Calipers......

[Erik the Awful]

I run Raybestos Service Grade Ceramics on my Mustang, and I autocross it. They wear well, don't make stupid amounts of dust, and stand the car on its nose when asked.

When it comes to solid or drilled/slotted rotors, I always prefer solid. If you run drilled/slotted rotors, you're going to be replacing them every brake job due to cracking. Most modern pads don't have the out-gassing problem old pads had, so you don't have to worry about brake fade when the solid rotors heat up. We run solid rotors on our race car with Hawk pads and we haven't had any issues with brake fade.

 

[Schurkey]

I was mostly wondering about calipers. The ones on the truck have been rebuilt a couple times and it's probably best to replace them. Like the idea of the new Raybestos but they aren't coated.

Unless the threaded holes have worn out, or the bleeder screws are seized/broken or leak, or the seal grooves are beat up...I'd rebuild 'em again.

Most of the time I don't even buy new parts. Take 'em apart, clean up the rubber, clean up the piston, make sure the caliper glides on it's pins/bushings. Cram it all back together.

'Course, if the piston has flaking or pitted chrome, or if the rubber is damaged, you'll need replacement parts.





Every drill spot, every "slot" on the rotor is LESS SURFACE AREA for the pads to work against. What actually matters is the thickness of the iron. Cheap rotors have thin iron, huge air gap in the middle. Good rotors have thick iron, thin air gap, and--sometimes--the venting in the center of the rotor uses a labyrinth air path instead of straight vanes.

 

[DerekTheGreat]

What Schurkey said. I really think slotted & drilled rotors are a cheesy gimmick, eye candy stuff. Perhaps they offer advantages in race only applications, but that's as much as I'll concede in their favor. Either get more aggressive pads or upgrade the size of your brakes or a combination of both.

I don't know what pads I put on my wife's 92, but it's got the brakes everyone says are garbage on GMT400's, JB5's. It's got great pedal feel and stops great with minimal effort, haven't even felt tempted to really stomp on 'em. Parking brake works and gets used regularly to keep the rears adjusted too. My truck has same brakes. While the pedal feel is great, I don't think my pads are aggressive.

I've got ceramics of some sort up front, dust is non existent compared to her truck but I think the sacrifice was some stopping power. Pads still look like new despite some 25k miles later. Stock type replacement rotors are starting to show their age. Calipers were zinc plated replacements that I shot Fluid Film on- just light surface rust despite three years of salt spray. Fluid Film is great stuff, my truck hasn't gotten any worse since I got it.

 

[MrPink]

Cardone Coated calipers, raybestos R-line pads and rotors. so far so good. I will be using the same ish setup when I do my rear disk swap.

 

[alpinecrick]

Every drill spot, every "slot" on the rotor is LESS SURFACE AREA for the pads to work against. What actually matters is the thickness of the iron. Cheap rotors have thin iron, huge air gap in the middle. Good rotors have thick iron, thin air gap, and--sometimes--the venting in the center of the rotor uses a labyrinth air path instead of straight vanes.

What Schurkey said. I really think slotted & drilled rotors are a cheesy gimmick, eye candy stuff. Perhaps they offer advantages in race only applications, but that's as much as I'll concede in their favor. Either get more aggressive pads or upgrade the size of your brakes or a combination of both.

In the past I've avoided slotted/drilled rotors for these same reasons too--I try to stay away from the Boy Racer parts. But.........my tire shop that also has a bevy of mechanics that do other work says they think there may be something to slotted rotors not as likely to warp. Keep in mind I live in Colorado where--even though I downshift the trans a lot--there is more extended braking conditions. I've warped rotors a couple times. I also speculate that my rotor vanes become clogged with rust and that may be a contributing factor.

I debating between the Raybestos 580438--which doesn't have coated vanes but has the tightest tolerances as far as runout.
Or the Raybestos 580438FZN that does have coated vanes.
Or the AC Delco 18A258SD or Raybestos 580438 (same rotors) that are slotted and have coated vanes.

I thought something funky was going on and pulled the front brakes this past weekend and sure enough an inside pad had hung up where it slides on the caliper, and consequently was cocked, making only about 2/3's contact with the rotor. I used good parts but rebuilt the calipers this past summer. Closer look and it seems I have a bit of play between one of the sleeves and bolt/pin on that caliper. By the time I replace slides and bolts plus new seals (and maybe a piston) I can buy rebuilt AC Delco calipers with their current instant rebate for a few dollars more.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

In the past I've avoided slotted/drilled rotors for these same reasons too--I try to stay away from the Boy Racer parts. But.........my tire shop that also has a bevy of mechanics that do other work says they think there may be something to slotted rotors not as likely to warp. Keep in mind I live in Colorado where--even though I downshift the trans a lot--there is more extended braking conditions. I've warped rotors a couple times. I also speculate that my rotor vanes become clogged with rust and that may be a contributing factor.

I debating between the Raybestos 580438--which doesn't have coated vanes but has the tightest tolerances as far as runout.
Or the Raybestos 580438FZN that does have coated vanes.
Or the AC Delco 18A258SD or Raybestos 580438 (same rotors) that are slotted and have coated vanes.

I thought something funky was going on and pulled the front brakes this past weekend and sure enough an inside pad had hung up where it slides on the caliper, and consequently was cocked, making only about 2/3's contact with the rotor. I used good parts but rebuilt the calipers this past summer. Closer look and it seems I have a bit of play between one of the sleeves and bolt/pin on that caliper. By the time I replace slides and bolts plus new seals (and maybe a piston) I can buy rebuilt AC Delco calipers with their current instant rebate for a few dollars more.

See, this is one of those things where the clean and greased slides on the caliper brackets and spindles would have likely kept that from happening.

 

[Gibson]

See, this is one of those things where the clean and greased slides on the caliper brackets and spindles would have likely kept that from happening.

Right,, much of the talk about "warped rotors" is really the rotors developing "hard spots", where their are alternating areas of the rotor which have different coefficients of friction.
Having clean and easy sliding calipers/caliper pins cures much of what is incorrectly called warped rotors.

 

[alpinecrick]

See, this is one of those things where the clean and greased slides on the caliper brackets and spindles would have likely kept that from happening.

Oh, I did indeed rebuild the calipers, including pulling the slides and cleaning and greasing everything but used the original slides and bolts. Don't recall them having play though.........

 

[F4U-1A]

Cardone Coated calipers, raybestos R-line pads and rotors. so far so good. I will be using the same ish setup when I do my rear disk swap.

Great, Mr Pink. Now I can not get that song out of my head. Little Green Bag?

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Oh, I did indeed rebuild the calipers, including pulling the slides and cleaning and greasing everything but used the original slides and bolts. Don't recall them having play though.........

Did you check them for any burrs or worn/flat spots? Sometimes those will cause it to bind up....