Brakes - something of a "public service message"

[babybolt]

Wilwood has aluminum hub/disc brake setups.  They have a lightweight drag rotor assembly just for these cars.  Supposed to be made in the US.  Seems to be fairly popular at dragstrips.

Here's a link to the Centric higher end rotor, supposed to be cryogenic treated.  $71.79 plus shipping.  There is a left and right because of the directional vanes.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=4907190&cc=1132434&jsn=250

[BattlestarGalactic]

The wear on that rotor almost looks like something else is awry. Wheel bearings, caliper chatter, something out of alignment... does not look like normal rotor wear, even for a cheap rotor. I'd keep digging.

My first thought also.   Even my 4000# brick does not eat up brakes like that.  I have stock '77 Tbird calipers/rotors with Hawk pads on it.  I'm still going 120-122 mph so it is no slouch but I go years without issue.  They never look like that.   Granted I don't get crazy with brake application, just firm enough to slow down, but never try for the first or second turn off at any track.  I don't use the engine for braking either! 

I did put a generic GM rear brake kit on the back a few years ago.  That did help with things over the stock drums.  After a few seconds of braking, I can feel it really bite in and I usually have to ease off to coast to the end of most tracks.

[Heo]

I have a friend that drives rally he bought some rotor that cracked like that
after one race. But they realy use the brakes, at night you see the rotors
glow. And yours dont look like they have been more than luke warm

[scott foxwell]

Wilwood has aluminum hub/disc brake setups.  They have a lightweight drag rotor assembly just for these cars.  Supposed to be made in the US.  Seems to be fairly popular at dragstrips.

Here's a link to the Centric higher end rotor, supposed to be cryogenic treated.  $71.79 plus shipping.  There is a left and right because of the directional vanes.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=4907190&cc=1132434&jsn=250

I had 6 piston 13" Wilwoods on the front of my 07 Mustang and Centric rotors on the back. Centric makes a good product. One (road course) session the brakes got so hot they melted the plastic dust caps on the front hubs but never faded...

[Barry_R]

That funky pattern on the rotor is just an artifact of the photograph and shop lighting - you cannot see anything like that looking at it in person.  Rotor is reasonably smooth with no indication of high temperatures or glazing - nothing turning even a little bit blue, grease still OK on the rubber bits in the calipers, pads look perfectly normal. 

This was run with the factory rear drums - as it has been since 1981 when I bought the car - and never really had a problem stopping - so its not any kind of bias change.  Car has not been run with the rear discs at all yet.

If not for the cracks anybody would just put the wheel back on and continue racing.  And yes - I also ran that stock stuff at much higher speeds for a few decades without incident when the car had a larger engine in it - and nitrous.

[Rory428]

For many years, I ran the factory front disc brakes on my Fairmont, with 67 T Bird 11" rear drum brakes. The stock rotors were 10", and back when the car only trapped 125-126 MPH, never really had any abnormal brake issues. Plus my home track has a long shutdown area. However, going 5 MPH faster made the brake life drop dramatically, and going to a couple of races a year at Bremerton Raceway, with a much shorter, plus downhill shut down, really killed the rotors. I have solid Centerline AutoDrag Wheels, so you can not see the rotors from outside, but several years ago, I was shocked at how bad the rotors looked. They were blue, with large cracks all around the rotor, and on both sides. Thay looked so bad, that they looked like if you dropped them on the floor, they would shatter into pieces. (I did try that, they did NOT break.) After putting on new rotors a few times, about 3 years ago, I upgraded to the 11" brake spindles and calipers from a 5.0 L 87-93 Mustang, along with 5 lug rotors. I can`t say the car stop a lot better, but at least the larger rotors look much better.

[mbrunson427]

My worst professor I had in college taught materials. He was very very smart, but very very condescending. The only thing I believe I learned from him directly relates to this. He was a motorcycle nut and quite a bit of his research was in motorsports materials.

One of his studies was on brake rotor heat treatment. He showed us what happens if you take a short cut (like the Chinese) in heat treating brake rotors. A lot of times people will think that they have a warped rotor, when truly the rotor hasn't "warped", but the material on the face of the rotor has moved around. Improper patience in heat treatment can also yield cracks exactly as that rotor shows. He mapped the processes through the phase diagrams and it made total sense at the time (No way I could make sense of it anymore though).

[Leny Mason]

We have one NAPA that still cuts rotors and a shop next door to my shop still cuts some. But the all push replacing them as cost cut measures. My 95 F 350 is on its second set of frts and I have replaced one rear drum. My Dodge diesel is on its second set of rotors and heading for its third due to warpage. The dodge has a real problem with death wobble when you hit the brakes at times , can`t figure it out and had it to the best truck alignment shop in the area. My 03 Bonneville Is getting new rotors again due to pad deterating, Fifth time.

There is a real fix for the wobble on the Dodge trucks I can find out what it is if you want me to I can't remember  it now, but there is one and on the rotors  i have found if you buy performance rotors and you ask for the ones made in Canada, if you are doing GM stuff always use performance rotors or they will warp right away . Leny Mason

[MRadke]

The fix on the dodge is a steering arm stabilizer http://www.dodgeramsteeringstabilizer.com/.  I have one installed on my 98 Ram and it cleared up both the death wobble and the chopped pattern on the tires. 

[GJCAT427]

I gotta add the  dodge is a 3500 two wheel drive diesel that has the straight axle. It also has 2 shock steering dampers mounted on it(factory). I`m wondering if that kit will fit under there? Lenny see what the fix is you mentioned.

[MRadke]

Reading the description, the straight axle 3500 uses the 4wd version.