothing wrong with my brakes.
Click to expand...

Totally understand what you are talking about. That's why I won't drive my Boxster and Fx within the same day, in case running the red light for no reason. :)

but, I did the same thing to my Sequoia, change the rotor/brake line/pads at the same time, the result is impressive, just like jumping from a Altima to a G coupe.
The Sequoia is much heavier than the FX,,,
Still don't understand why Nissan designed it so weak.
 
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You stated your pedal is going "down to the bottom" and is "weak". I think any sensible person would stop right there and determine the most likely cause is air in the lines OR some mechanical problem. You've still not said that you have gone back to re-check the install work.

If you can push the pedal down partially and feel normal pressure and the car does not want to stop then there is definitely an issue related to the installation or a faulty part.

The FX does not have weak brakes. Everything you are stating points to either air in the lines or a problem with the brake install.

I will also point out that drilled rotors will not stop as well as regular solid or aftermarket slotted rotors all else being equal. It's only a slight difference however.
 
shitty design all i can say. The only thing i would recommend is to get some better pads e.g. race pads. But be warned cold bite is horrible, makes shit load of noise, wears your rotors but all in all when it gets heated up it bites really good
 
You have problems bro.

You say your brakes are functioning as they should, yet you push the pedal almost all the way down and feel that the brakes are weak, sounds to me like something is wrong with them, because when I push my pedal anywhere near that far down, I would be triggering ABS and screeching to a halt. Then you try and bash Nissan for putting shitty brakes on your car, then you say how you have changed all these different pieces, and you are contemplating changing them around yet again because you STILL feel the braking is weak.

I don't know if you are stupid or trolling, but any sensible person would realize "HEY, maybe for all this money i'm throwing around on changing the parts around to stuff that makes little to no difference, I could just save a few hundred more and get a BBK."

The brakes on the FX aren't the greatest. I mean come on this thing is like 4100 pounds yet still uses the shittier version of the G35's brakes, but if you are so concerned upgrade to something that will actually make a difference, don't just keep changing pads around thinking your magically going to find a set of pads that gives you the performance of a BBK.
 
OP, your post is very vague. Is your complaint that the pedal travel is soft and too long? Or that stopping distances are too long? Or both?

If the pedal is soft, something is wrong. The FX normally has a very firm brake pedal so if the travel is long and mushy, you either have air in your lines, or your master cylinder is messed up.

If stopping distance is too long, that's just the FX. They use the same brakes as much smaller lighter cars (G35/350Z) without changes. So Nissan apparently deemed that sufficient, but many disagree.

Out of all the stuff you changed rotors/lines/pads the only thing that would have any impact on the braking is the pads. Rotors don't do anything for stopping power or distance and neither do lines. So if you swapped for the same pads or less aggressive pads, your distances could get worse.

And there is like a 20 ft. difference between 60-0 braking distance for an altima and a G. You're not going to get near that by swapping rotors/pads/lines. It's all in your head...

People are giving you advice, you're not taking it. You say your mechanic did it all right, how do you know? Lots of mechanics don't bleed brakes correctly. There's another post around here where a mechanic didn't even notice calipers installed on the wrong side of the car and couldn't understand why they wouldn't bleed. So either check yourself for the issues brought up, or just understand that the FX doesn't have great brakes. Nissan did do something about the brakes between your first FX and your 2nd. They increased the caliper size and rotor size, that is a significant change. The brakes aren't a lot better, but they are better. You not being happy with them isn't Nissan's fault. You didn't like the brakes on your first FX, then you bought another one and now you're complaining about the brakes? That could have been worked out on the test drive.
 
So what does your pedal feel like Stu? I'm curious if it's pedal travel or modulation that is the issue. Before I went to Akebono's, my brake pedal was rock hard. It felt like stepping on a brick, but modulation was minimal since I had no idea what the brakes were doing. I just had to stomp on the pedal to get the FX to stop. After the Akebono's, the pedal is a tiny bit softer (expected since more fluid movement) but modulation got way better. I could actually feel the brakes stopping harder if I pressed the pedal harder.
 
I would say it has good modulation but long travel. I remember reading something online about "race" brakes, and it sounded similar to mine in that it needed a longer travel to really get into the braking. Before I changed my brakes modulation was bad as was travel. There were a few "ok feel free to start grabbing soon" moments as I pressed the pedal further until it would eventually grab hard. I drove a G37 and noticed it had a super short pedal travel, like when you get new brakes and can't brake smoothly at first.

They worked fine yesterday both when some idiot in front of me decided to yield to the people had to yield to us so had to slow way down on the off ramp, and then when some crazy guy was just walking along the tollway and decided to walk across the exit ramp which is at the top of a hill so I didn't realize there was going to be a car stopped until I got close. It was bad enough that I called 911 to report, and the tollway authority said they were watching him on camera and he had taken the ramp. Surprised me since last I saw he was right on the line between travel lanes and exit ramp.
 
FX is a great vehicle, that's why I had a 2003 and also got a 2007 again.
without the brake issue, it's just a perfect toy for man.
 
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