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Rusting rotors


92LT

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Our 2011 Edge AWD has about 19,000 miles on it. We need to replace the front rotors for a second time due to rust/pitting. (We live outside of buffalo, NY so we get a lot of snow). Anyone have any suggestions for a rotor that will last longer? I tried calling ford, but they basically said too bad.

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As macbwt says, get the high carbon rotors from Autozone, right mac? Also wash down the cooled rotors regularly (no high pressure water, just a garden hose or a bottle sprayer) to get any salt off the surface. Better yet would be to periodically take the wheels off and wipe down the rotors with some WD-40 or penetrating oil CFC-free brake cleaner on a paper towel. Be careful, drive gently for a short while after until any residue has evaporated. Since they are contact areas, not much more you can do.

 

You CAN paint the rotor hats with high temperature paint to prevent them from rusting. Or get rotors with zinc plating to slow down rust from forming on the hats and vanes (again, no good for contact surfaces).

Edited by WWWPerfA_ZN0W
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Here's how one Vette guy keeps his brake rotors shiny, using non-ceramic pads:

Getting rid of the ceramic pads and going with stock soft ac Delco pads will indeed make the fire path very shiny... I have never had an issue with brake dust, because I always clean the wheels before I put the car away , it takes 2 minutes to dust off four wheels... Ceramic pads are the worst... they are too hard, they cause increased rotor temps... and they do not stop well.. They do dust less but who cares, two minutes with a cleaning cloth and the dust is gone.
My car stops on a dime...
Many people fall into the hype of doing Mods..... any mod... just so they can say they have ceramic pads...lets see, they don't stop as well, cause rotor score... ????? does this sound like a fair exchange for less dust? Not for me.
(For drilled rotors)

You cut a piece of emery paper into a 3/8th square using # 120 grit emery. Not sand paper.
you punch a hole through the center ( a very small hole ) .020 to .030 of an inch...
You put the piece of emery on a dremel disc arbor... You then run at high speed into each hole, flexing the emery paper inward... the idea here is to radius the sharp corners of the hole champhers... this process is called sinus champhering...this process actually adds life and reduces internal stress at the holes thus cause less of a chance to crack. You should be able to push the emery in and out of the hole about 1/4 inch... the hole will look like chrome when it is done correctly.
you clean the outside radius of the rotors with some steel wool until they are shiny...You can spray the inside of the rotor ( the vane area ) with either VHT clear of silver, or use header paint.
polishing the holes and slots are fun, but here is the big trick... only do one or two rotors at one setting... it is too labor intensive...if you try to do all four, you will spend an hour on the first one, and by the time you get to the forth one you will spend 15 minutes. Its best to do one and focus on doing it all the way.... then you can see just how brilliant you can make one. I use a q-tip and dip it in some paint and dab each hole a few times, then let it sit for 20 minutes then dab each hole and slot again...

user_offline.gif

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-general/1207943-cleaning-up-bear-eradispeed-rotors-2.html#post1553147638

 

 

This is what heat build up from ceramic pads looks like, its a blue black heat discoloration of the fire path because the ceramics cause much more friction because they are harder, thus increasing rotor temperatures....

after3.jpg

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-general/1207943-cleaning-up-bear-eradispeed-rotors-3.html#post1553180010

Edited by WWWPerfA_ZN0W
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High carbon steel rotors will not wear bad with ceramic pads. Check out my video on the update on the rotors and ceramic pads. If you like rust buy cheap rotors and cheap pads. If you really like rusty rotors buy the slotted and drilled ones and you will be extremely happy with all the rust you can find. High carbon steel rotors are designed to dissipate the heat faster. They are also proved to be the better choice when it comes to heat and braking power. I recently used my brakes in an emergency situation and maneuvers and they performed very well and allowed some steering with the peddle to the floor and the anti lock engaged I still had steering control.

Edited by macbwt
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