Good solid brake rotors?

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blackbetty14

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Looking at doing brakes on my 2018 1500. I have 44k miles but getting some squealing. When I did headers and swap the wheels I always look at the pads and they have alot of life on them. I picked up some Performance Friction carbon metallic pads and thought about reusing the stock rotors which only have 44k on them and Don't seem to in too bad of shape. I would clean them up obviously but now I'm rethinking. I know I want a solid rotor (no slots of drilling) and I don't do much if any towing. I am on the brakes alot (back roads) and put on 250+ miles a week just commuting. I know I want a coated rotor preferably black but don't want rust as I run 22" hellcat wheels in the summer so you can see everything!

Any of your guys run the Bendix Fleet Metlok rotors? #SDR5365 and #SDR5381? I was looking at Wagner Premium with Ecoat as well. Ideally $70ish or less per rotor would be ideal.
 

Burla

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wagner e coated rotors, they coat so they don't weld to the hub on salt roads. Wagner oex pads are incredible, they grab very nicely and simply do not dust at all. They have slots so the dissipate heat as well. And they are fairly cheap which makes no sense for this quality.

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HEMIMANN

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Do Powerstop rotors wear out significantly faster due to less frictional surface area from holes and slots?

I'm about 2/3 of the way to change. Powerstop also pushes changing out calipers to theirs for some reason short of more sales.
 

PoMansRam

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I'd go with Raybestos Element 3's. I have them on the front of my 2019 Ram 1500 classic and they've held up well.

I live in the rust belt. The winter time nastiness does in brakes before normal wear does unless you pull them apart to clean corrosion and re-lube 2x per year.
 
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blackbetty14

blackbetty14

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Do Powerstop rotors wear out significantly faster due to less frictional surface area from holes and slots?

I'm about 2/3 of the way to change. Powerstop also pushes changing out calipers to theirs for some reason short of more sales.
Unless the material is softer no. But anything with slots or holes has less surface area so you get less braking area given the area of the rotor. The slots and holes are for outgassing, airflow and pad cleaning at the expense of less area and a rotor that’s prone to cracking (drilled rotors). . All those are not needed on my
DD truck.
 
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blackbetty14

blackbetty14

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I’m not a huge fan of ceramic pads. That’s why I went with the performance friction carbon metallics. All the perks of ceramic but better stopping except they can be alittle harder on rotors.
 

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But anything with slots or holes has less surface area so you get less braking area given the area of the rotor. The slots and holes are for outgassing, airflow and pad cleaning at the expense of less area and a rotor that’s prone to cracking (drilled rotors). . All those are not needed on my
DD truck.
That is old-school thinking with an injection from race track/car brake issues. You are thinking of issues with cast iron rotors, metal technologies today are very much improved. Drilled and slotted rotors offer unparalleled performance at a cost of a shorter life span. Slotted and/or drilled rotors, or slotted brake pads don't matter, what matters is the brake's performance and that is where slotted/drilled rotors shine.

I ran the Power Stops on my 2013 when it came time for brakes, which made a major difference. So much so, that I decided to put the Power Stops on my 2015 3500 when the kit came out a few years ago. The differences between the factory brakes and the Power Stop brakes are simply amazing, particularly when bringing a GCVW of 25,000 pounds to a stop. Many folks that tow heavy with RAM HD trucks know the factory brake controller pulls back trailer braking effort when travel speeds fall below 30 MPH. It is nice to have braking confidence.

I'm sure Power Stop is not the only good braking solution but it is the only solution I've had first-hand experience with.
 
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HEMIMANN

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Unless the material is softer no. But anything with slots or holes has less surface area so you get less braking area given the area of the rotor. The slots and holes are for outgassing, airflow and pad cleaning at the expense of less area and a rotor that’s prone to cracking (drilled rotors). . All those are not needed on my
DD truck.

Yeah, I know what the slots and grooves are for, they keep the disc surface cooler at heavy loads / speeds, resisting brake fade. Users that tow heavy / often, esp. in hotter climates report better stopping power despite less surface area.

It stands to reason the rotor wear would be faster due to less surface area as well.
 

HEMIMANN

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That is old-school thinking with an injection from race track/car brake issues. You are thinking of issues with cast iron rotors, metal technologies today are very much improved. Drilled and slotted rotors offer unparalleled performance at a cost of a shorter life span. Slotted and/or drilled rotors, or slotted brake pads don't matter, what matters is the brake's performance and that is where slotted/drilled rotors shine.

I ran the Power Stops on my 2013 when it came time for brakes, which made a major difference. So much so, that I decided to put the Power Stops on my 2015 3500 when the kit came out a few years ago. The differences between the factory brakes and the Power Stop brakes are simply amazing, particularly when bringing a GCVW of 25,000 pounds to a stop. Many folks that tow heavy with RAM HD trucks know the factory brake controller pulls back trailer braking effort when travel speeds fall below 30 MPH. It is nice to have braking confidence.

I'm sure Power Stop is not the only good braking solution but it is the only solution I've had first-hand experience with.

Thank you for sharing.
 

HEMIMANN

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@BossHogg - what would you say for a GCVW in the 11,000 - 14,000 pound range? PowerStop worth it for these lower loads than yours?
 

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@BossHogg - what would you say for a GCVW in the 11,000 - 14,000 pound range? PowerStop worth it for these lower loads than yours?
I think that depends on the trailer you are pulling, surge brakes, or electric? How often do you tow, where, flatlands or a lot of hills? The balance is between brake performance and brake lifetime.

The vehicle tow and payload rating match the vehicle's brakes from the factory. On my 2013 Laramie, I had the Power Stop daily driver brakes but still towed my boat, 5K, and my utility trailer with tractor on it, about 7.2K. The utility trailer had electric brakes and the boat surge brakes. Didn't have an issue stopping either.

My 2015 3500, Power Stop only offers a single solution at the time and I can tell you, they are awesome brakes and seem to be wearing very well. The 3500 typically tows our 40-foot Montana RV coming in at 16K and I have a 16-foot dump trailer with a maximum GVW of 15K.

Looks like you are in the towing abilities of a 2500 and I think Power Stop now offers multi solutions. Back when I replaced my brakes, they only offered the Z36, now I see they have broadened their offerings. The more aggressive the braking, like the Z36, the shorter the lifetime. If I were to choose today, I would likely opt for the Z23 solution.

I don't want to exclude other manufacturers but I only have first-hand experience with Power Stop.
 
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blackbetty14

blackbetty14

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That is old-school thinking with an injection from race track/car brake issues. You are thinking of issues with cast iron rotors, metal technologies today are very much improved. Drilled and slotted rotors offer unparalleled performance at a cost of a shorter life span. Slotted and/or drilled rotors, or slotted brake pads don't matter, what matters is the brake's performance and that is where slotted/drilled rotors shine.

I ran the Power Stops on my 2013 when it came time for brakes, which made a major difference. So much so, that I decided to put the Power Stops on my 2015 3500 when the kit came out a few years ago. The differences between the factory brakes and the Power Stop brakes are simply amazing, particularly when bringing a GCVW of 25,000 pounds to a stop. Many folks that tow heavy with RAM HD trucks know the factory brake controller pulls back trailer braking effort when travel speeds fall below 30 MPH. It is nice to have braking confidence.

I'm sure Power Stop is not the only good braking solution but it is the only solution I've had first-hand experience with.
I would kindly disagree to an extent. Rotor materials have changed, however basic principles still apply. Drilled rotors have a much high rate of cracking and I’ve had some do it due to the drilling process. The benefits of course are high performance cooling and outgassing (newer pad compounds don’t outgas nearly as much) so they are mainly for cooling. Slots offer some cooling. But more for outgassing and a cleaner pad to rotor contact area. By removing rotor surface you reduce the contact of the pad to the rotor which will reduce performance if all else is the same. Usually on performance rotors you will run more aggressive pads which makes most of this a wash as it wears faster making longevity less of an issue. I have never had a rotors warp on me and I also don’t drive my truck hard regularly. Sure I will have the bed full, have an engine and trans in the bed once in a while or tow a sMall trailer but I commute a drive regularly. Unless the brakes are being beat on regularly neither option is necessary given the reduced life and earlier failure rate on the drilled rotors. You can run an aggressive pad on a solid rotor and I bet the braking would be better than a drilled and slotted rotor but the chances of overheating and wearing that rotor out increase. Ceramic pads also aren’t the best but they are generally quieter and dust less than organic or semi metallic but has higher temp threshold. You also need to build sufficient heat for most performance pads to work efficiently. Which means u loose braking on normal driving when you aren’t on them a lot or driving hard. I have to build up heat in my firebird with Baer brakes which have hawks performance ceramic pads and drilled/slotted rotors before braking noticeably improves this is something I don’t really have to do in my truck.
 
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