[Larry P]

I switched to Power Slot Cryo rotors and Hawk pads last year and lo and behold they are also starting to vibrate just like the stock rotors always did. They lasted twice as many miles as the stock rotors before this started happening 2 weeks ago but....... it's starting and will go downhill from here for certain.

Yes, I did install the proper Hawk pads and, yes, I did seat them correctly. I also replaced the calipers and the brake lines when I made the change just to be certain everything was new up front as a starting point. These POS brakes on the front of my 2002 are the worse brakes I have ever had on a Ford truck. There just doesn't seem to be a solution to this problem. The biggest issue I have is that I am very easy on my brakes. I have an exhaust brake and use my gears for braking most of the time when towing. I've never, to my knowledge overheated the brakes or had them fade from excessive use.

My question.....Can these rotors be turned or do they have to be replaced since they are Cryo treated and slotted?

Is there any sort on warranty that Power Slot will honor for these. I've written Power Slot and I'm still waiting for an answer.

Thanks,

Larry P

 

[CZDiesel]

Did you take the time to heat the rotors like recommended? Just curious? Your right about the problem with the rotors. I'm worried my power slots will do the same as yours. How often do you pull with the truck and what kind of weights?

 

[Larry P]

Absolutely, I used the seating instructions to the letter. I tow a 3500 pound boat occasionally, haule around an 11.4' camper once in a while and a 11K 5th wheel very occasionally (3 times since buying it last year). I have an exhaust brake and never ride my brakes. Reality is, I rarely have to use my brakes on grades except when coming to a complete stop regardless of what I tow or haul. Even then I let the truck creep a bit at complete stops to prevent heating the rotors in one spot while waiting for a signal to change. As I said, I'm very easy on my brakes.

After 100K my 97 F250 Ford still had the stock rotors on it, they never warped and they were never turned through only 2 sets of pads.

What's with the later Ford trucks anyway? Front brake size not up to the task?

Larry P

 

[whjco]

About 8 months ago, I replaced all my rotors and pads with the drilled and slotted rotors and pads from brakeplanet.com and calipers and hoses from Partstrain.com. I pull a 9500# car trailer and they've worked great.

 

[FMTRVT]

They aren't any different then any other rotor you going to put on. I know you guys all think they are the answer, but 25 years of testing brakes on vehicles, including this platform, tells me NO.

>>The biggest issue I have is that I am very easy on my brakes. I have an exhaust brake and use my gears for braking most of the time when towing. I've never, to my knowledge overheated the brakes or had them fade from excessive use.<<

And that's part of the problem, a big part.

My first question will be, what was the installed runout of the rotors? The second is do you do a lot of highway driving?

The issue on this and many other vehicles is the balance of rotor wear at the high runout point of the rotor while driving down the highway (without brakes on) verses rotor wear while braking. The balance is to keep the rotors worn true.

The original friction material on the vehicle had low rotor abrasion and unless you were using the truck more like the commercial vehicle it was intended for, you were going to have an issue. The Performance Friction and Hawk pads have more rotor abrasion, so in many of light duty operating situations they would keep the rotor worn true.

However, if the rotor is installed so the runout is excessive that ain't going to happen. Higher then spec'd runout does allow contact between the rotor and pad at the high runout point more so during normal non-braked driving. So no cure.

I do 99% highway driving without a load in my truck, so I should be the poster child for disc thickness variation pulsation. 115k on the original rotors (which I checked for runout when the truck was new) and the rotors changed only because there was too much rust in the vanes for proper cooling.

The rotors don't warp, they develop thickness variation. But they will stress warp if the lug nuts are not tightened in the proper sequence and in steps. They will also develop the same issue from rust jacking between the hubs and rotor at the mating surface.

 

[catch&release]

Mine is in need of new rotors as well, but I just haven't felt motivated enough yet to jump on this. Question is.......will driving with them warped cause any other problems? I'm not towing anything on a regular basis, and I normally use the 6-speed to slow.

When I do replace them, which rotors would everybody recommend, and how much are they?

 

[whjco]

As for recommendations, see above. I'm real happy with mine. I also added a pair of front brake dust shields that really keep the red brake shoe dust off of the front wheels.

 

[CZDiesel]

Mine is in need of new rotors as well, but I just haven't felt motivated enough yet to jump on this. Question is.......will driving with them warped cause any other problems? I'm not towing anything on a regular basis, and I normally use the 6-speed to slow.

When I do replace them, which rotors would everybody recommend, and how much are they?

I opted for the Power Slots like most recommend here. I added EBC "Green Stuff" pads and I am very happy with them so far. I drove for a long time with the warped rotors and they just kept getting worse. To the point to where they definitely caused a rattle or two in the dash and they were a major hazard towing.
How do I like them? I love them! I now want to kick myself for waiting so long to put them on. I posted earlier on the pads. EBC is a premium company and the "Green Stuff" pad is their extra duty 4x4 pad. Pep-Boys was discontinuing the line and selling the rest of their stock for 4.90 a set (originally 82.50) so this might save you some money if you can find a set near you...

 

[bb79ranch]

Go to Rotorpros.com and order a set of drilled and slotted rotors for front and rear w/ pads for less than $400 including shipping to your door. I have replaced all of my vehicles' stock rotors and pads with these and I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO STOCK BRAKES. I put these on my 2k F250 XLT 4x4 that pulls a 12k gooseneck around 50% of its mileage and haven't had any issues and they have been on there for 26 months/25,000 miles. I've bought sets for my '02 Toyota Sequoia, '99 F250 Lariat 4x4, '03 F250 4x4 King Ranch, '03 F550 4x4 Longhorn Hauler. You can also find them on Ebay which is where I purchased my first set from. As shown above I have more than one set to use as a gauge on longevity, quality, and reliability. I believe you will be as impressed as I am with Rotorpros products. I hope this helps in any way, Todd.

 

[JimmyDee]

I really like my ART rotors. They are highly recommended in my book. Slotted and cyro treated, they will last almost forever.
Jim

 

[Larry P]

I really like my ARP rotors. They are highly recommended in my book. Slotted and cyro treated, they will last almost forever.
Jim

I am unable to find and source for "ARP" rotors. I find ARP rotor bolts and fasteners but can't find any such thing as an "ARP" slottled and cryo treated rotor.

Do you have a source or link to them?

Larry P

 

[Larry P]

Apparently you meant ART rotors. Expensive buggers for certain.:ugh:

Larry

 

[FMTRVT]

Ain't going to help unless you do more braaaaaaaaaaaaking.

Larry, for how many miles have they been pulsating? How severe is it? Is it light compared to what you've had before?

 

[doczenith1]

My ART rotors and PF pads started to pulsate after 25k miles. I was able to eliminate 90% of the pulsation by doing what I've heard is the proper break in procedure for new pads. I think it is called burnishing. I quickly accelerated to 50mph and then slammed the brakes as hard as I could. I repeated this 10 times in succession. After I was done the pulsating was pretty much gone.

 

[JimmyDee]

My ART rotors and PF pads started to pulsate after 25k miles. I was able to eliminate 90% of the pulsation by doing what I've heard is the proper break in procedure for new pads. I think it is called burnishing. I quickly accelerated to 50mph and then slammed the brakes as hard as I could. I repeated this 10 times in succession. After I was done the pulsating was pretty much gone.

The same thing happened to me and I used the same cure except mine were cured 100%. They have been great for 3 or 4 years now. This is where they are at. Applied Rotor Technology
Jim
Sorry for the mistake, I should of said ART instead of ARP. Since I retired I have ARP on my mind. (-:

 

[Larry P]

Ain't going to help unless you do more braaaaaaaaaaaaking.

Larry, for how many miles have they been pulsating? How severe is it? Is it light compared to what you've had before?

Just a few hundred miles. it just came out of nowhere. I've tried the break in sequence already 3 or 4 times with no effect. The hotter I get them the more they vibrate. AND it is more of a vibration than a "pulsing". I don't really feel it on the pedal but if I'm going down a grade at over 50 MPH and apply the brakes they start a vibration that increases until the dash rattles and the vibration increases in intensity the longer the brakes are applied. I'm not getting any wobbling from the steering wheel either but I recognize the symptoms of the beginnings of problems and I suspect the wobbling will be next to start.

Larry:icon_mad:

 

[CZDiesel]

Just a few hundred miles. it just came out of nowhere. I've tried the break in sequence already 3 or 4 times with no effect. The hotter I get them the more they vibrate. AND it is more of a vibration than a "pulsing". I don't really feel it on the pedal but if I'm going down a grade at over 50 MPH and apply the brakes they start a vibration that increases until the dash rattles and the vibration increases in intensity the longer the brakes are applied. I'm not getting any wobbling from the steering wheel either but I recognize the symptoms of the beginnings of problems and I suspect the wobbling will be next to start.

Larry:icon_mad:

I had the exact same symptoms. And your right, it keeps getting worse until even routine stops are a circus with all the vibration! Its the rotors. They have at some point excessively heated and caused the rotor to cool at different rates. This causes the rotor to have different consistancies in the metal. Every time the brakes are depressed with any kind of pressure they are going to chatter over these spots and it gets worse as time goes on. Sorry to say but its time for new rotors. As stated earlier I went with the Power Slots in hope that they might vent some of the gasses formed when braking and help to keep the rotors from excessively heating causing them to go bad? I can tell you that putting the new rotors and pads on made me love my truck all over again!

 

[FMTRVT]

Just a few hundred miles. it just came out of nowhere. I've tried the break in sequence already 3 or 4 times with no effect. The hotter I get them the more they vibrate. AND it is more of a vibration than a "pulsing". I don't really feel it on the pedal but if I'm going down a grade at over 50 MPH and apply the brakes they start a vibration that increases until the dash rattles and the vibration increases in intensity the longer the brakes are applied. I'm not getting any wobbling from the steering wheel either but I recognize the symptoms of the beginnings of problems and I suspect the wobbling will be next to start.

Larry:icon_mad:

I'm not a fan of the "break in sequence" as that is basically an AMS test that we used to run and it can do a nice job of burning up the front caliper piston boots.

If you not feeling it in the steering wheel, there is a very strong possibility that it's coming from the rear brakes. The easiest way to check that is not the safest way. You take a pair of vice grips and put some heater hose around the jaws, then clamp the frame to rear axle hose to cut off brake fluid flow. (And this puts the rear hose at risk for damage.) Now you have 50% of the vehicle braking capability. But if it's the rear brakes, your not going to have the pulsation.

 

[FMTRVT]

I had the exact same symptoms. And your right, it keeps getting worse until even routine stops are a circus with all the vibration! Its the rotors. They have at some point excessively heated and caused the rotor to cool at different rates. This causes the rotor to have different consistancies in the metal. Every time the brakes are depressed with any kind of pressure they are going to chatter over these spots and it gets worse as time goes on. Sorry to say but its time for new rotors. As stated earlier I went with the Power Slots in hope that they might vent some of the gasses formed when braking and help to keep the rotors from excessively heating causing them to go bad? I can tell you that putting the new rotors and pads on made me love my truck all over again!

The sequence most often is that you first develop thickness variation. The thicker section of the rotor wedges tighter in between the clamping of the caliper, giving the effect of higher brake pressure, i.e. more friction and heat at that one spot. The higher wedged pressure kicks back to the pedal and the higher brake torque at the one spot on the one rotor causes a pull to the steering. With enough braking, the increased friction causes a very hot spot, which once you let off the brake cools rapidly as the rest of the rotor absorbs the energy, and becomes martensitic.

The ideal is to catch the thickness variation before it becomes a hard spot.

 

[CZDiesel]

The sequence most often is that you first develop thickness variation. The thicker section of the rotor wedges tighter in between the clamping of the caliper, giving the effect of higher brake pressure, i.e. more friction and heat at that one spot. The higher wedged pressure kicks back to the pedal and the higher brake torque at the one spot on the one rotor causes a pull to the steering. With enough braking, the increased friction causes a very hot spot, which once you let off the brake cools rapidly as the rest of the rotor absorbs the energy, and becomes martensitic.

The ideal is to catch the thickness variation before it becomes a hard spot.

I agree totally. You did a much better job at explaining it than I did. However, when my rotors were completely done for it did not give that much wobble through the steering wheel and there was no pull. It did feel as if the dash was going to fall off right there on every depression of the brake pedal. Like I said before it was only through my bad decisions that I let it get that bad and for that long. Also it felt as if the rear of the truck would bounce up and down too. So, I bought all four rotors and sets of pads but after installing the front rotors and pads it has completely cured the vibration problem. It really feels like a new truck to me all over again because I had let it go for so long. And the power that its stops with is just tremendous. But it probably was that way before and I had just forgotten the feeling of good brakes on the truck