Best aftermarket calipers for Nissan/Infiniti?

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I have ~170K miles on my Infiniti FX45. The rear brakes appear to be sticking when hot. In regular high speed stop and go traffic, the rear rotors get smoking hot and start to grind after a few stops, while the fronts only get too hot to touch. In the past, the front typically got hotter, although all four wheels seem to get equally dirty. I'm using the same pads and rotors as always (Stoptech Street performance w/ EBC USR rotors) - normally the set will last me 20K+ miles before the vibration makes me crazy, my fronts are still looking OK for that, the rears - particularly the drivers side rear are almost worn down after 7K. ~ 2K of highway, 2K of highway towing and about 1K mountain driving with and without the trailer and ~2K of daily stop and go traffic. About the same mix as always. If I am at highway speeds and coast to a stop, all the rotors are cool to the touch. There is no rust, corrosion or leaks and the pads and rotors were new in December. I have pulled and regreased the slide pins and filed the edges of the pads where they contact the caliper hardware. Everything seems to move freely when cold.

Anyway, I have read a lot of people have had trouble with the OE rear calipers with many fewer miles than I have. Since I have to replace the rotors and pads again, I figured I would put on a set of calipers and maybe lines to hopefully eliminate the issue - or at least eliminate them as a possible issue. OE are ~$240 a side plus hardware. I am comfortable with the OE calipers - they have lasted 12 years of unusual abuse so far, they are coated and still look like new after those 12 years and 170K miles. I'm trying to figure out if it is worth it to buy OE or if I should get some aftermarket coated calipers, and if so, which ones. They seem to be around $50 to $80 per side. The available calipers are from A1 Cardone, AC Delco and Raybestos. Realistically they don't need to last more than another 50K or so, but I don't want to wonder afterwards if the new ones are worse than the original ones. $400 difference isn't really going to matter, but if the quality is the same, I might as well save the money to put towards my dashboard which seems to be developing a crack.

The brake fluid is flushed about every two years, there is no pulling either direction while braking. If not for the smell and the noise, I wouldn't know anything was wrong. This has been going on since before the last pad/rotor swap, I expected the problem to go away with the rotors and pads in December. Last year I figured I just smoked the rear rotor and they were going to make noise until I replaced them - the grinding noise started rather suddenly after pulling a particularly heavy trailer in stop and go traffic through atlanta.

The only other things that come to mind are the electronic brake distribution module/master cylinder and/or possibly the rear wheel bearings, but I can find no evidence of bearing failure and it hasn't gotten worse over the last 15K or so. Also, the master cylinder is about $1,500 (adaptive cruise control) and the distribution valve is about $1,100 - so I would rather pretend they don't exist. The brake pressure sensor is about $250.

I have not had to put much into this vehicle to get to this point, so on the one hand, I don't mind spending money on it, on the other hand, it is nearing 200K and 12 years, parts are hard to find for it (everything is different than the V6) and it's going to degrade in the not too distant future.

Edit: Powerstop also has a caliper for $50, but it is red.
 
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I would just buy reman from a local parts house. That way if you get a dud or they go bad then you can swap out locally without shipping.

Or if handy order 3 good rebuild kits and rebuild yourself. 3rd kit is if you mess up or damage something since the kits are usually cheap.
 
I would just rebuild the originals the remans are getting really terrible, once you give them up for core its game over there is no getting them back.
Get new pistons if there is any sign of rust or scoring, seals and boot/pin kit for it and get a hone to lightly hone the bores, make sure to crack the bleeders first and replace them if rusty or otherwise not in good condition.
It wont take long to do them and they will like new.
 
Nissan sucks at rear calipers. Do you use your parking brake? Even though it's automatic, the parking brake should still be used. In fact, a very common reason that rear calipers seize is from non-use of the parking brake.

As for which calipers to get, Cardone Ultra and Napa Eclipse are both good choices. The Napa Eclipse is the same as Cardone Ultra except the coating is black instead of silver. The price is usually better, too.

The only non-Cardone reman calipers I know of are those red Powerstop reman calipers. They do their rebuilds in Chicago, and they do come in that snazzy red color
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Make sure you try to find the OEM rebuild kit, or OEM from who made the calipers. I rebuilt my ATE calipers with Carlson rebuild kits and they were not even close quality wise, the carlson dust boots were a joke compared to the ATE.

You can get a brake cylinder hone for pretty cheap from HF or whatever. I would say replace the bleeders for sure, but I live in Canada.
 
Nissan uses Hitachi(Tokico) calipers a majority of the time. I would try to rebuild the OEM ones if possible.

As much as Cardone remans are panned here, I've had OK luck with them. Maybe The Critic can chime in, as he works on Infinitis quite a bit.
 
I think Nissan sells the parts (individually) to do a rebuild, which would probably be similar quality to what was used during manufacturing. I'll see how much those parts are, that might be an option.
 
With cheap Cardones, you are essentially renting the assembly, but have ownership of the core. I made the mistake traded in my Jeep's original calipers about 4 years ago and have nothing but various problems with the Cardones. Per Trav's recommendation, I purchased 2 new loaded Mopar calipers for $220.

My goal is to get everything warranty exchanged and sell them on CL to get my money partially back.
 
Rebuilding your own calipers is the way to go. Cardone and other "re-conditioners" have gotten really bad lately and with brakes I wouldn't take the chance at all. Single piston calipers are easy to rebuild and don't require very many tools. I would also stick with factory OE rebuild kits, again brakes are not a place to skimp on quality.
 
We usually use then centric ones. They are ok. Only their loaded calipers come painted though.

Reman calipers can be problematic regardless of brand. The problem is that some of these calipers are not being rebuilt with all new parts. And the QC can sometimes be quite lousy.
 
IS THERE a load sensing valve or proportioning valve feeding the rear brakes? If so, is it possible that it isn't relieving rear brake pressure properly after pedal release? it's odd to me that the braking has no pull to one side, which would be present unless both calipers were failing at the same exact rate and time.
 
I've never had good luck with reman calipers. My buddy's towncar ate one before the first pad change, my dad's work van ate one before the first pad change, and my GF's mom's rogue ate one at about the same time. I didn't change any of them myself (except the newest one on my GF's mom's) so I don't know if it was installer error or not. I have never had badluck with aftermarket new calipers, however.
 
I never had good luck with Cardone brake parts. I once saw someone who was so unlucky that he had a stuck caliper after only 3 weeks of driving after that repair.

I think NAPA Total Eclipse is better, but I don't know for sure. I never had to replace brake calipers on my family's cars. Instead, I was stuck installing the cheapest junk on customer's cars.
 
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