Info/experience with DBC brakes

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RamWagon

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was wondering if anyones heard of or used this brand Disc Brake Canada. looking to change and came across these. im unaware the pros/cons between slotted or drilled rotors. im looking for something a bit more robust with better stopping due to the added weight of everything i have added.
 

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whetrick1

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Slotted and drilled rotors are supposed to disburse the heat off the disc and the brake pads.


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blackbetty14

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Drilled and slotted brakes will run cooler than standard brakes. Newer pad compounds do not have the same issues as old brakes where the pads had outgassing issues. The holes provided areas for the gas to escape and allow cooler air to pass through and cool the rotor.

However due to newer and better pad compounds drilled rotors are no longer really needed... and they now provide a weaker rotor as well as less surface area for the pad to contact (less pad contact means less grabbing and decreased braking performance). Plus the drilled holes can stress crack and cause much larger and dangerous issues. In a composite rotor they make sense but not in a iron rotor.

ANother thing is you dont want to brakes to run too cool... as your rotors and pads have to get up to an optimal temp for everything to work correctly and efficently. You dont want to be below or above that so its a range you want to stay in. Racing vehicles are always overheating the brakes and they always are running them at full effort all the time... so its natural they will never over cool the brakes and thus all oportunities to decrease brake temps is taken. But they also have much higher maintenace and change intervals so things like stress cracks in the rotor dont happen as they get replaced so often.

Your best performance is iron rotor with Slotting (to clean the pan constantly) and allow some gasing to be removed. A good semi mettalic or ceramic pad will work good. Best performance comes from pad compound/contact area and size. Rotor DIA, piston quantity and pad compound to be exact.
 

Jwithing

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^ second everything he just said
 

BossHogg

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However due to newer and better pad compounds drilled rotors are no longer really needed... and they now provide a weaker rotor as well as less surface area for the pad to contact (less pad contact means less grabbing and decreased braking performance). Plus the drilled holes can stress crack and cause much larger and dangerous issues. In a composite rotor they make sense but not in a iron rotor.

ANother thing is you dont want to brakes to run too cool... as your rotors and pads have to get up to an optimal temp for everything to work correctly and efficently. You dont want to be below or above that so its a range you want to stay in. Racing vehicles are always overheating the brakes and they always are running them at full effort all the time... so its natural they will never over cool the brakes and thus all oportunities to decrease brake temps is taken. But they also have much higher maintenace and change intervals so things like stress cracks in the rotor dont happen as they get replaced so often.

What you say is true but some of it is dated if what I've read and understood over the past several days is true. In a nutshell, and as you mentioned, the materials used to make the rotors and brake pads are the keys and both need to be designed to work together.

It is time to replace the brakes n my 2013 1500. After several days of researching, I bought the Power Stop Z23 solution for all four corners. The rotors are drilled and slotted (notice the holes and slots on the rotors are minimal), I'm not convinced it is needed but it certainly is a marketing attraction.

I could not find a reason not to buy this solution but found many reasons to go this route, time will tell. If anyone is interested, Amazon has this at a good price plus they offered a 10% off coupon. The Power Stop solution was less expensive than getting a piece solution of rotors and pads at my local auto parts store.
 

blackbetty14

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What you say is true but some of it is dated if what I've read and understood over the past several days is true. In a nutshell, and as you mentioned, the materials used to make the rotors and brake pads are the keys and both need to be designed to work together.

It is time to replace the brakes n my 2013 1500. After several days of researching, I bought the Power Stop Z23 solution for all four corners. The rotors are drilled and slotted (notice the holes and slots on the rotors are minimal), I'm not convinced it is needed but it certainly is a marketing attraction.

I could not find a reason not to buy this solution but found many reasons to go this route, time will tell. If anyone is interested, Amazon has this at a good price plus they offered a 10% off coupon. The Power Stop solution was less expensive than getting a piece solution of rotors and pads at my local auto parts store.


You didn't post any links. Nothing in braking has changed, everything is still the same. Hyd fluid is pressurized to 1600+psi pushes on a piston which presses a pad against a rotor. The pad compounds and rotor compounds have changed sure... but the principles are the same. Your not going to put a composite rotor on your truck. So your using an Iron rotor, a pad of a certain compound and the same stock caliper. Your only changing pad grip, rotor DIA and material is the same as well as clamping pressure. Slotted rotor will only provide pad cleaning and slight gassing/cooling increases. If your referring to diamond slotting/drilling its not the same as drilling and it still decreases pad contact surface. Slotted rotors change their design but thats "mostly" cosmetic (im sure it could have other benefits) but the principle is still the same.

The rotors you purchased will get the job done for the application but you still have a weaker rotor due to the drilled holes. THe chamfered drilling helps with cracking but doesn't mean it wont. The brand you choose is cheap so your not getting a quality product (I have used powerstop before) and while I have nothing negative to say about them I assure you the higher end (moderately priced) EBC or better (BAER, Wilwood) are much higher quality peices and less likely to fail. The continuous swoop of your rotor slot is a basic design, works sure but not optimal. I think you would have been better off with just slotted rotors but its your truck and they dont "look" as cool. The minimal slots and holes doesnt mean its a good thing. THe limited holes means you weaken the rotor by still drilling holes. Sure you loose alittle less contact than a version with more holes but that also means your getting even less cooling than a version with more holes. I think you will be happy with them either way and I hope you dont crack a rotor.

Side note... not sure if you've ever installed slotted and drilled rotors before but make sure the rotors are installed so the slot (top of the swoop) is installed so it looks like its scooping the air from the outside and forcing it to the center of the rotor... not the other way around. Its a common mistake as it doesnt "look right" but its correct that way.
 
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BossHogg

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You didn't post any links.

Way way too much info absorbed over the last week to keep track of the links.

I was referring to the materials used to make both the pads and rotors and that they match up to work with each other, not the physics used in braking.

When you say "a weaker rotor", weaker than what? Am I not going to stop now? There has to be a reference to what constitutes weaker and at what level of weaker the rotor will no longer provide repetitive and reliable stopping.

I drive a 1500 grocery getter and do some towing but since I added the 3500 to the fleet the 1500 hasn't seen towing duty. I bought brakes based on usage. I don't drag race, motocross, street race etc so I don't need the best or the best of the best. Power Stop seemed to fit the needs at a price I expected. I disagree they are cheap in quality, Google searches didn't yield any negative results but did yield positive results from Mustang forums and many other forums that host much more aggressive drivers than I. Power Stop has been around since 1995 from my research, long enough to build a reputation either bad or good.

I'm not a structural engineer but I can't help think about steel I-beams with big repetitive holes, reducing the weight without affecting the strength. I hope I didn't make a mistake going with the Power Stop solution. Oh ya, I'm 66 and retired, I don't care about the aesthetics of the rotors :).

Thanks for the pointer on the install.
 
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