My good ole' standard ford rotors are obviously not up to the job of stopping 32" tires on 17" wheels with my heavy right foot. They're vibrating pretty significantly for the 2nd time now. I was going to turn them one more time, but I think I'm gonna ditch the whole setup, and upgrade to a slotted or cross-drilled rotor, if not go up to a larger overall brake, if thats economically feasible. Has anyone done this or looked into this? Recommendations?

 

I would have done mine when i had my truck. But the way the rotors are setup , thier a pain in the ****.

Im used to knocking the rotors off, without having to mess with the way the edges are set-up now.

When i converted to 5lug, i made sure i had that set-up, once i go to slotted.. or something..

I know thiers kits out there, for the ranger, bigger brakes, and since you have 17" i'd say go bigger everything, ill try and find the kit i wanted to go with. Ill post it if i find it.

 

i preemptively upgraded my rotors and pads (rotors were warped at 34k and pads were shot) and got powerslot rotors and hawk performance ferro-carbon pads. the combination gave me a HUGE improvement in braking. I recently got 30" tires on 18" wheels, and the responsiveness of the braking over stock is still dramatic. i know slotted rotors arent particularly good if you do lots of off-roading, but i baby my truck too much to let it see dirt roads (and i think you baby yours just as much, if im not mistaken) so the slotted rotors are definitely a viable upgrade alternative to blanks. i'd stay away from cross-drilled, as theyre more prone to stress fractures at the drill points.

the rotors were about $140 each, and the pads were about $70 for the set. I installed everything myself.

if you want extra protection against warpage, powerslot makes a cryo-treated rotor thats supposed to resist warping by like 40% over non-treated rotors. those are an extra $40 or $50 per rotor though.

 

I'm planning on going with a ceramic pad just for the dust reduction. I'm leaning towards a slotted rotor, but apparently there was a mid-03 switchup on 2wd Edge front brakes, and it seems like no one wants to commit their kit to that model.

 

just remember that if youre looking for performance, ceramic pads wont give it to you (compared with a performance pad). i was originally planning on ceramic, actually, especially from the appeal of low dust on my 18's, however something in the brake setup has to give, eg; if you haveceramic pads (harder) you'll have less dust, but they wont stop as well as a set of performance pads will, AND they'll wear your rotors faster. This is especially a negative if you'll be getting slotted/drilled rotors. the increased wear on the rotor combined with the fact that you can't turn slotted/drilled rotors like you can blanks, you'll definitely have a decreased rotor life compared with if you use a more performance pad (generally 'softer').

for what its worth, the hawk hps pads are lower dusting than my stocks were, but i'm assuming higher than ceramics would be. if youre set on ceramic pads, then i'd suggest getting oversized blank rotors and a caliper bracket relocation kit, to move the caliper out and fit the bigger rotors. (unless these kits are exactly what youre having a hard time finding ;o)

if you just get oem replacement blanks, and new ceramic pads, youll notice lower dust for sure, but you wont notice any significant change in braking ability.

 

cross driller rotors are not good. slotted are good but i perfer a full face rotor.

i would use a full faced rotor or a slotted only with a good set of semi metallic pads. Bendix makes a good set called Titianiumetallic and are a OEM quality but with a better composition of pad material and work VERY well for stopping 33" mudders on a fullsize F-150.

as to the initial question, why exactly did they change?

 

You're not listening.. my brakes STOP just fine, but they warp, because they can't dissepate heat fast enough, thats why I want slotted rotors. I understand the physics that a full-face disc offers the best BRAKING.. but I want more longevity, instead of turning the discs every 20000 miles.

As to the initial question.. what did what change?

 

My truck stops fine. I want less brake dust, but more importantly LESS WARPING! My truck eats rotors for breakfast the way I drive it.

 

who said im address u? im stating facts for EVERYONE to see. someone mentioned cross drilled/slotted rotors and i cleared up some of the mis-conceptions...

 

not looking forward to changing mine now lol

 

ahh... my misunderstanding, but thats only because you said this:

hehe.

if its resistance to warping youre looking for, i'd suggest (as i think i did earlier in the topic) cryo-treated powerslot rotors , or frozen (brand) rotors. the cryotreating process creates a rotor that is much more resistant to warping than an untreated rotor. these types of rotors will be a bit pricey though (approx $160 - $180 per rotor)

 

Yeah, the Cryos are on my list to check out. Does anyone know a co. that makes a frozen rotor for my application? I think when I checked out the site where Shalafia49 got his they didn't like my truck.

 

i bought my powerslots from tirerack.com, and they also carry the right cryos for your truck:

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brake...tor&perfCode=S

 

I'm on my 3 set of rotors...

When these go out, I'm going for the slotted ones...

Brenton

 

Right.. should have been more descriptive.. my stock rotors are obviously not up to the task of dissipating the heat generated by stopping my 32" tires.

 

Thanks, I'll shop around for price but I think slotted cryos with ceramic pads are what I'll go with.

 

i too am having problems with my rotors....2nd set for me....just dont have the money to by new ones

 

well if you didnt drive it so hard they might would last longer.
mine were fine rolling on 33s. be easy on it

 

Thats probably true, but I'll drive my truck how I damn well please, thankyouverymuch.

Cryo-slotted rotors and hawk composite pads are on order.

 

I am aobut due for brakes at 44k miles and also have been researching something > that stock. I have heard there is something diff? with the 03 Edge brakes?

 

Yeah, the rotor is slightly larger than in 02. I DID go with the slotted cryo rotors from TireRack.com, and Hawk performance pads, and I'm definitely happy with them. They do squeal under certain conditions, though, I'm not sure if thats more the pads or the rotors. The pads do produce moderate dust (not as much as the stockers) so I may consider going to ceramic when I next need pads.