2010-2019 Nissan 370Z Brake Job Guide: Symptoms, Costs and the Right Parts

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

A brake job on a 2010-2019 Nissan 370Z starts with one question: does your car have the standard brakes or the Nissan Sport Brakes? The two systems share almost no pads, rotors or calipers, so the right parts, the price of the job and even how the car wears its brakes all depend on which one is bolted to your hubs. This guide shows how to tell them apart, what wears first, the symptoms that say it is time, and what to replace together.

Two different brake systems on the 370Z

Every 370Z uses four-wheel vented disc brakes with ABS, Electronic Brake force Distribution and Brake Assist, backed by Vehicle Dynamic Control. There are no rear drums on this car. What changes by trim is the hardware. Nissan's own specifications list two setups:

On 2010 cars the Sport Brakes came with the Sport Package; on later model years they are standard on the Sport and Sport Tech trims and on the NISMO, which also gets high-rigidity brake hoses. The quickest check is to look through the front wheel: a red fixed caliper with pistons on both sides of the rotor is the Sport system. If you are unsure, the trim on your window sticker or registration settles it before you order anything.

What wears first, and what it looks like

The 370Z is a front-engine, rear-drive car with a heavy front end, so the front pads do most of the work and usually wear out before the rears. Owners who drive hard, autocross or run canyon roads will see the rears go faster than on a commuter, because the brake force distribution sends more work rearward under hard stops. The usual order is front pads, then front rotors, then rear pads and rotors.

Symptoms that the car is due:

• High-pitched squeal on light braking that goes away when you press harder. This is often the pad wear indicator touching the rotor.
• Grinding or scraping, which usually means the friction material is gone and the backing plate is on the rotor. Stop driving on it; the rotor is being damaged with every stop.
• Pulsation in the pedal or shake in the steering wheel when braking from speed, typically uneven pad deposits or rotor thickness variation on the front rotors.
• Pulling to one side, which points to a sticking caliper piston, a seized slide pin on the standard floating calipers, or a collapsed hose.
• A soft or long pedal, which is a fluid or hydraulic problem, not a pad problem. Check the fluid level and for leaks before replacing parts.
• Visible pad thickness getting thin through the wheel spokes. The red Sport calipers make the pad edge easy to see from the outside.

Front vs rear: how the job differs

Standard brakes. These are conventional floating calipers. Remove the caliper, replace the pads and abutment clips, clean and lubricate the slide pins, and replace or resurface the rotors. The rear calipers are also sliding designs. On the standard system the slide pins are the part most often neglected; a dry or seized pin causes uneven inner and outer pad wear and a pull.

Sport Brakes. The fixed aluminum calipers do not slide, so there are no slide pins. The pads usually come out through the top of the caliper once the retaining pin and anti-rattle hardware are removed, which makes a pad-only job faster than on the standard brakes. The rotors are large and heavy, especially the 14.0-inch fronts, so plan for that when handling them. Push the pistons back evenly on both sides and check that every piston moves freely; a single sticking piston in a multi-piston caliper causes tapered pad wear.

For both systems, torque the caliper bolts and wheel lug nuts to the values in the factory service manual, and bed the new pads in with a series of moderate stops before any hard driving.

Parts: why the brake package matters when you order

Pads, rotors and calipers are not interchangeable between the two systems. Aftermarket catalogs split them by package: Hawk, for example, lists separate front and rear pad part numbers for the Sport-brake 370Z (a 0.626-inch-thick front pad and a 0.545-inch rear pad) that do not fit the standard calipers. Performance rotor makers list the Sport front rotor at 355 mm x 32 mm as a replacement for the factory Akebono Sport brake rotor. Ordering by "2012 Nissan 370Z" alone is the most common reason a 370Z brake order comes back.

What to buy for a typical job:

• Pads. A quality ceramic pad suits most street 370Zs: low dust on the large wheels and quiet operation. Owners who track the car should look at a performance compound matched to that use. Browse brake pads or go straight to ceramic brake pads.
• Rotors. Replace rotors if they are below the minimum thickness stamped on the rotor, scored, or causing pulsation. See brake rotors.
• Hardware. New clips, shims and pins are cheap insurance against noise. See brake hardware kits.
• Calipers and hoses only if a caliper is leaking, sticking or has a torn boot, or a hose is cracked or swollen. See brake calipers and brake hoses.

What to replace together, and what drives the cost

Always replace pads in axle sets, both sides at once. Replace rotors in pairs too, so the car brakes evenly side to side. Many owners do pads and rotors together on the 370Z because the rotors have usually taken wear by the time the pads are done, and fresh pads bed best on a fresh surface. It is also a good time to flush the brake fluid if it is dark or has not been changed in a while; use the fluid type printed on the reservoir cap and in the owner's manual.

The price of a 370Z brake job comes down to a few variables:

• Which brake system. Sport Brake pads and rotors are larger and cost more than the standard parts, and the aluminum fixed calipers are expensive to replace if one fails.
• Pads only or pads and rotors. Adding rotors is the biggest parts jump on either system.
• One axle or both. Most visits are fronts only; doing all four corners roughly doubles parts and adds labor.
• Extras. Hardware, a fluid flush, or a sticking caliper add to the bill.

Labor is moderate. This is a straightforward four-wheel disc car with no electronic parking brake to retract, so a capable DIYer with a jack, stands and a torque wrench can do one axle in an afternoon.

Recalls and service checks

A check of NHTSA's recall database for the 2010, 2014 and 2018 model years returned no brake-system recalls for the 370Z; the one 2018 entry found concerns the curtain air bag. Recalls are issued by VIN, so run your own car's VIN through NHTSA's recall lookup before any brake work.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my 370Z has Sport Brakes?

Look through the front wheel. Sport Brakes use large red fixed aluminum calipers, 4-piston front and 2-piston rear, over 14.0-inch front and 13.8-inch rear rotors. Standard brakes use a floating cast iron caliper over 12.6-inch rotors. Your trim level (Sport, Sport Tech, NISMO or a Sport Package car) also tells you.

Can I use standard 370Z pads on Sport Brake calipers?

No. The pad shapes are different for each caliper, and aftermarket makers list separate part numbers for each system. Always order by brake package, not just year and model.

Do the front brakes wear faster than the rears on a 370Z?

Usually yes. The front axle does most of the braking on this front-engine car, so front pads typically wear out first. Hard driving shortens rear pad life more than daily commuting does.

Should I replace rotors every time I replace pads?

Not always. If the rotors are above the minimum thickness stamped on them, smooth and not causing pulsation, they can be reused. Most owners find the rotors are near their limit by the second pad change.

Does the 370Z have an electronic parking brake?

No. The 370Z uses a conventional mechanical parking brake, so no scan tool is needed to retract the rear pistons during a rear brake job.

Can I upgrade a base 370Z to Sport Brakes?

It is a popular swap, but it involves the calipers, rotors, pads and brackets, and the larger rotors need wheels with enough caliper clearance. Confirm wheel fitment before buying parts.

Sources

1. Nissan USA: 2017 Nissan 370Z Coupe Press Kit - standard and Sport Brake rotor sizes, caliper types, trims, NISMO hoses, ABS with EBD and Brake Assist
2. Nissan USA: 2010 Nissan 370Z Coupe Press Kit - 4-wheel vented discs, 12.6-inch standard rotors, Sport Package brakes, VDC
3. Hawk Performance HB601Z.626 - front Sport-brake 370Z pad, 0.626 in. thickness, applications by trim
4. Hawk Performance HB602Z.545 - rear Sport-brake 370Z pad, 0.545 in. thickness
5. Alcon: 370Z (Z34) front floating rotors - 355 mm x 32 mm Sport brake front rotor, fits OEM Akebono Sport brakes
6. NHTSA recall lookup - VIN-based recall search; no brake recalls returned for 2010, 2014 or 2018 370Z