Drilled or Slotted

aight for all you brake nutz... Cross-Drilled or Slotted Rotors...???? I persnally don't understand what the differnce is, they both disperse heat evenly across the rotor and they both last for a long while i've herd. Somebody help me before i make the wrong decision, because this whole month i'm gonna be into my brakes and pretty much my brakes only... you know.. safety FIRST.. haha
Thanks

Hi there,
I changed my 96 T-birds rotors last year to cross drilled ones. I debated for quite some time since the whole thing cost me 500$, but now that I have them I am happy. The whole braking process is a bit different, you cannot just stomp at them anymore.You have to brake kinda light because they do stop at a dime.What I can tell you is that mine wear down very slow...no grooves or nothing yet, no brakedust whatsoever which is nice I do not have to scrub the rims with a toothbrush no more:) No noise, no nothing. My old rotors were so stuck on that we had to lightly beat them off. Just make sure you have the tool to compress the caliper otherwise it will be a big pain in the a..! Hope this helps, have a great day
Marija

Thanks... Ya in the shop at school we have the Ford tool used to compress the Rear calipers, as in the Front al lu need is a C-Clamp, but thanks for the info i think ima go with cross drilled, but i heard you cant machine cross-drilled rotors... is this true?

Honestly I do not know. While you are looking check out KVR's that is what I got. Just call and ask the place you want to order them from. Like I said mine were changed last year March and I would definitly recommend them. Have fun.

This could be the stupidest question you ever heard, but I have no idea... I wanted to get some cross drilled/slotted rotors but couldnt afford them, so I had to get the regular old flat rotors... would it hurt to drill holes in those?

don't do that, im thinking their drilled and slotted like geometrically in place (if that made any sense) like you cant just go and drill holes in stock rotors it doenst work the same.

oh yeah, good point

Having been in the motorsports industry myself now, I quickly learned that the issue of the rotors is not really debated anymore, with a clearly identifiable winner.

For racing purposes, most cars use slotted (non drilled) rotors to dispense heat and gas. The holes decrease the structural integrity dramatically, causing the cracking of the rotors.

For the street, considering the limited stress levels, there should not be any performance difference between the slotted and/or drilled rotors.

Both of these designs are intended to prevent brake fade, and I do not believe they affect the braking performance itself in any way whatsoever. As in, considering rotor/pad temperatures are constant, neither of designs has no effect on the stopping distance.

I agree that it really isnt a big deal performance wise between drilled or slotted, but they are much better than plain rotors, any day. They stop quicker, and they look great, and produce less brake dust, which is great for people who like their car to look nice. I want the cross drilled and slotted rotors simply for the look and the brake dust , because my plain rotors leave a film of dust on my wheels after 2 days, and that sucks.

I doubt that drilled and/or slotted rotors can alleviate the brake dust issue. In my experience that depends much more on the type of pad I am using.

Again, I want to emphasize that as far as I am aware, drilled/slotted rotors do not affect the stopping distance of the car in any way.

thats the first time I've ever heard a negative opinion about drilled/slotted rotors.

It has been my impression that neither do any noticable improvments to improve braking performance.

If you want better brakes get a big brake kit with 13" rotors...THAT is gonna make the car STOP...hehe

Brad

Slotted rotors are a must have for racecars, but for street it's not really paramount. Drilled rotors are only for looks nowadays.

Even with a stock braking system, if you change to stainless steel lines, use good fluid, and get really good pads, you will notice an incredible difference.

Even with StopTech's Big Brake Kit on, when on the street, I use Axxis Ultimate pads, and they're ok, but in no way compare to the God status of the PFC 97 pads that I use on the track. These carbon-metallic pads are incredible. 60-0 should be under 100ft.
However, you can't really use these specific pads with many stock rotors. PFC 97 pads are so hard, that they are harder than many rotors out there, which means that if you have a rotor that cannot handle the pad, you will be shaving the rotor instead of the pad during braking.

I am questioning the stuff they are putting in these new pads since the scare on asbestos.
I have 12" rotors (stock) and am having a problem of overheating on my 66. Never had a problem like this with the asbestos
type pads

hmmm thankz for the info everybdoy, and the part with the overheating of the brakes.. that isnt regualr, unless you like to slam down on your brakes every stop you make. They might actually be rubbing against the rotor when you drive. I had that problem for a good hmm 2 days.

I am new to an 86 T-bird with a 50 motor. I am swaping it to a 514 street pro. I need to find out if there is or someone has a set of 5 on a 4 1/2 set of rotors that will fit an 86 front rotor set up for an 86 T bird. This is the H/O 5.0 motor with the roller cam and came with 4 lug hubs. I have a set of Fairmont 5 lug 5 on 4 1/2 rotors with hubs. I havent raised the vehicle to see if they are compatable, but thought I would ask to see if anyone has encountered this project before. I have a complete set of 86 T-bird books that I got off ebay and if anyone has questions of what and why something doesnt work I will help them to solve there malfuntion. My thanks to anyone that can help. Dboy BMS racing and Head works.