Talk Me Off The Drilled And Slotted Ledge

[daniel3507]

My brakes aren't old but they suck already. They feel warped, front driver tire always locks under heavy braking and anytime its wet, so its all gotta go. I'm going with Hawk HPS pads, universal Russell braided hoses, and planned on basic Motorcraft rotors. Its replacing ebc greenstuff pads and slotted rotors. That was the plan till I looked at the slotted and drilled rotors at Napa. Do I need them? No. But they look so damn cool! I know people say they warp easier and eat pads quicker which is why I'm doing this in the first place, but I'm that guy that buys his whiskey because it comes in a cool bottle. Talk me off the ledge here because I'm tempted to swan dive my ass off it.
Sent from the think n' stink.

 

[kryptonitecb]

Its all up to your wallet. They make for good bragging right.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[exbass94]

Rotors do not warp. Period. The vibration is caused by pad material that gets deposited on the rotor and makes the surface uneven. Drilled/slotted rotors are not more susceptible to warping/vibration, but they are more prone to cracking. There would be little advatage to using then. I wouldn't bother.

 

[armadillon]

They look kind of cool, but that's an unneccessary expense. Do you have rims that would even allow you to show them off? Save the money for booze or for another part.

 

[daniel3507]

They look kind of cool, but that's an unneccessary expense. Do you have rims that would even allow you to show them off? Save the money for booze or for another part.

Nope. That's the sad part. I want them even though you can't see them through the Alcoa rims.

Sent from the think n' stink.

 

[armadillon]

Hey, it's like wearing bedazzled underoos, just because you might be the only one who knows what they look like doesn't make them any less cool.

 

[daniel3507]

Well I crawled under the truck to take a look at the brakes and discovered my driver side pad is lose in the caliper. Im going to just start with the new pads and hope that takes care of it.

Sent from the think n' stink.

 

[AllanD]

My brakes aren't old but they suck already. They feel warped, front driver tire always locks under heavy braking and anytime its wet, so its all gotta go. I'm going with Hawk HPS pads, universal Russell braided hoses, and planned on basic Motorcraft rotors. Its replacing ebc greenstuff pads and slotted rotors. That was the plan till I looked at the slotted and drilled rotors at Napa. Do I need them? No. But they look so damn cool! I know people say they warp easier and eat pads quicker which is why I'm doing this in the first place, but I'm that guy that buys his whiskey because it comes in a cool bottle. Talk me off the ledge here because I'm tempted to swan dive my ass off it.
Sent from the think n' stink.

Many drilled and slotted rotors "Warp easier" because underneath the drilling and slotting the company selling them to you often uses CHEAP CHINESE brake rotors that I'd only use as an anchor to keep my canoe from drifting while I was fishing.

If you want "better" brakes the way to get them on a 1990-94 is to swap on 1995-97 Steering knuckles so you get the far superior two piston calipers.

THE issue with the 1983-94 brakes is that the pad location slot in the knuckle
for the inner pad wears unevenly and this causes the brakes to drag, heat up oscillate and generally do nasty things to the (typically) Glass phenolic pistons

Don't get me wrong I LIKE glass-phenolic brake pistons, why I don't like are steering knuckles that cause the entire caliper to get crooked and damage the pistons.

 

[bn6339]

I agree with Allan

I agree with Allan, because my 1994 Splash suffered brake failure when the left front caliper froze with a nearly full application. Passenger side also sorta locked, at least I could limp home though the brakes wouldn't completely release....not fun when you're driving on the interstate! I upgraded to the post 1995 design, which is much better and easier to repair....truck is still in the garage awaiting a new master cylinder (old one failed the instant I arrived home) and possibly a booster.....

 

[adsm08]

Rotors do not warp. Period. The vibration is caused by pad material that gets deposited on the rotor and makes the surface uneven.

So many things wrong with that. Have you ever put a rotor on a lathe and looked at it run? Have you ever wondered why it is easier to make a rotor vibrate the closer it gets to the minimum machine or discard spec? It isn't because pad material deposits easier.

They warp. Yes, some pad material works into the rotor surface, the same way ink from a pen works into the paper, that and heat is what discolors the rotor surface, but rotors do warp.

I really wish I had video of the rotors on the front of my truck running on the lathe right before I cut them. They had almost .010" runout to them. That does not happen just from "deposits".



As for reasons to not get drilled and slotted rotors, they are just like armidillion's fancy underoos, gay as all get out. When my wife and I were house shopping I passed on the one house as soon as I got out of the car. Reason? There was a burnt copper Escape with drilled and slotted rotors on it parked across the street. And no, I am not kidding. There were other things about the place that we didn't like (ie the "garage" which was really an old 2-hourse stable and still had the dividers in it).