Best rotors if you live in the mountains?

Well it's time for new front rotors, but which ones? I live in the mountains and inevitably put a lot of wear and tear on brakes. No towing or heavy loads but lots of extended downhill trips with lots of braking. I don't mind spending more upfront if the rotors last a lot longer, but even then there is a point where it's cheaper to buy econo parts and plan on replacing them sooner--brakes are easy. Basically there are too many choices and more than a few opinions out there that contradict one another. I would appreciate it if someone could recommend a good rotor/pad setup for mountain driving and weather.

 

Standard store brands often trigger complaints on here about being out-of-round, introducing shimmy/vibrations.

OEM is always a win, as much as I know many people hate to hear it, but you pay a little more, it works as intended from the factory.

I swear there's a couple of owners here successfully running PowerStop stuff, but it's spendy, not sure how much more so than OEM.

 

Not a rotor recommendation beyond the stock ones that I have had good luck with, but using tow / haul in the mountains helps with down hill engine braking which will save your pads and rotors. I rarely need to ride the brakes, even when towing my large travel trailer. 6ok miles on mine with factory rotors and pads with no shudder or warping.

 

Lol

pads and rotors are cheap.....thats why.

 

I gave cryo treated rotors a try. I had heard that they do much better at not warping and wearing unevenly. I've got about 1k miles on a set of Frozen Rotors and Hawk Green pads and its very noticeable difference much more confident stopping power.

 

Is engine braking expensive? Overheating your brakes to the point of warping means your overheating them to the point of fade likely, which is dangerous. Using engine braking to help control your downhill runs is much safer. And standard for people who tow and haul.

 

Aaaaaaand this is why 1st gen makes fun of people who drive the other gens. It's pretty difficult to have an adult conversation about brakes, I guess. Somehow we get my just fine over here in 1st Gen w/o all the sarcasm and back & forth.

 

This is the last that i'll say on the matter....My factory pads/rotors had about 25k miles on them before they wore unevenly and shook everything, i chose Frozen Rotors based on Keith from DirtyDeeds' recommendation (write up over on TundraTalk) but opted with Hawk Green's since its what Frozen Rotors recommended for heavy towing.
Large increase in stopping power and overall grip. Will they last longer than factory rotors? Time will tell.

 

There's a lot of sense out there these days. It's not exactly common, though...

 

OP, I've had good luck with PowerStop brakes and use them on all my vehicles. Have you thought about doing the GX460 Brake upgrade? I've done the upgrade and I love it!

 

Depending on what year OP's truck is, it may not be the best. Just look at what happened to @FirstGenVol

If OP is in an older truck, it's probably worth just doing a bolt-on no-machining-required upgrade like the 13WL.

 

I've put EBC drilled/slotted on everything. OEM rotors warp quickly in my experience, regardless how much engine braking you do (and I grew up in the mountains so do that plenty). Lots of flat landers commenting and butthurt that corners are a thing that require braking

 

Poor guy @FirstGenVol

 

I finally fixed my brakes by getting rid of the GX460 calipers!! 13WL's are working fine for me.

I agree with others on engine braking. When I'm leaving the mountains I gate shift between 1st and 2nd.

 

I have run powerstop stuff in multiple vehicles including my Tundra.. It's pretty decent. I haven't had any issues with it getting warped or anything, but I don't live in mountains.The main benefit to me was how cheap it was. In the Tundy I can't tell any difference between it and OEM, but I didn't buy their most expensive package either.

From the trips to colorado mountains I have had, cooling was my biggest issue. drilled and slotted will help with that. Engine braking will also help, but it doesn't remove the need for better brakes entirely.

If I were you I'd try drilled and slotted. If they don't last longer, just use cheaper powerstop stuff and replace them regularly.

 

Really? With 258k on my transmission I would much rather keep the bulk of the braking load on my brakes as it's much cheaper and easier to replace rotors and pads than a transmission. And yeah, I do downshift in my other truck with a 5spd and I hardly ever need to touch the brakes--automatics kinda' suck in my opinion but I'll take what I can get with a Tundra(I didn't want a V6 Tundra with the 5spd option). And good call on the drilled/slotted rotors possibly getting debris stuck in them--I hadn't thought about that.


I agree that engine braking is the better way to go down a hill but I am a bit worried about unnecessary wear and tear on the transmission. Since I do drive through a lot of rock and gravel it sounds like OEM or at least OEM style makes the most sense. Maybe look into those cryo rotors. Thanks for the 13WL suggestions. I'll see if my old buddy at the local dealership can get me a deal on some parts.

I like how people assume I must've been riding the brakes like an idiot. I only recently acquired this 2003 Tundra with 258k on the clock and the rotors were slightly warped at purchase but the price was right and I would rather buy something that needs a few things so I can fix 'em right or hopefully upgrade them myself. It seems there's little the factory does that can't be improved upon later. Thanks for the replies one and all, much appreciated.

 

Good luck with the brake search, these trucks are notorious for warping issues and I imagine the extending downhill braking runs would exacerbate this, regardless of brake brand. These trucks are not notorious for transmission or engine failures however and I would not hesitate to use engine braking to help with these downhill runs. Many years on Toyota Tundra forums including this one and I have yet to read about a catastrophic engine or trans failure rolling downhill.

 

I have used StopTech for the past 2 years and I have had zero problems. I go offroading a lot and have tested them on a downhill that lasted almost an hour.

 

I used these Centric rotors with some Akebono ASP976 pads back in March and have put about 7K miles on them. So far they have held up well and braking performance is smooth. My previous rotors were pulsing during braking but I didn't want to shell out for new Toyota rotors or deal with having the originals turned.

 

I wasn't worried the trans would literally fail just from rolling downhill, but I do remember after paying a lot of money to rebuild the trans on my first truck I asked the mechanic about using the trans for braking and all he did was remind me how much I just spent on the trans and how relatively cheap pads and rotors are. I probably have an unfair opinion of automatics because the only other one I've owned was a piece of sumpin' and cost me a lot.

 

You can't necessarily blame them, if you saw some of the shit people come and post here, some of the stories we've read, you'd understand
Let's just say we have a lot of fly-by-night, one-and-done types show up with problems, get advice, then disappear without sharing whether it fixed their problem. I'd say that's about half the posts we see in the 1st Gen forum.

A lot of brake performance in these trucks is actually tied to the rear drums. If the previous owner swapped out the drums with standard store brands, it may actually be the drums that are causing the pulsing, not the rotors. It's a mistaken conclusion many before you have made, much to their disbelief. You'd be shocked at how many braking quirks have been solved by refreshing and/or properly adjusting the rears.

If you're braking a lot, there's no reason you shouldn't inspect the drums, consider pulling and running to a shop to have them checked for out-of-round-ness (wtf is the word for that? my brain isn't working again today...) in case that's your actual culprit. Or if they look like the originals, consider replacing those first, then checking to see if it solves your probs BEFORE you dump money in the front.

 

I'm not sure "notorious warping" is fair. I suspect a good portion of the warping comes from over tightening the lug nuts. Search around...

I'm also in the "brakes are cheaper than a new transmission" crowd. That doesn't mean I recommend riding the brakes until they overheat and you crash. I mean don't ride the transmission the entire way: use both as appropriate.

 

I have an 03 and put Stoptech slotted rotors on with toyota pads. They work great. I've heard arguments both ways on drilled and slotted. Slotted made the most sense to me and I haven't had any issues with dirt or debris getting stuck.

 

I've never heard ANY argument for drilled or slotted that wasn't just marketing speak. Physics is agains both, which is a pretty convincing argument for me. Holes reduce the air cooling effect from the centrifugal pump, and both reduce the brake surface area and mass giving you effectively smaller brakes for the same diameter of disc.

They look 'cool' though which I guess is worth it for most people. And the reduction in braking efficiency from drilled and or slotted is small enough most people won't notice it.

 

The original reason for cross drilled was: off gassing of older pads, wet performance and less unsprung weight.

Slotted takes care of 1 & 2, without the cracking cross drilled tends to end up with.


With modern pads and not on a wet race track? Standard rotors are fine. Slotted if you're in a very wet area and tend to coat your rotors in water through large puddles.

 

Brakes are for cowards, stuff your feet through the floorboards and stop like a man.