Well...Powerslot being owned by Centric (who owns Stoptech and others) is a Chinese company who supplies oem blanks to a vast number of suppliers...put a name on the box and 9/10 times is coming from China no matter.

 

Well, lets see if I can add to the fray. No I have no brake upgrade experience on my F-150. I have upgraded the rotors on my Jeep Grand Cherokee to Powerslots along with factory pads. That makes a one item upgrade (rotors). Much better performance now, ok, butt dyno results. However, let me add that the stock factory "blanks" are of a notorious low quality and rather small for the vehicle weight. The Powerslots are noted to be of a much higher quality metal compound and perform better even with the same size rotor. Would a similarly sized high quality rotor performe the same as the powerslots, who knows, probably. Do I like the Powerslots, yes. Will I get Powerslots for my F-150 when necessary, yes. I guess that is what counts unless a scientfic instrumented test is undertaken.

Thanks.

 

Wow!! Lots of info here. I have had bad experience with my stock rotors when it comes to warping while towing a moderate load. I'm talking under 2000 lbs of trailer weight (yes I'm sure). When it comes to hard stoping at traffic lights and such, a short trip rendered my rotors so warped that the steering wheel was wabling at 50 mph. It seemed to subside after they cooled down from more driving after I un-hitched the trailer and got back on the road. Who knows what would have happened to them if I had just parked the truck. But, the vibration is still there even now. I have replaced the pads with some ceramics from Advanced auto a while back when all 4 wheels were shot with the factory pads. I have another small truck with 4 wheel disc and I don't have to change the rear pads on it very often at all. The stock pads on my f150 were toast at 35k miles. TOAST

Anyway, I have been looking for upgrade options for changing atleast the front rotors. I like the idea of slotted, but not cross-drilled rotors. I will probably stick with ceramic pads due to how clean they are and how well they stop, but I believe these stock rotors suck! I also believe the brakes in general on these trucks is inadequate for their weight! These 1/2 tons are dang heavy. Much more so than there predecessors, and other than adding rear discs, the front brakes are not much better than the older trucks if any. They are dual piston IIRC, which is an improvement, but maybe not enough.

Or maybe I'm just putting my foot in my mouth?!

 

I'll agree that it doesn't stop all that great but I'm at 62k and still on my stock rotors with little to no warping. Most of my miles are highway miles though.

 

Straight from Baer's website:

Will slotted or cross drilled rotors improve my car's stopping performance?

DEFINITELY NOT! Cross-drilled or slotted rotors do produce a strong visual appeal behind a modern open wheel, and they do have a performance edge when pad outgassing occurs. Outgassing occurs at extreme temperatures when the bonding agents that hold the pad material together break down into a gas form. This gas creates a pneumatic barrier between the rotor and the pad, reducing friction. Cross-drilling or slotting creates a path for the outgassing that occurs during extreme braking conditions. However, these conditions can virtually never be reached on the street! Short of a complete system, performance brake pads, a proper Teflon lined braided stainless steel hose set and quality brake fluids are the only direct replacement upgrades that can be combined to deliver measurable stopping improvements in the context of direct replacement components on the OE brake system.

 

Good find, whether they work or not, sometimes they are cheaper or the same price as regular. Oh well, to each their own.

 

OK, normal street driving does not create the conditions that you speak of, but what about frequent towing? I mean, granted, the heavy trailer I tow has electric brakes, but the truck brakes get worked pretty hard too. I wanted to know if one or the other (drilled or slotted) had any advantages for towing, not super high speed racing and cornering. My truck gets use for atleast 50% towing because it is not my daily driver anymore with my job providing a company truck.

 

Any takers?

 

A lot been said here. Power Slot rotors are made of better metal, are cadmium plated and they don't warp. Just plain better rotors. And they cost more. Have to pay to play!

 

I've done a ton of track days in a race prepped car and I've seen what it takes to get brake pads REALLY hot and I towed the car there with my F-150 pulling a 20ft. enclosed trailer and I don't think my truck got ANYWHERE near those temperatures even under heavy braking. You're just not braking over and over again in a fast enough time period to keep them that hot. Not to mention you're not braking at maximum potential over and over again like you are on the track.

A simple answer: No, they're not needed. If you want to stop faster get a better pad.

The quote from Baer's website speaks the truth.

 

I just put a set of drilled & slotted rotors with semi-metallic pads on all 4 corners and i've been extremely happy with them. Are they worth it? Considering I paid $350 for the whole package, I'd say definitely. Looks awesome, performs well, and if they last (which they should), what more can you ask for

 

Was doing some reg. maintenance to the truck, fluids, filter, plugs and so on, and decided to check the brakes just now and guess what I found. I've always said I would post if I ever had issues w/ the drilled/slotted rotors so that's what I'm doing. Right rear rotor is cracked in 2 places!! Just came in to get fresh batt. for the camera so I can take some pics and post them here before I switch the rears back the stocks. The fronts look good including the pads. I'll take some pics of those too.

 

That's what I have along with Carquest Blue pads. Great combo. Hardly any dust and so much better than the OEM crap that was on there before.

 

From what I've seen drilled rotors with street use have a tendency to crack around the holes. I've seen Baer drilled rotors with stress cracks around the holes sometimes in only a few thousand miles of streets use on a Camaro.

IMO a good set of blanks and pads is the way to go.

 

0-900 miles - Stock pads/rotors. Horendous dusting.
900-3000 miles Wagners. Absolutley no difference over stock dusting.
3000-present (19K miles) Porterfields. maybe 1/2 the dusting.

After about 100 miles of driving the front wheels get a rust colored coating of dust. After a 500 mile vacation round trip the front wheels were completely brown. The rotors have never been turned and have no warp to them. Is it possible that replacing the rotors with Powerslots or aftermarket blanks help curtail the dusting?