# What's up with B14 brakes?



## GA200 (Feb 3, 2003)

I did a search and didn't find a whole lot of info on this. Are B14's cursed with horrible brakes? I don't mean horrible in terms of performance but they are by far the noisiest brakes of any car I've owned. I checked the pad life on the fronts and it has over 60% life left but the thing makes a nasty loud squeak on occasion. The rear drums make an awful thumping sound when I try to slow the car down. It'll thump louder if I go faster and brake. Is anyone else experiencing this? If so what did you end up doing to fix this problem.

Thanks in advance.


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## Punkrocka436 (Jul 8, 2003)

the thumping soundsl ike your rear rotors are warped, or are beginning to warp, same thing happened to me


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## Token Moron (Mar 28, 2003)

Punkrocka436 said:


> *the thumping soundsl ike your rear rotors are warped, or are beginning to warp, same thing happened to me *


there are no rotors in the rear.......theyre drums


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## zeno (Sep 17, 2002)

It is a sad fact that the stock breaks suck donkey balls. A cheap upgrade would be some nice pads like Axxis Metal Masters. For a couple hundred you can swap in some brakes from an NX2000 or spend a shitload on something like FastBrakes. IMO, unless you doing some serious racing, the NX2000 is a great cheap(er) upgrade.


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## 96sentra (Apr 9, 2003)

i had everything u just said until i got my brakes changed,they changed the pads and rotated the rotors in the front and the noises from the front and back went away.


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

AjRaCeR805 said:


> *there are no rotors in the rear.......theyre drums *


SE-Rs have disc brakes in the rear. Although they do have an integrated drum, that's only used for the parking brake.


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

Oh wait. I'm an idiot. Sorry Aj : P

Damn this fever. It's caused my brain to go into limp mode.

In any case it's probably either your rear brakes in need of adjustment or the drums are going out-of-round (analogous to warping for discs).


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## zeno (Sep 17, 2002)

The b14 200SX SE-R and Sentra SE have disk brakes in the rear.


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## alexburke21 (Aug 19, 2002)

will se-r brakes fit in the stock 95 200sx se 14" alloy rims? Are they pretty good brakes. My stock brakes are scaring me.


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

Your stock brakes are scaring you? How hard do you run them, and what brake pads/fluid do you use?

And what part of braking is scaring you?


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## alexburke21 (Aug 19, 2002)

I don't brake them very hard. I have pretty cheap ass pads (possibly from autozone,terrible shit) and normal fluid. I just had to slam the brakes when this econoline van pulled out across an inersection on a 65 mph road when he was supposed to stop. There was no way the tires were going to lock up, the brakes could barely stop the car. They work just fine for normal city driving. I don't like them much on the interstate. Can most people at leat start to lock up there tires with the stock brakes?


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## Chrish_jr (Aug 12, 2003)

on the 97 sentra GXE that I have, I was told that the rear breakes are "anti skid", or at least this is what the dealership told me, which for some reason makes the price for the rear axle hub a tad bit higher.


-Christian


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## NotAnotherHonda (Aug 7, 2003)

not all se's have disk brakes on the rear..it was an option...


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

alexburke21 said:


> *I don't brake them very hard. I have pretty cheap ass pads (possibly from autozone,terrible shit) and normal fluid. I just had to slam the brakes when this econoline van pulled out across an inersection on a 65 mph road when he was supposed to stop. There was no way the tires were going to lock up, the brakes could barely stop the car. They work just fine for normal city driving. I don't like them much on the interstate. Can most people at leat start to lock up there tires with the stock brakes? *


Straight out of the factory, you should be able to lock your brakes (or activate the ABS) with no problems. I suggest you move up to a better set of pads (I like the OE Nissan pads. They aren't bad at all) and bleed your brakes. Try to get some good DOT 4 or 5.1 fluid (Motul 5.1 is currently my favorite). 

Moving up to SER brakes will only really help combat brake fade (and only slightly at best), and that doesn't seem like what's causing your problem. Change the pads and change up to a better brake fluid first. It will cost you less and it will probably do more for you on the street than a SE-R brake upgrade ever will.

_PS: You can run more aggressive pads (like Axxis Metal Matrixes) and use better fluid (ie Motul RBF 600) without causing exessive wear or loss of streetability. I'm just really cheap when I know I'm not going to run my car on the track. : P_


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## alexburke21 (Aug 19, 2002)

Thank you


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## alexburke21 (Aug 19, 2002)

Is the dealership the best place to get OE pads


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

I think you can get the OE pads from Courtesy Nissan (www.courtesyparts.com) as well, but double check with them to make sure. If that is what they have, then you'll probably get a better deal from them than your local dealership (besides, I like Courtesy's service and support).

But if you can't wait and you have a dealership in your area which stocks OE pads for your car and won't charge like $100 for a set of two pads, you may as well get it from them.


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

Oh, I forgot to mention something. Stillen does sell Metal Matrixes for about $55 a pair, about the same price Courtesy charges for their pads. If you don't live in an exceedingly cold climate, don't slam on your brakes at every stop, and don't mind occasionally spraying down your rotors with brake cleaner you could go for them enjoy a bit more pad bite and longer pad life.

Just be careful if you go that route though. The Metal Matrixes were designed for a higher operating temperature than the OE Nissan pads, so they might make the first few cold stops kind of long and scary. Just a little caveat so I don't feel responsible for a fender bender or anything.


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## zeno (Sep 17, 2002)

A good cheap upgrade is the Axxis Metal Masters, I'm running them and noticed and big difference. They are only about $50.


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## Bryan200sx (Jan 23, 2003)

*nosiy brakes*

the same thing happend to me and i thought that it was the car and in part it was. i went to a really trusted mechanic that i know beacause i always hated paying some one 110 for brakes i always did it my self. what he explained to me is that our brake pads are from the factory more slim than most cars and when they expericance a little more heat or get water on them when really hot they warp. i did not belive him intill i got my car back when he was done and the braking was awsome 100% better he also told me that the rear drums were out of adjustment thats why you would hear that natsy sound plus you were breaking way to much with ur front breaks now i get no sound and the car brakes are the best they have ever been. and no noise at all plus my e brake now is nice and tight before i had to almost yank it all the way up before it would lock up now its about 1/2 of that.


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## tkvtec (Apr 20, 2003)

My 99 GXE locks em up like there's no tomorrow. With my stock 14" rims and Dunlop sp20 AS's I locked em up doin 80 on the highway (briefly), flying down a backroad and not realizing there was another road perpendicular to it coming up soon (busted up front bumper on curb), and even with my new 16's and sticky rubber I got them to lock up (briefly again). The brief lockups are form nearly rearending assholes that had just cut me off. As for the backroad thing where I slid for about 40 ft. on dry pavement, that was due to me chasing this Grand Prix with kids in it that had just stolen like 50 bucks outta my car.


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## slvrsentra98 (Feb 27, 2003)

the b14's brakes plain suck
the guy at the auto parts store said they had drilled rotors but I dunno if he knew what he was talking about or not but I just got the regular ones cause I was pressed for cash


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## tkvtec (Apr 20, 2003)

yeah, they make drilled rotrs for them, which help dissipate the heat better, but you'd be best off doing a ad22vf upgrade(aka NSX 2000 brakes)


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## Cullam3n (Aug 22, 2003)

Yeah the B14 brakes aren't all that great. Besides, I got ripped off for a crappy job also. Rear rotors and pads for $370. I did the front pads myself for $20 (not the rotors). I want to get around to doing all the rotors and pads, but I just don't have $515+ to spend. 

Just got Bridgestone Potenzas on my SE a few weeks ago (before was some cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap tires that sucked) and they haven't locked up yet. I couldnt even lock the brakes with the old tires, let alone these new ones. It's pathetic. My Ford Aerostar can lock the front ones. 

-PC


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## niky (Jul 20, 2002)

err... i've always thought that not-locking was good....

i think ABS is over-rated, though... it's very good in wet weather, but when your tires leave the ground, (if you've got bouncy, stiff suspensions like mine), they will STILL lock...

this bounce lock, fall, stutter, ABS, bounce, lock... can't be good for your brakes at all... and there are times when i've desperately wanted the brakes to lock (so i could slide sideways and maybe stop faster) but they didn't... so what if ABS allows you to steer? in some cases, there's nowhere to steer TOWARDS when you're going that fast...

ABS is good in most cases, though... what we need are better brakes... AD22VF... here i come.


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## Cullam3n (Aug 22, 2003)

Well, you could just get rear ABS and then just lock the fronts... 

-PC


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

niky said:


> *i think ABS is over-rated, though... it's very good in wet weather, but when your tires leave the ground, (if you've got bouncy, stiff suspensions like mine), they will STILL lock...*


If you're braking any noticable amount and the wheel lifts off the ground, the brakes will lock regardless of wether you have ABS or not.


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## jvaruzzo (Aug 23, 2003)

I thought my brakes sucked too on my B14. I was replacing my front pads every 20-30k miles. Finally at about 100k I decided to do my rear brakes, and saw they were perfectly clean. 100k miles and I could clearly read "Nissan" and the part number printed on the side of the shoe. The inside of the drum had nothing. No dust, no scrapes, it was BRAND NEW. Turned out that my rear pistons were locked on both sides. Apparantly since the car was brand new. Although front brakes do most of the stopping, I think the rear brakes make the difference between getting 30k out of your front pads, or 60k. 

Try fighting that with Nissan, a car with 100,000 miles that's 5 years old, and tell them your back brakes never worked. Ha!


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## niky (Jul 20, 2002)

hmmh... that's one for the record-books... i don't think my pads even last 15k... i own an A/T, though, and drive in pretty heavy traffic.


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## Neil (Aug 13, 2002)

just wanted to add that my brakes suck as well. I have had the rotors replaced and pads two times and recently checked and they are in perfect shape. They are also not cheap pads. They do squeek only when coming to a dead stop they make a "eet" sound. 

The biggest problem is they are mushy. There is about 1/2" of give in the pedal before my brakes engage so I have to push them down pretty far. When I get new pads or brakes it is nice n hard for a couple days then goes back to mushy again. Nissan checked it, two local shops, and the saturn dealership and none can find anything. They said its normal for a car of my age to have some give. 

I do notice though that the car brakes better and the tires dont squeal since i got my Toyo tires and new wheels.


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

The B14 brakes are the worst thing about these cars!I so want the AD22VF's on mine, but have come up empty at the junkyards so far, and Mossy isn't exactly cheap for these things either.


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## niky (Jul 20, 2002)

i'm raiding that junked max parked on our lot up in the city... who the heck cares how rusty it is... 

the sad thing is... i used to have a B14 GA13, and the simple disc and drum set on it had better feel and better stopping distances... wasn't really scary even without the ABS.


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## krylonkoopaa (Sep 13, 2002)

tkvtec said:



> *(aka NSX 2000 brakes) *


wow who has these on thier car


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## Token Moron (Mar 28, 2003)

krylonkoopa said:


> *wow who has these on thier car *


lol, theyre a direct bolt on.....lol, j/k


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