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"Drilling your own brake rotors is not a bad idea!"


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Came across a picture that I hadn't seen in a while. This guy spent literally dozens of hours drilling his brake rotors, then proceeded to spend several more hours trying to defend them.

 

He eventually developed a horrible vibration when braking and found this:

 

e0082079_1927670.jpg

 

 

Everyone and their brother told him that he should have spent his time making brake ducts instead.

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Came across a picture that I hadn't seen in a while. This guy spent literally dozens of hours drilling his brake rotors, then proceeded to spend several more hours trying to defend them.

 

He eventually developed a horrible vibration when braking and found this:

 

e0082079_1927670.jpg

 

 

Everyone and their brother told him that he should have spent his time making brake ducts instead.

 

 

On the other hand, It doesnt really matter whether you drill them at home or you buy them that way. The result is the same.

 

I have personally drilled a set of rotors. Made a huge difference in the problem that i was having(warping rotors). The hill i was driving down, i could warp a brand new set of rotors every day, so i tried drilling a set. I put a brand new set of rotors on a brake lathe and made three circles to create spots for drilling, then i drilled them with a hand drill on a block of wood in the garage. I drilled 36 holes per rotor(72 total) and was done drilling in less than 10 minutes, and all done with the same drill bit. Then i chamfered the holes a little bit.

 

Knock them all you want, but it works and works well. The downside is the cracking. Mine did it, and i knew they would.

 

I have since started using slotted rotors. Cracking is not a problem, and the warping problem is also gone. But you pay for the slotting(cant do that at home).

 

Haters gonna hate. :poke:

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Anyone stupid enough to do this is certainly stupid enough to post a picture of his FAIL. Just like spoilers and metallic brake pads this is another thing that has merit for racing but does not translate down for street use.

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Came across a picture that I hadn't seen in a while. This guy spent literally dozens of hours drilling his brake rotors, then proceeded to spend several more hours trying to defend them.

 

He eventually developed a horrible vibration when braking and found this:

 

e0082079_1927670.jpg

 

 

Everyone and their brother told him that he should have spent his time making brake ducts instead.

 

 

If he drove the car hard (autocross or track day stuff)that is normal it called heat checking and can happen to slotted, drilled or standard rotors if the heat gets to high, it does its job and people have been doing it for years and will continue to do so the pros dont do it any different...

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I'm just gonna guess cause i'm no metallurgist I wonder if they cracked due to work hardening while drilling them (prolly no coolant or cutting oil) I've drilled motorcycle rotors i never had a problem. but they may be made of different material.

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Pads now a days don't 'outgas' like the old ones used to do, and even then they had to be unbelievably hot to do that, hotter than anything you would see on the street. Besides weakening the rotor you are removing thermal mass that acts like a heat sink to absorb temperature spikes from sudden emergency stops. Drilling or using cross drilled rotors makes your vehicle no more of a race car than covering it with speed equipment decals.

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Pads now a days don't 'outgas' like the old ones used to do, and even then they had to be unbelievably hot to do that, hotter than anything you would see on the street. Besides weakening the rotor you are removing thermal mass that acts like a heat sink to absorb temperature spikes from sudden emergency stops. Drilling or using cross drilled rotors makes your vehicle no more of a race car than covering it with speed equipment decals.

 

Bingo. You have no idea how many times I have to tell people the same story. The 'outgas' I get calls all the time. CAN YOU CROSS DRILL MY ROTORS.

 

No I can't my mill is broken. :lol:

 

I do have drilled rotors on my wagon. But they were free so I put them on.

And I did slot the ones on my race car. So I guess I'm no better than the rest.

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