If you have 2x4 it should be pretty easy to run some kind of duct into the rotor from either the recover hook gap in the air dam or the fox light place if you took your fog lights out like me. It works wonders on a lot of Auto X cars.

4x4 has some more stuff in the front though but still possible. Also, just get autozone rotors or something. Lifetime warranty- just swap them every now and again. Watch the puddles and car washes after braking hard. I think a lot of these failures are due to overtightened lug nuts.. PLEASE PLEASE don’t overtighen the lug nuts. But more or less, heavy truck + hard stops = decreased rotor life. Its like beating on any other part.

All things being equal, heavier rotors should work best, but all things aren’t equal so I cant tell you which rotors to use. Also, these higher perf pads will eat up more rotor.

 

Hm.. I like the idea about the ducts I might try to work something out when I make a ram-air (no i dont need to be schooled on how this dosent work)

Whats with overtightening the lug nuts messing up the rotors? Is that causing cracking or what is the danger here?

 

I think it just creates stess points/ unevenly distributed stress on the rotor giving it a "path" to warp on. Its also just unneccisary stress and your lug nuts could even loosen up if you over tighten them!

 

OK, I have a question. I just put Raybestos ceramic pads on my truck about 50k miles ago give or take a few thousand miles. My stock rotors are now warped just for the simple fact that the ceramic pads get way hotter than the stock pads. My uncle is a mechanic and he told me that I could get these slotted rotors and it would cure my problem and it wouldn't warp anymore. What do you guys think?

 

Performance Friction makes a carbon-metallic pad. I used them on my 94 Sonoma and liked them.

Overtightening of lug nuts will not necessarily lead to warped rotors, as long as they were gradually and evenly loaded across the lug pattern. Warped rotors typically come from the morons (usually the newbie) at the tire shops when they put your wheels back on. They zip the first lug nut on at full speed until it's completely overtightened and continue on from there. You get very uneven loading on the rotor because of this and that leads to the warping. They are supposed to use a torque wrench or a torque stick but very few shops do. I watch them like a hawk any time my wheels are taken off!

 

Thats another great way to warp them. Over tightening can cause warping i'm pretty sure, even if you star them on and off. I'm not talking +- a ftlb or two but when people jump up and down on their wrench... bad things happen.

As far as ceramic pads; there is no need for those on the street at all. I'm not too familiar with them but dont they work best when pracitcally glowing red? That is when their frictional properties are highest?

I would NOT drill your own rotors. On iron, you have a prime number of vents (usually 41, 43 or 47) which makes for a very difficult time to CD a pattern in there without hitting a vent. Also, one they have been used I would avoid drilling them. Sounds like a bad idea. I have no idea how badly the strength would be compromised. Drilling alone breaks up the grain structure of the metal which is not a good thing. When they are cast like that, they formed around those holes but when you drill them you are asking for problem.



BTW: Check the thickness of your CD'd plates. I'm currious as to how they compare to a OEM rotor. Thicker rotor = less warping and cracking. Very direct and obvious relationship there

 

I dont have the experience or general automotive knowledge to debate either side, however, from what Ive seen I would thinkthat crossdrilled and slotted rotors would be easier to crack and warp than solid rotors. Again I pose the same question. Where would one get 14 inch solid rotors to fit our apps??? If not available, then would you recommend the powerslots with SS brake lines and some better Hawk pads????

 

Solid = crap. You want vented with thick plates to avoid warping.

There is no need for slotted rotors at all. You cant get a bigger rotor because it wont clear the caliper bridge. If designed correctly, there should only be a few mm clearance in there when cold. I suggest the "bolt ons"

SS lines, hawk pads, good solid rotors. I think brembo makes OE replacements but cant vouche for quality. Also that air duct is a good idea. If we have a dust sheild, take it off and add that. *disclaimer* I dont know if the dust shield serves any purpose other than block dust. It could be protecting something. Havn't looked.

It seems like our trucks have enough braking force. I can lock up the wheel (or at least engage ABS) for a nice speed (30mph). It really throws you forward when you hit it. Unfortunately, the rotors heat up quickly and we have abosulte **** for pedal feel. SS lines should fix most of that though.

you could also throw in an Ls6 to reduce weight up front which would take a good amount of stress off of them. The rear brakes are way overpowered for an empty bed. They probobly have the ability to stop 85% of what the fronts can and half about 30% of the weight on them. the upcoming F350 will actually have a rear brake bias! So the front ones are the limiting factor. Weight reduction up front is key. LS6. Also, cranking torsion bars will stiffen out the front and less nose dive = less weight up front durring braking.

Other things that help: Carbon fiber fenders and hood, Chromoly prerunner bumpers and aftermarket K members and suspension component replacements usually made of chromoly.

 

Oh, I got confused for a second. I meant same style as OEM except for a larger rotor, so I guess they are reffered to as vented. I know you would need a caliper relocator bracket.
Would it be significantly better to go with a larger rotor with a caliper relocator bracket as opposed to SS brake lines, Hawk pads, and powerslot rotors?? I understand that they may not help all that much (powerslot), but for the little extra they do look alot nicer behind bigger wheels.
An LS6 is big money. Think I'll stick with a 6.0 and 4L80 and keep the extra bread for something else .
If you had to go with one based on performance related to dollar amount spent would you go with Jsmith setup or the eradispeed +1???
Thanks

 

OK....we've got a lot of good information here (and thank you all for keeping it intelligent and clean), now.....I'm going to move this discussion in the direction I intended originally (I had a secret aganda....I admit it)

OK....now we've come to a semi-agreement that (all other things being equal) the ONLY time that a slotted/crossed drilled rotor can be of any real benefit is when using a pad that will "outgas"....and that you can SMELL when that happens (we've ALL smelled that smell). Would there be and benefit in using the cross-drilling/slotting technology in another very related automotive application ??....What part on most performance vehicles sees friction almost constantly, Uses a mostly organic friction compound for inproved coef. of friction, is NOT vented for better heat removal, AND when the friction material used with it starts to "outgas" you DEFINITELY notice it ???.....THE FLYWHEEL

I have wondered for YEARS why no-one has created a cross-drilled flywheel for street use (I HAVE seen them for hard-core racing use....mostly F1 where weight is a MAJOR factor....even GRAMS count there). with all of the idiots out there that *think* they can drive and are constantly slipping the clutch due to stupid driving habits I would think that ANY increase in cooling or venting from drilling/slotting the flywheel would be a good thing. You would lose a small amount of friction surface area but since a clutch has a MUCH larger friction area than a brake pad I really don't see where a loss would be noticed

Now...AGAIN....I AM ASKING A QUESTION HERE....NOT TRYING TO CAUSE HATE AND DISCONTENT

Thank you
Al