Disc pads and rotors - opinions

[mtb_gary]

My Rangie is in need of new disc rotors and pads all round and I'm trying to decide between stock solid rear discs and vented front discs vs the cross drilled and grooved aftermarket variety. If I was only doing bitumen driving the cross drilled and grooved would be almost a "no brainer" but I'm concerned at picking up mud, sand and small rocks in the drilled and grooved discs.
Has anyone had any first hand off road experience with the drilled and grooved discs? Do they suffer from picking up any dirt and rocks, or am I just being paranoid?

Gary

[Keithy P38]

I've got drilled and grooved rotors on mine. No issues. I had a pebble stuck behind a front rotor (between the guard/cover and the rotor) on my cape trip but it came out easy enough and caused no damage (not due to the type of rotor).

They are noticeably better.

EBC pads are dust mongers. I thought they were great until I realised that I wash my Rangie too often to get noticeable brake dust on the wheels. Just get bendix pads instead.

Cheers
Keithy

[Slunnie]

I've run plain, slotted, and slotted and dimpled.

Never had issues with debris in the slots and dimples.

I would avoid cross drilling like the plague. I've you've seencross drilled rotors with multiple fractures radiating from each cross drill, you'd also never consider them again. To be honest, I also don't think that cross drilling or dimpling properly/completely swipes the pads and so are just a bit of brake bling. I do however think that slotting is good. The rotor that I do like is the Dba rotors with slots. I would run these or plain factory ones.

For pads, Bendix for me also. Work well. even when they're hot and they're not notably dusty. Despite the engineering science behind brakes, I think the pads make a far greater difference to braking than the rotors.

[imatt]

Bendix pads for sure, I had DBA slotted on my D2 and they were fine. When I ordered my DBA slotted rotors from Repco (they were on sale) I was offered cross drilled for the same price as DBA has some in stock, the guy in Repco said don't use cross drilled on 4wds, don't know why but he muttered something about they can't be machined

[DT-P38]

there is absolutely nothing wrong with std vented... if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[TheTree]

HI
I used the ECB Green Stuff Kevlar pads on my 99 and they were great around town but they faded very badly on a long hill descent.

Personally I will probably go for ceramic pads next time, but if the vast majority of your driving is around town, the the Bendix pads are a good choice

Steve

[Hoges]

FWIW...Several years ago I bought a set of Brembo vented rotors for the front...about $50 each plus Bendix pads. DbA actually warn against using cross drilled for all but street use due to the cracking mentioned by Slunnie. So far (50k km) pads are 50% worn and rotors still well within spec. I have thought about slotted rotors. They are demonstrably more efficient especially operating heavy loads /towing etc.

[mtb_gary]

Decision made. Today I will be ordering a set of 4 DBA rotors and Bendix 4WD pads al round. Rotors will be the standard rotors. But like most things here in Perth I will have to wait a few days before the parts arrive from Eastern states. WA - Wait Awhile 😉. A bit of luck they should arrive for fitting over the weekend.

Thanks for your input guys....much appreciated!

Gary

[daf11e]

Good choice.

[garybrook]

FWIW...Several years ago I bought a set of Brembo vented rotors for the front...about $50 each plus Bendix pads. DbA actually warn against using cross drilled for all but street use due to the cracking mentioned by Slunnie. So far (50k km) pads are 50% worn and rotors still well within spec. I have thought about slotted rotors. They are demonstrably more efficient especially operating heavy loads /towing etc.

Thanks Hoges,

For what's it's worthwhile, I recently bought and installed the same set of disks and pads, specifically from reading the experience and opinions of other 4WD users, not just RR P38 owners. Broadly, several said these current Brenbo disks are rather harder material, so I tried them as my previous owner told me that the disks wore out rather quickly, but the Girling pads weren't, even though they were very 'dusty'. Some prefer the dual compound pads and others don't, so ....

I haven't done a lot of mileage (5,000km) on this combination, yet but they've taken a long time to bed the in. When they are cold, you need to use more pressure than I was expected, but I'm a new owner for P38s. When they get warm they are better. After a few weeks of using them I started to use them harder and found that they have plenty of power, yet not much feedback. I'm not sure that the brakes on mine are as good as they should, and the rear pads have not yet bedded in much at all, despite new fluids (properly) so I could have a line blockage or sticky pins.

At the moment I have a kit for the modulator, new hoses (5), caliper piston/seal kits and pins/seals as nothing has been done on rebuilding the brakes since new. I'll give some feedback when that work is done.

[mtb_gary]

Well the new rotors and pads are in and what a difference :D. In the end I finished up with DBA slotted on front and rear. DBA no longer manufacture the stock rotors for the p38. So I have the 4x4 Survival 4000 series with the heat sensors on them. I had initially ordered the rotors from Super Cheap. They rang me to advise that they were in and ready to collect. They were not the DBA rotors that I ordered, instead they were some Chinese rotor that they were going to sell me for the same price as the DBA. I politely told them where they could shove their rotors. A trip to Repco and ordered the same part, they contacted DBA whilst I was in the shop to place the order, DBA advised that the rotors were no longer available and that the 4x4 Survival 4000 series was the best option. Normally priced at around $250 each they are currently selling them for $125 each. If anyone's looking for rotor replacement now could be a good time. RAC membership through my insurance also provided a bit more discount. All up for the 4 rotors and the Bendix 4WD brake pads finished up at around $750 including freight.

Gary

[davidsonsm]

My rears are original rotors and I've been toying with replacing them. hard to argue against the brembo discs on ebay at $117 per pair.

[Hammer H]

My rears are original rotors and I've been toying with replacing them. hard to argue against the brembo discs on ebay at $117 per pair.

That inspired me to check them out davidsonsm on eBay but could not find the listing, could you please message the link?

[davidsonsm]

The price seems to change between $117 and $130. They were 117 when i added them to my watch list.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=400774212153&alt=web

[Hammer H]

Still good value