Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes Cross-drilled rotors not a good idea in salty/wintery weather???

Hello all...so I just received my KVR cross-drilled rotors and carbon fiber pads via UPS today. I'm up late tonight chatting with a fellow CEG'er and he mentions that BAT told him if he moved up north (which he did, here in PA) to avoid cross-drilled rotors in winter areas that use road salt due to rust/corrosion problems in the cross drills. I didn't get the cadmium plating b/c I was actually supposed to call back SP Motorsports with info on the type of caliper I have but they just shipped them anyways , but that's a whole nother issue. Either way, the cadmium plating doesn't apply to the interior of the cross-drills as far as I know.

Anyways, is this a real problem, cross-drilled rotors warping/being damaged due to road salt? If so, I might be returning the product to SP Motorsports since he never mentioned anything about that! Lemme know...

I'd avoid cross/drilled/slotted rotors all-together. Only benefit I see are the looks.

You warp 'em, they're trash. Can't be turned, and they'll hardly be a benefit for street/auto-x. Cooling properties of slotted/cross-drilled (OEM size) rotors aren't any better than full face rotors...

John

well- actually the cross drilling is to draw any pressure buildup or brake dust or for that matter anything that gets inbetween the rotor and the pad out from inbetween and as a secondary effect they aid in cooling- but the primary design intent is to evacuate anything that would impeed optimum surface area contact- the slotted rotors are the same idea- only they strive to retain maximum rotor area for more braking mass and subsequent heat absorbption.

even in OEM sizes these rotors help a lot - but only in situations where pads can beguin to float or not make good contact- this is usually caused by repeated high speed stopping - so if you dont drive hard and fast - you dont need slotted or drilled rotors-
It is true that you cant turn cross drilled rotors- well you can but then you have to re- radius and peen each hole- yeha basically by the labor cost its cheaper to get new ones- you can if you do it right turn slotted rotors but you have to re radius and peen the edges of the slots- which is hard but can be done resonably cheaply- that is assuming of course you know what your doing.

Cadmium plating covers the entire rotor, including the vent areas.


I don't see any difference the salt would make for drilled or non drilled rotors. If the concern is corrosion of the vent structure, that will still happen even without cross drilling. Our SE is driven throughout the winter and has had drilled and plated rotors. This is the second winter for the rotors and they still show virtually no rust or corrosion.

Horse, I'm not saying I don't agree with you, but I just haven't seen any real proof (data) showing the benefits (if any) of cross-drilled/slotted rotors on our cars (OEM SIZE).

Until somebody gives me proof, or real life experience, I'll stick with my opinion.

I had cross-drilled rotors once... They looked cool, and that's about it. Still faded like a sumbtich after a few stops from high-speed.

Not saying there is no improvement what so ever, but I simply don't think it justifies the higher cost.

John

John-
Actually- im agreeing with you -

But one thing more- unless the people who did the drilling for your rotors- knew a lot about gas flow mapping- they probably didnt drill the holes correctly for maximizing venting-
like you said most people (and current companies) like the looks- so at least one company im aware of just drill holes in stock rotors, (yep both vented and solid) this I guess looks cool - but the effect would be minimal and you would lose rotor mass- thats about it-
thats probably why yours didnt do much- i know sad huh- and probably more $ huh??

yeah but what John said about the brake stuff is right- and the plating should be ok also - although if you really heat your brakes the coating will just "burn off" so oh well lifes a ball of fun aint it-
time for bed for me

Hey guys thanks for all the responses so far. Sounds like I can go ahead and install these rotors sooner rather than later. I'm still waiting on the steel braided brake lines to show up. Gotta call Joe tomorrow about that. I should have gone ahead and gotten the cadmium plating just to be sure...oh well, no sense crying over spilt milk. Can the cadmium plating be applied after the fact? Wonder if there's a local place that would do so for cheap...

I have these on my car. The stopping power is definately an improvement over the stock ones. I do a lot of highway driving with a lot of fast stops and I notice a hugh difference. The only thing I have noticed is when the whether is cold and wet you just have to brake a little earlier to allow the pads/rotors to heat up. But that is only after you have been driving for along period of time without using the brakes, but my stock ones did pretty much the same thing.

I've had two sets of the KVR pads and rotors. My 99SE had a set and they worked fine. The concerns people had with cold performance merit some consideration. I found the KVR pads would bite better when warmed up. So don't tailgate when you pull out of the subdivision.

I put about 5K on those before I traded it for the 98 SVT and had no drama.

I have about 35K on the same type of rotors on my 87 LeSabre. (Yeah, that's right baby, cross drilleds on the LeSabre.) I got just about 30K on the KVR pads, but switched them for the top of the line Bendix pads only because I could get them from basically across the street from my house. (I live 1/2 block from a parts store!)

After 35K of hard driving in the Buick, now going on the second winter, I have no issues with the KVR cross drilled rotors.

They will probably be replaced in Sept or October at 24 months and about 60K miles because that's about how long a set of brakes last. (And I don't want to be changing brakes in the winter time!)

The rotors get checked every 5K when I do oil change, tire rotation and a check on things underneath the car. So far, I've noticed no cracking, but only some rust. The same rust seen on the factory rotors removed.

FWIW,

TB

This is my first winter with cross-drilled rotors and they do take a little while to warm up so you just have to be careful when you first start driving after the car has sat. For example on my way to work I don't have to stop very much so they take longer to heat up, but if you'll be going to and leaving from work during heavier traffic times they will heat up a good deal quicker. My $.02