Brakes slotted and drilled for the trail

[KarlVP]

We all put bigger tires on our trail rigs. And in turn, this requires more stopping power. Especially for the daily driver crew.

Would slotted and drilled rotors be worth it on a trail rig? Or would they fill up with crap and cause more harm than good?

 

[MarcW]

i think larger rotors and calipers would be much more effective with an adjustable proportioning valve and matching MC, than gettin drilled and slotted rotors.

 

[JOOP]

I have drilled and slotted rotor's up front. They stop me fine, but I think larger brakes and rotors woudl do a better job.

 

[boxboy]

Motorcycles use slotted rotors, Helps in cooling and to clean the mud of faster.

 

[CrustyJeep]

Yep, only usefull for heat dissipation and shedding water. I'm pretty sure heat is a non issue on a rig that tops out at five MPH :flipoff:, and I don't think it's worth it for just water shedding; standard disks do that pretty well already. You could always slot your pads...

You want more stopping power, then you gotta run larger rotors and/or more hydro pressure, end of story

 

[JACKED944RUNNER]

with slotted and cross drilled rotors you lose surface area on the brakes. If I was gonna spend $ on that I would save it and use a baer big brake or some othe form of that. Or are you disc/drum or disc/disc, if its drum how abour a disc conversion. Bigger brakes equals more surface area wich is less heat which is better braking power.

 

[CrustyJeep]

Bigger brakes equals more surface area wich is less heat which is better braking power.

It's all about diameter, not surface area. Think leverage.

More surface area keeps pressure down, and therefore surface temps down, but slow turning brakes like on a trail rig don't generate much heat.

 

[JACKED944RUNNER]

Kinda the same thing jeeze.....

 

[CrustyJeep]

Kinda the same thing jeeze.....

Actually, no :flipoff:

 

[JACKED944RUNNER]

Okay I should have add that more surface area means more grabbing area on the rotor which is increased braking/ holding power

 

[CrustyJeep]

Okay I should have add that more surface area means more grabbing area on the rotor which is increased braking/ holding power

No, see, that's where you're wrong. More grabbing area does not mean more grab. If you double the surface area of contact between pad and rotor, then you also cut in half the amount of force per square inch, which exactly negates the doubled surface area.

Now there are dynamics involved that make that statement only 95% true Heat, for example. But again, for a trail rig, who cares?

OTOH, doubling the rotor circumference does indeed double braking force, all other things being equal.


Is this still on topic, or not

 

[JACKED944RUNNER]

Okay but if you use a Baer big break kit they usually use a larger six pisaton caliper, to increase the pressue.

 

[CrustyJeep]

Or are you disc/drum or disc/disc, if its drum how abour a disc conversion.

This is the million dollar question. If you're still drums out back, nothing will come close to rear disks in terms of performance improvement. Even little Hyundai rotors are better then drums.

 

[KarlVP]

You would think that Drums would brake better because there is more surface area then discs. This simply isn't true. It is the heat dissapation that creates better braking.

You can have more surface area to a point. But if there is no release of heat, we call that brake fade. Take an old drum brake only vehicle and go down stevens pass with it. Try to maintain 35MPH on the way down.

This boys and girls is why heat dissipation is key.

Now, we are back on topic.

So, you don't think that having drilled / slotted rotors would fill them with mud and trail goo?

 

[CrustyJeep]

I don't think bigger tires equals more heat at the brakes... I still say slotted/crossdrilled/whatever rotors are junk on a trail rig because heat is the least of your worries.

Think about it... Bigger tires means more required braking force (on the rotor), but also slower rotation. Heat should stay about the same.

Oh, and I don't need no steenking brakes to drive my trail rig down Stevens Pass at 35 MPH.....?

 

[JACKED944RUNNER]

So, you don't think that having drilled / slotted rotors would fill them with mud and trail goo?

A little more than the factory vented maybe, but it is not that big of a difference