Slotted & drilled Rotors for 89 Lx drag car. Are they worth it?

[Stonerboys]

Hi, I have an 89 Lx hatchback w/ a 408 stroker. Car is a full blown drag car. I am disappointed with how my car stops. The brake setup is the factory set up but I put a good set of Hawk brake pads on it but didnt see a real big improvement. I have since built a faster motor and am afraid I am going to end up in the sand trap with this current brake set up as it barely slowed my car with a stock windsor with some good upgrades. I am considering putting slotted and drilled rotors up front. Are they worth it? Could anybody tell me what I can do to slow my car down faster on a limited budget. Thanks!

 

[NIKwoaC]

Not worth it. Drilled rotors are prone to cracking, and ultimately you wont see much improvement in braking, if any at all.

Your best bet is a 5 lug conversion, and upgrading to SN-95 V6/GT or even Cobra brakes. If on a budget, even just upgrading to SN-95 5 lug disc in the front and staying with drums in the back would be an improvement.

 

[1bad67sbf]

since they dont get alot of use like street or road track i agree that the drilled or sloted are most likley not going to fix it but what about a better/more powerfull booster or putting some adjustment ability into it and try to tune them some.

nicwoac-- is it the calipers on the sn95 swap that make them better?

 

[oldfox]

You said you are still running a stock 89 brake set up?
was this originally a V-8 or 4 cylinder car? 4 cylinder has smaller brakes
I know you don't want to hear about needing new wheels but if you did the 5 lug conversion
using 94-95 mustang spindles the better rotors calipers should make a difference.
At least I would think so ,, Anyone else want to chime in on this?
You might want to send a message to 5L5 mustang he seams to know a lot about
how to improve fox brakes.

Drilled and slotted rotors? I live in the appellation mountains and if you drive fast
you will blow through rotors. (they warp all the time) Lots of curves and down hill braking.
you see quite few drilled and slitted rotors here. I run them they seam to stay a little cooler
so they don't warp as fast. I would think in a race car when you drop the anchor and your standing
on the brake pedal a cooler brake would work better. And I run the SN-95 stuff and there only $100
for a full set of four rotors.

 

[stykthyn]

For a drag car go with the 99+ pbr calipers. They weigh a lot less.

 

[Stonerboys]

my car was an original 5.0 auto car. would the svo front calipers make any difference?

 

[Stonerboys]

For a drag car go with the 99+ pbr calipers. They weigh a lot less.

I never heard of these? Where do you get them from and could you give me a little more info about them? Thanks!

 

[Stonerboys]

I am not doing the 5 lug swap I would have to change my axels and everything and get new wheels and I dont have the $ for that. I just built a motor haha. My car does have manual brakes though. Is there a better brake booster I could get or something? Thanks!

 

[capri debris]

Install a chute. lol.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Drilling and slotting rotors is not going to make you stop any faster. All gimmicks.

Do you want to stay 4-lug?

If so, it limits your options. Svo calipers will give you a softer pedal and longer stroke.

5-lug gives you more options. For a drag car, I'd recommend 94-95 spindles, 99-04 gt 10.8" brakes and 99-04 dual piston gt/v6 calipers. Its a good drag setup and won't require an mc or booster swap

 

[wythors]

I live in the appellation mountains

Drilling and slotting rotors is not going to make you stop any faster. All gimmicks.

That must be why F1, NASCAR, Indycar, every other race car, high end exotic and high performance motorcycle uses them.

My original rotors warped bady by 45,000 miles and the brakes would fade noticably when driving aggressively for any length of time. I upgraded to cross-drilled and slotted rotors, Crown Vic calipers, solid bushings and stainless hoses. HUGE difference. No more fading, no warping and NO cracking in over 60,000 miles of use.

 

[Mustang5L5]

That must be why F1, NASCAR, Indycar, every other race car, high end exotic and high performance motorcycle uses them.

Apples and oranges


Comparing a large diameter engineered brake system from an exotic car is not the same as slapping cheapo drilled rotors on a mustang.

Unless you are running organic brake pads which outgas like a Mofo, you would getting better cooling performance from a quality solid rotor vs one with holes designed for pads which outgas during extreme braking....which most modern pads do not.

 

[wythors]

Ever actually used them, or is this internet know-how? Just interested.

 

[Shaolin Crane]

I have, i used 1 set of power slots, and 1 set of cross drilled and slotted, warped the power slots and had the driver side front crack at one of the drill holes on the other pair, run a good set of solid blanks and they'll last much longer. Then again i push my car hard on the road course. Dont belive me as lasersvt, he had his cross drilled rotors crack a few months ago as well, and his car rarely sees track time.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Ever actually used them, or is this internet know-how? Just interested.

Ive used them...as well as being an ME with a passive interest in brake system design.

The Internet is full of incorrect statements, which is why it's hard sometimes to introduce different ideas.

I've edited my statement to something a little more simple. It's hard to toss blanket statements on mechanical design issues as there are always exceptions to the rules. But simple truth is the drilled rotors are an engineered solution to a problem which may not even exist on the average street driven vehicle. So buying into the hype that there is performance to be had from rotors alone may not be factual once you realize the true design intent of the drilled holes.

 

[Stonerboys]

Yes I want to stay 4 lug because I would have to buy all new wheels and tires and I just bought new front runners and have a good built 8.8 under my car now. What about turbo coupe rear disc brakes? I was thinking about buying a junk turbo coupe and taking the rear disc setup off of it and putting it on my car? Would that work? I would think that having 4 wheel discs would stop a little better right?

 

[Mustang5L5]

Yes, but the vast majority of braking is done with the front brakes.

 

[Cobra912]

how long is your shutdown area? I have the aforementioned cross drilled rotors (dont know why) and that's it, car brakes well at over 120mph+ never have a problem slowing down

 

[ID89GT]

Really all you would have to buy is wheels, front spindles, and just grab some ranger axles if you wanna be cheap. The stuffs not that expensive to get lol. Just sell your current wheels to use towards buying new ones, then look on the classifieds for used spindles and calipers and ranger drums

 

[Cobra912]

I wouldn't use junkyard ranger axles on a drag car, certainly not anything fast. 11.49 and quicker you're gone need aftermarket with c-clip eliminators