To vent, or not to vent?

E

E-Rock

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Just curious if anyone else has a take on vented brake rotors? I've had this super sexy, vented, slotted set on my wish list for years!!! Now that it's actually time, I wonder if the drilled holes are really necessary. I mean, the whole idea is for heat right? And I mean, my brakes don't get hot. Heck, I seldom break 45 mph tooling back roads or creeping the mud.
I LOVE the way they look... I wonder if you ever get the dirt out for date nite?
 
Stopping power comes from surface area. And holes=less surface area. To put it short, I had a built 2000 T/A WS6 that was made for handling. I was told by people who autocrossed the platform to avoid vented or slotted rotors and keep it simple. Purchase good quality blanks (rotors) and spend your money on the best pads you can buy. For most, a quality semi metallic will do more than enough. If you want to break a neck stopping, you can't beat Hawk pads, unless you hate cleaning wheels. I didn't regret taking their advice as I regularly thrashed that Pontiac on the Tail of the Dragon. On a light YJ, Hawks definitely are not necessary. Honestly, probably not available for them.
 
Long ago I worked in the aftermarket sportbike sector. It came to be said the holes actually trap hot brake gasses from hard breaking and pushed the pads away from the rotors. Far as slotted ones go, never heard anything bad as the said gasses would escape from the slot edges. The hollow centered ones I believe your talking about would keep lots of mud packed in there and likely cause wheel imbalance issues.
 
Gilaguy23 said:
Long ago I worked in the aftermarket sportbike sector. It came to be said the holes actually trap hot brake gasses from hard breaking and pushed the pads away from the rotors. Far as slotted ones go, never heard anything bad as the said gasses would escape from the slot edges. The hollow centered ones I believe your talking about would keep lots of mud packed in there and likely cause wheel imbalance issues.
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Mud? In parts on a Jeep? Crazy talk.
 
Technically, you already have vented rotors. What you don’t have are slotted and/or drilled rotors.

On a Jeep application slotted and/or vented rotors are a gimmick. Been there, done that. All you need is a good pad compound, rotors that aren’t crap, and knuckles that aren’t gouged with divots that hang up the pads when they try to slide.
 
machoheadgames said:
Technically, you already have vented rotors. What you don’t have are slotted and/or drilled rotors.

On a Jeep application slotted and/or vented rotors are a gimmick. Been there, done that. All you need is a good pad compound, rotors that aren’t crap, and knuckles that aren’t gouged with divots that hang up the pads when they try to slide.
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Yep. I was taking the term 'vented' as cross drilled. But yeah most, if not all rotors are technically vented, meaning there is a section between the the pad contact areas that is hollowed out to allow for cooling. Plenty of other items a Jeep enthusiast can waste their $$$ on. Like ducks... :LOL:
 
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dodgerammit said:
Yep. I was taking the term 'vented' as cross drilled. But yeah most, if not all rotors are technically vented, meaning there is a section between the the pad contact areas that is hollowed out to allow for cooling. Plenty of other items a Jeep enthusiast can waste their $$$ on. Like ducks... :LOL:
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There are actually quite a few that are not vented, namely rear disc applications. For example, the discs used in the 03-06 TJ were just a single piece of metal, not two halves vented in the center. But, that's an extremely light duty application, hence the non vented design. Same for my friend's Nissan Altima we replaced the rears on.

But yeah, most are vented, especially up front where they do the work.

I'd say slotted is fine, I just don't see the benefit. Cross-Drilled I see as a negative, because they are prone to cracking. At the end of the day both seem like they offer little benefit in exchange for the additional money spent. I do think money is better spent on those brakes than ducks though ;)
 
My take:
Slotted and drilled rotors are not good if you actually take your jeep offroad. the holes and slots can get packed with mud, dust, crud and crap. all that stuff will end up embedded in your pads, which will in turn, grind into your rotors and cause poor braking and premature brake failure.

If your jeep is mostly used on the road and never sees mud or dirt, not a problem. I have slotted and dotted rotors on my C10, don't know if they help, but they look cool. that truck has a 4/6 drop and never leaves the pavement.
jeep has high carbon rotors and Black Magic pads...with 33s, it stops okay-ish
 
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