Slotted Rotors/Pads
Senior Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 2,651
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From: Albany, GA
Originally Posted by KSpencer
I think that this is NOT an upgrade for towing. There is a misconception about what slotted rotors are for: racing. In the early days of racing, disc brakes were very simple = a disc. The problem with these early versions was the removal of heat that builds up from HIGH speeds (>120 mph). These discs also had a relatively small surface area of contact to provide the stopping power needed with keeping weight to a minimum. The solution was going to a slotted disc (less weight and cooler). This allows excess heat to radiate from the disc by providing more metal surface area. Sort of the same principle on a fluted rifle barrel, removes heat faster. The problem is that these race cars averaged about 1/3 the weight of our trucks. Our trucks do need the extra pad contact surface to slow them down especially with a load. The stock rotors, and most truck rotors, are slotted radially to cool down quickly by sucking air in between the two faces of the rotor while retaining the necessary contact area. Kinetic friction heat build up is directly proportional to the speed of the pad on the rotor, not the "squeezing" force applied by the brake pedel. I have been pulling trailers for a long time, and do not put any faith in these slotted rotors. My cousin's front brakes burned up on his '95 F150 a few years back while coming down out of the mountains from Estes Park, CO towing a 16 ft camper. 
IMO, the culprit was the "upgraded" slotted disc brakes he installed only weeks before. Don't trust vendors that say that their slotted rotors will increase your braking performance when towing!
IMO, the culprit was the "upgraded" slotted disc brakes he installed only weeks before. Don't trust vendors that say that their slotted rotors will increase your braking performance when towing!
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,606
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From: El Paso,TX
Originally Posted by mark8denny
OK , well I have worked at Ford dealers for years and their rotors are junk , just good enough for 1 set of pads. Everyone I know has had a problem with warpage of the front rotors. I drive much less aggressively and have 65,000 miles on the original rotors and they need to be replaced (warped from towing even with trailer brakes). Powerslots I have on my Mark8 and they are good. The truck is a truck , can anyone reccomend the rotorpros ? Raybestos has a line of heavy duty drilled and slotted rotors for about 85$ each , anyone have rotorpros ? The price is great , how is the quality ? As far as physics ? wouldn't the excessive heat cause the warpage ? Many passenger cars warp the rotors even if they are not driven very hard (tbird, cougar,mark8) for example. The factory only puts brakes that are just good enough , they have to make money on us , they dont build them to last forever.
Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Slotted Rotors/Pads
I do a fair amount of racing BMW's and Porsches, and am also a track instructor. There is a lot that go into brakes in a race car, depending on the given job you ask them to do. The cooling of the brakes is a top priority, hence the various ways to accomplish that. Without getting into a 2-page post on braking components, I'll say this flat out with complete confidence:
On something like out F150's, slotted rotors are all about bling. If you like the look, have at them.....but don't think they're going to stop you better because they won't. The # 1 way to cool brake rotors is forced air ducting. After that, you want a 2-piece rotor with an aluminum hat for cooling. Drilling rotors is primarily a weight saving advantage, and even then if they are drilled, they will eventually hairline crack on the holes. Porsche rotors are CAST with the holes in the molds to prevent this, for example.
You can put a more aggresive pad on the trucks if you like (such as Hawks). They will have a higher torque value that will bite harder at the expense of more wear on your rotor, faster pad consumption and more black brake dust. The more aggressive pads only work well after heating up, so don't go too far on that side or you may not get a good stop with cold pads. More aggressive pads will also rattle and be noiser (squeal), as they have to have room for the backing plates to expand with the heat, and squeal is caused by high-speed vibration.
One factor that makes a huge difference in stopping distances is tire compound. A Slick Racing Comppund tire will stop a car in about half the distance of an All-Season OEM Radial. While you shouldn't run racing slicks or even DOT R-Compounds on the street, a Hi-Performance Street Radial like BFG's KD tire will stop much faster than something like a Goodyear Wrangler.
-Duane C.
2005 FX4 Screw
On something like out F150's, slotted rotors are all about bling. If you like the look, have at them.....but don't think they're going to stop you better because they won't. The # 1 way to cool brake rotors is forced air ducting. After that, you want a 2-piece rotor with an aluminum hat for cooling. Drilling rotors is primarily a weight saving advantage, and even then if they are drilled, they will eventually hairline crack on the holes. Porsche rotors are CAST with the holes in the molds to prevent this, for example.
You can put a more aggresive pad on the trucks if you like (such as Hawks). They will have a higher torque value that will bite harder at the expense of more wear on your rotor, faster pad consumption and more black brake dust. The more aggressive pads only work well after heating up, so don't go too far on that side or you may not get a good stop with cold pads. More aggressive pads will also rattle and be noiser (squeal), as they have to have room for the backing plates to expand with the heat, and squeal is caused by high-speed vibration.
One factor that makes a huge difference in stopping distances is tire compound. A Slick Racing Comppund tire will stop a car in about half the distance of an All-Season OEM Radial. While you shouldn't run racing slicks or even DOT R-Compounds on the street, a Hi-Performance Street Radial like BFG's KD tire will stop much faster than something like a Goodyear Wrangler.
-Duane C.
2005 FX4 Screw
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2,165
Likes: 3
From: Cabot, AR
On my 03 I had the OEM pads an rotors, EBC pads and rotors and EBC rotors with Hawk pads. Simply put the best were the EBC rotors (slotted and dimpled) with the EBC pads. I hated the Hawk pads and will never waste money on them again. In my opinion they were worse than the OEM. They stopped the truck no where near as well as the EBC, they were close to the stock. They made tons of dust, more than stock. And were noisy. The EBC pads stopped the best, made almost 0 dust and made no more noise than the OEM. I have used three sets of OEM and three different aftermarket and the EBCs are the best.
Joe
Joe
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 742
Likes: 0
From: CO
Originally Posted by dcollie
I do a fair amount of racing BMW's and Porsches, and am also a track instructor. There is a lot that go into brakes in a race car, depending on the given job you ask them to do. The cooling of the brakes is a top priority, hence the various ways to accomplish that. Without getting into a 2-page post on braking components, I'll say this flat out with complete confidence:
On something like out F150's, slotted rotors are all about bling. If you like the look, have at them.....but don't think they're going to stop you better because they won't. The # 1 way to cool brake rotors is forced air ducting. After that, you want a 2-piece rotor with an aluminum hat for cooling. Drilling rotors is primarily a weight saving advantage, and even then if they are drilled, they will eventually hairline crack on the holes. Porsche rotors are CAST with the holes in the molds to prevent this, for example.
You can put a more aggresive pad on the trucks if you like (such as Hawks). They will have a higher torque value that will bite harder at the expense of more wear on your rotor, faster pad consumption and more black brake dust. The more aggressive pads only work well after heating up, so don't go too far on that side or you may not get a good stop with cold pads. More aggressive pads will also rattle and be noiser (squeal), as they have to have room for the backing plates to expand with the heat, and squeal is caused by high-speed vibration.
One factor that makes a huge difference in stopping distances is tire compound. A Slick Racing Comppund tire will stop a car in about half the distance of an All-Season OEM Radial. While you shouldn't run racing slicks or even DOT R-Compounds on the street, a Hi-Performance Street Radial like BFG's KD tire will stop much faster than something like a Goodyear Wrangler.
-Duane C.
2005 FX4 Screw
On something like out F150's, slotted rotors are all about bling. If you like the look, have at them.....but don't think they're going to stop you better because they won't. The # 1 way to cool brake rotors is forced air ducting. After that, you want a 2-piece rotor with an aluminum hat for cooling. Drilling rotors is primarily a weight saving advantage, and even then if they are drilled, they will eventually hairline crack on the holes. Porsche rotors are CAST with the holes in the molds to prevent this, for example.
You can put a more aggresive pad on the trucks if you like (such as Hawks). They will have a higher torque value that will bite harder at the expense of more wear on your rotor, faster pad consumption and more black brake dust. The more aggressive pads only work well after heating up, so don't go too far on that side or you may not get a good stop with cold pads. More aggressive pads will also rattle and be noiser (squeal), as they have to have room for the backing plates to expand with the heat, and squeal is caused by high-speed vibration.
One factor that makes a huge difference in stopping distances is tire compound. A Slick Racing Comppund tire will stop a car in about half the distance of an All-Season OEM Radial. While you shouldn't run racing slicks or even DOT R-Compounds on the street, a Hi-Performance Street Radial like BFG's KD tire will stop much faster than something like a Goodyear Wrangler.
-Duane C.
2005 FX4 Screw