Rotors

[USMC_TOP]

EBC..........are these good rotors? They are drilled and slotted with a anti-rust coating. What are you performance guys running?

 

[Best4x4]

I'm running Pro Stop Ceramic Pads/Slotted/Cross Drilled Rotors that are zinc coated. Very happy with them on the two rigs I installed them on (05 Jeep Unlimited & my 08 H3 Alpha). Stops great and they look very nice as well with very little brake dust.

 

[Steve #1]

If they are slotted and or drilled, then no they are not good. They are weak, provide less contact surface, have spots for rocks to get lodged in to and tear up pads. Years ago you could make an argument for slotted rotors but with todays pad tecnology there is no point. Get some ceramic pads and you'll be fine.

 

[atvspeed4]

EBC rotors and pads are some of the best money can buy. From personal experience I highly suggest them. They make a substantial improvement in braking. They are NOT crap Asian cast rotors sold on eBay that crack.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[ReconH3]

If they are slotted and or drilled, then no they are not good. They are weak, provide less contact surface, have spots for rocks to get lodged in to and tear up pads. Years ago you could make an argument for slotted rotors but with todays pad tecnology there is no point. Get some ceramic pads and you'll be fine.

That's why the #1 brake manufacturer in the world Brembo still makes slotted and drilled rotors for the top of the line vehicles.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

 

[Best4x4]

I've never had rocks get jammed into my rotors yet and wheeled the heck out of the Jeep I had them on which wasn't even running dust shields on the front rotors. I went thru mud, down gravel roads, and nada zip nothing.

The first time I ever used slotted/cross drilled rotors was on my 97 Range Rover HSE. It would warp the rotors pretty good after a while due to the heat build up and it didn't help how much the Rover weighed kinda like our H3's. I put some DBA slotted/cross drilled rotors on it along with some ceramic brake pads and I never had another rotor warp on that Rover.

The DBA stuff was not cheap, but the Pro Stop stuff I've installed on two rigs is much cheaper priced (350.00-400.00) for everything. I ran them on my Rubicon until I sold it and my braking was much better, and I had very little brake fade which with the OEM setup the 35's had a ton of. People were all worried about mud getting stuck in the holes, but that was never the case and with the holes I actually found it easier to get all the mud out of the ventilated front disc center part.

I just put a set on my Alpha probably 5 months ago after my Orlando, FL trip when the OEM stuff wore out. I am very happy with the results and I've had to do some serious braking on some road trips after the install and it stops much better and the rotors are cooler to the touch vs my wife's H3 with the OEM rotors and pads.

EBC & DBA make great stuff, but they should for almost 200.00 per rotor and 100.00 per pad set. I'm perfectly happy with my 350-400.00 set!

 

[Steve #1]

That's why the #1 brake manufacturer in the world Brembo still makes slotted and drilled rotors for the top of the line vehicles.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

I don't know specifically of any top of the line vehicles that Brembo manufactures drilled rotors for. Their carbon ceramic rotors have holes, but that is different technology. I'd make a confident guess that over 95% of the rotors Brembo makes are solid. The exceptions are that they make some drilled and or slotted aftermarket rotors because people will buy them because they look cool or they think they are better.

Brembo does make some OEM and race rotors that are slotted. The reason is again two fold. OEMs want a low dust ceramic pad. At high temps the harder low dust pads can glaze the rotors. Second, the rotors they do this on are over sized and the slots look cool.

Cross drilled rotors are just a bad idea. They tend to crack and warp and they reduce the surface area. Slotted rotors, OK, knock yourself out. Pretty pointless for 99.99% of the vehicles on the road (especially an H3) IMHO.

 

[atvspeed4]

I don't know specifically of any top of the line vehicles that Brembo manufactures drilled rotors for. Their carbon ceramic rotors have holes, but that is different technology. I'd make a confident guess that over 95% of the rotors Brembo makes are solid. The exceptions are that they make some drilled and or slotted aftermarket rotors because people will buy them because they look cool or they think they are better.

Brembo does make some OEM and race rotors that are slotted. The reason is again two fold. OEMs want a low dust ceramic pad. At high temps the harder low dust pads can glaze the rotors. Second, the rotors they do this on are over sized and the slots look cool.

Cross drilled rotors are just a bad idea. They tend to crack and warp and they reduce the surface area. Slotted rotors, OK, knock yourself out. Pretty pointless for 99.99% of the vehicles on the road (especially an H3) IMHO.

Seriously?? ...do your research or even better run a quality set of drilled and/ or slotted rotors. The H3 is a perfect vehicle for this as it is quite heavy and with the addition of larger tires such as 35s or 37s we create a ton of heat and experience brake fade.

 

[USMC_TOP]

I'm going to try the EBC because my off road time is limited and when I do off road it's soft sand. Thank you for the imput gents!

 

[Best4x4]

Yep the exact issues I had with my 97 Range Rover! After I switched over to the drilled/slotted rotors I never had anymore issues and I put 92k on it

 

[alrock]

Lots of interesting information/opinions out there on this topic. From Stoptech: http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/brake-system-and-upgrade-selection. I'll be the first to say I don't have any first hand experience on this topic so I'm just sharing some stuff I've read.

DRILLED VS SLOTTED ROTORS

For many years most racing rotors were drilled. There were two reasons - the holes gave the "fireband" boundary layer of gasses and particulate matter someplace to go and the edges of the holes gave the pad a better "bite".
Unfortunately the drilled holes also reduced the thermal capacity of the discs and served as very effective "stress raisers" significantly decreasing disc life. Improvements in friction materials have pretty much made the drilled rotor a thing of the past in racing. Most racing rotors currently feature a series of tangential slots or channels that serve the same purpose without the attendant disadvantages.

Granted, the opinion below is from a manufacturer but it probably holds some weight.

[video=youtube_share;_L_ev1iuGzg]http://youtu.be/_L_ev1iuGzg[/video]

 

[USMC_TOP]

Didn't mean to start a big debate between slots and groves and solid rotors

 

[4speedfunk]

Didn't mean to start a big debate between slots and groves and solid rotors

Too late. Its the internet after all.

Rotors? I'm real picky. They must be round, and they must fit between the brake pads.

 

[Pappibri]

Too late. Its the internet after all.

Rotors? I'm real picky. They must be round, and they must fit between the brake pads.

hahaha. Here, here. My thoughts exactly

 

[Best4x4]

The stuff I'm running was like 50-75.00 more than the crap from auto zone. They look great with the zinc coating, and IMHO perform better.

 

[alrock]

Didn't mean to start a big debate between slots and groves and solid rotors

I think it's a good discussion.

I have seen differences between OEM and non-OEM (was it Raybestos?) and definitely liked the OEM better and have always been satisfied with them in terms of stopping power and feel, durability and price.

 

[rascole]

Always a hot debate. "Best" is a broad term. Depends on who you talk to, what the majority of driving styles are, and HOW MUCH MONEY YOU GOT. A $1500 upgrade will buy you how much more performance than say a $200 factory replacement? Better yes, worth $1300, not to me it isn't. But then I don't drive my 3 around like it is a TrailBlazer SS on meth. I have over 100k on factory rotors and ceramic pads were installed @ 80k. I have never seen glowing rotors off roading before on any vehicle, race truck are the exception. Be a smarter driver, stay off the go pedal, and save your cash to fill up the tank. I have factory rotors and Hawk Performance ceramic pads, because I hate brake dust.

 

[Best4x4]

My Alpha was doing that weird rumble at normal stops. Pad's were good OEM were put on when I bought it, and they turned the rotors. The rumble started on my FL drive, but if you babied it you wouldn't get the rumble/growl. Passengers said it sounded like it was the rear brakes. Turned out to be the LF. Stopped fine, but the noise was starting to drive me nuts. So I figured I had a warped LF rotor due to some crazy emergency stops I had to do after buying my Alpha. Replaced em with the Power Stop stuff, and I've got close to 6K on them and not a peep out of them.

 

[alrock]

A I have never seen glowing rotors off roading before on any vehicle, race truck are the exception.

Saw glowing rotors on an H1 once though not exactly off road. Was being towed back to the house after being off road and was forced to ride the brakes down a long hill. Then the glowing hot rotors lit some grease on fire and the extinguishers had to come out.

 

[Bigunit]

...things that make you go hmmmmm.....rotors that randomly glow and catch on fire...will need to avoid spending my money on those...

 

[Woodtick]

I have 77k on the original rotors.Put new pads on at 60 k. The truck stops on a dime,no pulling or vibration, can't beat the OEMs. I did the break job my self, it cost me 82$ for front and back.

 

[Steve #1]

Seriously?? ...do your research or even better run a quality set of drilled and/ or slotted rotors. The H3 is a perfect vehicle for this as it is quite heavy and with the addition of larger tires such as 35s or 37s we create a ton of heat and experience brake fade.

Yes, I am serious. I have never experienced brake fade on my H3. What type of fade to you experiance and under what conditions? How are drilled slotted rotors going to address this fade?

 

[Best4x4]

The drilled, slotted, or drilled & slotted rotors run cooler especially under hard braking. The H3 is no lightweight so that in addition of pulling a trailer or downhill mountain driving can produce brake fade.

I haven't had em on my H3 long enough to be 100% sure how effective they'll be, but my experience with them on other rigs has been excellent.

 

[Steve #1]

The drilled, slotted, or drilled & slotted rotors run cooler especially under hard braking. The H3 is no lightweight so that in addition of pulling a trailer or downhill mountain driving can produce brake fade.

I haven't had em on my H3 long enough to be 100% sure how effective they'll be, but my experience with them on other rigs has been excellent.

Drilled and/or slotted rotors will not run cooler. By removing mass and surface area from the rotor you reduce it's ability to cool. Rotors draw heat out of the pads by conduction. Heat is then drawn to the center of the rotor away from the pads and the breaking surface. This is why rotor has fins between the two surfaces. More surface area in the center creates better ability to cool, as the center cools it can draw more heat away from the surface. If you have breaking problems when pulling a trailer or going down mountains, you are most likely over loaded. If you are experiencing brake fade (again curious what type of fade you have experienced) use a lower gear so you don't need to use the brakes as much. When you do need to brake get as much useful braking in the shortest amount of time you can safely. Many people will ride the brakes which continually builds up heat and can cause glazing (less likely if you use ceramic pads).

 

[Best4x4]

Rear rotors don't have center cooling fins. The brake fade wasn't on my H3 but my Range Rover. Problem with fade after heavy braking was gone. From my personal experience with them I've never had a single negative issue with drilled/slotted rotors. Like I said earlier 50-75.00 more vs the crap from auto zone is worth it.

To each their own, but I've had awesome results with them on heavier SUV's.