Any Recommendations on Slotted Rotors?

Never said I was, but it's easy to warp rotors when you drive up the mountains 60 times a year. The vents help with heat

 

I'm running ebc slotted rotor, ebc green pads and stoptech brake lines. Feels 10x better than before with hawks and stock rotors

 

Can you give me a little insight on your experience with Hawk pads? Thank you

 

They made a pretty big difference over stock. Released a lot of brake dust, but I have heard mixed reviews about them. Never had any issues but it may have been that I have a regular cab so i didn't have all the extra weight. Originally I went with the hawks because I ran them in my DSM and was very impressed. but having both pads I would definitely go with the ebc's

 

have you though about doing a tundra rotor and caliper swap.

 

Nope. Not with the kind of pads used on street vehicles. Any "advantage" is in your mind. sorry science guy.

 

Braking performance, in this situation, is more of about brake fade. Drilled and slotted rotors do very little in this situation, they'll heat up just as much as stock. They may take very slightly longer to do so, but the end result will be the same. Slotted rotors also wear pads faster. A performance increase would be the result of a big brake kit, with larger rotors, dissipating heat more efficiently, and allowing the pads to continue their bite.

Not uncommon in sports cars. Many driver's swap to big brake kits, and don't spring for slotted/drilled rotors at all. The improvement from the larger pads and rotors alone is so extreme, there's no need for specialty rotors.

this.

 

I'm referring to the heat between the surfaces... when there is more heat then there is more gas... more gas = less contact area between pad and rotor. The slots are to vent out the gas to keep the surface area as clean as possible

 

Who do you go through to buy some?

 

yes, they tend to keep a rotor cleaner. As I said though, they don't combat brake fade in a big way, which is what one would experience on downhill driving with heavy braking. It may improve bite and feel, but not as much fade. I have slotted rotors on the GTO. Initial bite is amazing, but it didn't improve stopping distance or combat fade, which is rare for a street car to experience much of anyway. I only had brake fade once, on a very spirited canyon drive.

To each their own though. If you like them, that's what matters. If the mountain passes are an issue, a big brake kit would be much more ideal.

 

No idea what kind of slotted and dimpled rotors are on my Tacoma since the previous owner installed them, but they seem okay, nothing special. After washing the wheels though I must drive down the road to dry everything out, or else they'll make all kinds of noise due to surface rust.

I did put some on my Tundra a few years ago though and for some reason they made the pads grind like crazy, I ended up taking them back off.

 

I'm guessing 8 of the 10x improvement you feel is from the brake lines

 

Lol most likely

 

I see alot of back and forth on here about stock vs. slotted+/ cross drilled. I live in a mountain area so you either use your brakes alot on the steep grades or down shift. Steady braking on the grades causes alot of heat and leads to warp. So it's pretty simple you go with slotted+/cross drilled because they vent gas better allowing them to run cooler. My taco will have them very soon.

 

Well, I have found this discussion both very enlightening, entertaining, and informative. I have just a little problem with buying Chinese Stop tech rotors, bought Chinese rotors before for a different vehicle, very bad experience, so as the saying goes "once burned, twice shy". My 05 4Runner is a road warrior, and is called on to tow a 4,000 lbs trailer from time to time, but only has 37k on the ODO. Toyota stock rotors and calipers are known to cause trouble, usually with stress cracking and warping. A Toyota mechanic I have spoken with, says they don't cool very well, at any rate I have had 3 Toyotas that have all had issues with rotors and calipers. The Calipers don't like heat or sitting with road salts on them from winter driving. I have been able to free the sticking calipers by pulling them off and working the pistons in and out, which has bought me some extra time. Buying rebuilt stock calipers has not been a great experience for me, as they just do the same thing. I have a friend who put a good set of aftermarket calipers on, and his troubles ended then and there. Resurfacing stock rotors is just a total waste of money, as has been aptly discussed on this post, you just end up creating an imbalance in the thickness of the rotor, and they will warp even faster. The stock rotors do not cool very well, and will glaze over really fast, even proper bedding of them does not seem to make much difference.
I live in Spokane Washington, and there are lots of hills here, not only do my rotors warp and glaze, but they crack, and turning cracked rotors is "really" a waste. So, for now, I will "massage" my caliper pistons, and look at the Power Stop rotors. I have had really good luck with Wagner quiet stop ceramic pads, but will look at the Hawk pads as well. I will put on new calipers on the 4Runner one day, hopefully sooner than later, does anyone know which are the best ones for the 05 4Runners? I would really like to improve my towing stopping distance, and reduce brake fade in the process. And how large a rotor can I put on that will fit the stock calipers that are on the vehicle presently? Thanks for the advice...
Rick

 

I put 120 on stock pads and rotors... been happy with my hps hawk pads and stoptech slotted rotors

 

As far as I know this is old wisdom, and modern brake pads do not offgas like they did decades ago. Sorry no source.

How do you know this supposed "increased venting" outweighs the decrease in mass on the rotor? A less massive rotor, which is what you get when you drill and slot, will heat up faster for the same amount of stopping energy absorbed. Stock rotors are already vented anyway, I'm not buying that little holes increase the cooling ability appreciably.

 

So using your same concept, if the rotor has more mass and less places air can cool it, it will then hold the heat longer. Granted it will take longer to heat up, however it also will hold the heat longer

 

Dude you guys have some seriously fucked of theory's on how brakes work... when you heat up pretty much any element to the point of it essentially evaporating you're going to get a gas as at very least a by product. This is what happens when you are using your brakes for pretty much anything over a casual stop at the light. This is why it is beneficial to run a slotted rotor. U keep gas, dirt, and other contaminants off the contact surfaces of the rotor and pad.