Aggie-150

I wouldnt consider occasional quick stops and towing "hard abuse" unless you tow over the weight capacity or you're in the mountains on long, downhill braking stints.

I autocross, which even I wouldnt consider "hard abuse" even though the brakes are getting stabbed (depending on the course)

I'm glad you've had good luck with your drilled rotors in the past. Slotted rotors can absolutely help performance, its the drilled part that can be dangerous. I can also tell you from experience that good pads alone on a set of blanks will exponentially improve stopping power. I dont recall if our trucks have braided steel brake lines, and pads+braided lines will help braking MUCH more than flashy rotors. The pads are what stops the vehicle. Having holes/slots just helps the pads grab a little better on longer braking distances.

Also, Nascar brakes will rip your face off. Got to drive one and holy CRAP I thought i'd rip chunks of concrete off the track

papa tiger

There are pros and cons to everything. Drilled and slotted rotors stop quicker with pads making better braking with less pressure. Drilled help the pads cool quicker. Slotted rotors brake best. Reason Nascar uses them.


Same pro and cons used with turbo or non turbo V6/V8's. Most all high performance on road off road use drilled and slotted or slotted rotors. Reason is they perform.
Nothing wrong with stock rotors. My choice is ?


Availability and experience. Slotted only rotors very mucho bucko's.

millwrat

Not interested in slotted or drilled rotors.

Very interested in quality Brembo rotors all the way round.

(Brembo stocks used to be A+. If this has changed, please let me know, and suggest other stout rotors)

LastResort

I run autozones on my WRX because they're hella cheap and frankly, they perform just fine. In fact, most of the guys that were tracking their WRXs regularly were running either OEM or Autozone blanks because they would eat a set of pads and rotors in a weekend and buying a set of brembos 6x a year was ridiculous for the total lack of measurable improved performance. On the other hand, the posers made sure to buy the biggest brake kit they could for their "stanced" car, which never, ever did anything even as remotely stressing as taking a single lap around a track.

Edit: Just went back and looked. I bought a complete set of pads, rotors, hardware kit and new brackets for the rears (doing an upgrade to the OEM rotors) for $261 shipped to my door. And I've been running them since March of 11. Not bad. I'll probably do the same for my truck when it comes around.

Aggie-150

brembo blanks? Ive used Centric blanks (made by Stoptech I believe) because they're a good price and just as good quality.

papa tiger

I believe they have that super cold cyro treat to them.

jbailly

I just had my front rotors replaced on my '11 F-150 @ 60,000 miles due to cracks. The head mechanic claimed it was due to the calipers being frozen on and dragging causing ALOT of heat. Seems odd as I have them rotate the tires @ every oil change and I change oil @ 4,500 miles. I would have thought you would have noticed my calipers froze the last time I had it in. He claimed this can happen in 2,000 miles. They supposedly freed all calipers up and lubed them. We will see if I get another 60,000 out of these brakes.

papa tiger

Stock blanks crack in straight lines from the inner brake surfact in a straight line to the outer edge. With time the straight cracks egg shell crack all over the place. If u see it replace them is what i do. If u see abnormal wear suspect caliper problem.

papa tiger

Passed 2000 miles on them and couldn't be happier with stopping and smooth braking.