Krzysztof47

iTrader: (6)

Making this post to warn others of replica style Akebono calipers.

I did the Akebono BBK, and decided to go with of all things some aftermarket copies of the factory BBK calipers (SPOILER ALERT, VERY BAD DECISION!!!). I thought wow this is a great deal. I got mine from Autoshack which sold replica calipers. I got front set: BC30397PR and rear set: BC7184PR. Everything got installed and noticed the brake pedal would be soft and I would need to press the brake pedal twice to get good engagement. Had them bled, same issue. Then replaced my master cylinder with an OEM unit (very expensive) and still had the same issue. Then after dealing with this issue for a while I decided there must be something wrong with the calipers internally... So I got the REAL ones from Z1. I went with the Yellow Z Akebono's as they fit right up, no core charge and are cheaper than the other color options by a lot. Fast forward a week ago, I was going home and brake light and traction control light came on and I noticed the brake pedal getting worse and worse. Got home and my brakes completely failed. Luckily I was on level ground and was able to back my G up into a curb to catch the tire to stop it use and then creep forward in drive to park safely and then use neutral again to stop. My front passenger caliper failed and leaked a lot of brake fluid out which resulted in no brakes at all.

So these POS replica calipers caused me a lot of trouble in the end. The outcome of this could of been waaaay worse, I consider myself very lucky, it was basically a miracle. So when people say they would be hesitant to trust stuff like this, they are right!

I see people say the PowerStop calipers are remanufactured Akebono's. They are made in China like the rest of these absolutely garbage products, not in Chicago IL like they claim! Maybe at one point they were, but now they are like the rest of these bootleg products and are replica castings. People say they "grind" the Akebono imprint on the casting and this also false, the blank on the casting is basically the same height as the Akebono letters. So this is deliberately done. Seen a lot report leaks with them and other dodgy quality.

I see the Autoshack, A-Premium, PowerStop and other brands being sold online. After this experience not sure if others will have the same outcome with something like this happening. I blame no one but myself for making this decision and I should of know better that is for sure.

All in all, ended up wasting a bunch of time and money, and junking a perfectly functioning brake master cylinder trying to fix a inferior product in the first place. You could say this could happen with the real units too, but a company like Akebono I have my doubts of a faulty unit out of the box.

Fast forward to now, and the brakes work great and the stopping power is exceptional with the REAL calipers!

JSolo

iTrader: (14)

Everything made from chinesium will fail sooner than later.

Never skimp on tires, brakes *and* (not or) windshield wipers.

Krzysztof47

iTrader: (6)

YEP, 100% correct!

SupraOfDoom

I'm going to call BS on this. I and plenty of other people have the powerstop ones with 0 issues. I compared my OEM versions and could find 0 differences in quality. Unless the metal itself is of lower quality I have no reason to believe they are any different. So far you have the only negative review I have ever seen, and it's perfectly plausible that you got a lemon.

Also powerstop is a legit Chicago company, not some fake website or something like a lot of other Chinese brands.

rotarymike

iTrader: (4)

The problem is that there are fake powerstop remans - basically, if a thing can be bought on amazon or ebay, there is a fake of it made in China to the cheapest standards possible.

BULL

I'm also confused, did your Z1 brakes died as well or did the Z1 resolve the issue?

You first have to understand what could go wrong with these calipers before you start bashing being that many have bought and installed without any issues.

I seriously doubt that the casting would have given any issues but more so the rubber seal being the cheap part. Most and I mean most companies recycle the body of the caliper and the pistons only leaving the seals as the main failing point.

Also did you get to a conclusion of how did those calipers actually failed or did you replace and the problem went away and you got to this conclusion?

Sea Stories

Rock Auto carries Power Stop. Probably a good place to ensure you get real ones.

Sea Stories

Krzysztof47

iTrader: (6)

Let me clarify. I got the aftermarket calipers from Autoshack, which are replica calipers. I had an issue with the pedal being soft and inconsistent. So I went ahead and got the calipers from Z1 after much trouble shooting and putting in a new OEM master. Before the real Akebnono's from Z1 were installed, my passenger front caliper failed at the split, where the two halves get sealed. I lost a lot of brake fluid through it, hence how I had no brakes. So I had the real akeonono's put on and I am problem free and have a great pedal.

Seems some took this post the wrong way, I simply wanted to share my experience and warn others of these products that is all. Sorry if I called some particular brands "garbage".

rotarymike

iTrader: (4)

No worries - remans can be bad just like brand new ones can. There's an inherent failure rate for everything. Sounds like when they reassembled the caliper halves, they either pinched the seal between sides or omitted it (or if these don't have a seal - WHY? - but they could have just misaligned the sides .5mm when torquing it all down.

Sucks that you found out via on-road failure. Glad the Z1 calipers corrected the issue.

Krzysztof47

iTrader: (6)

Either the gasket used was junk and slowly leaking or the halves had poor machining and mismatch. Thing is I checked my master and it was not going down, so must of been a very small leak. I just wanted to share this as I do not want to see someone else in a situation like this.

Yep I went with the Yellow Z calipers from Z1, they all had a production year of 2023 so they were brand new from the factory. FYI, the Yellow Akebono Calipers are like the rest, simply have a different paint and decal.

Like I said it was basically a miracle, my brakes completely failed when I got literally home. My brake master cylinder was almost empty.

SupraOfDoom

Also Jegs, that's where I got mine from.

I didn't mean to come off hard on you OP, but one problem for one person is far from conclusive. It's great to have it documented here in case it becomes a pattern, however.

Krzysztof47

iTrader: (6)

No worries, just wanted to share.

Rik R.

An interesting conversation. The Akebono is from Japan, I don't know if they are made in China or not. The OEM Akebonos are 370s and G37s are pretty good quality and are sold even used a lot, I have confidence in mine. They also hold up to WI winter corrosion much better than my Stoptechs I ran on my G35.

If the caliber split along the seam on the casting - I believe they are cast - then obviously they did not properly pressure-test the caliper after manufacturing (or they do in batches and yours was faulty.)

You should never, ever skimp on brakes or tires.


Rick

rotarymike

iTrader: (4)

FWIW, it appears that *everything*, especially involving a foundry or heavy machining, is made in China. The difference between Nissan OEM and Chinabrand fake Powerstops is likely one of quality control programs - more QC = better product = higher cost.

if you REALLY want to talk about expensive brakes Z1 makes adapters for the GT-R calipers to fit on the G/Z...