Light Weight Rotors?

[Striker17]

Hi guys/gals,

Was researching some braking upgrade options and came by this:

http://www.evolutionm.net/forums/evo-dy ... otors.html

It looks promising to get more power at the wheels and making them look flashy with new rotors.

Any thoughts? Info? Input? Experience?

[Anhevius]

There are several good and bad things about changing the specs of the rotors this way.

Good:
*Less direct weight resistance on braking, can improve response and slightly reduce braking distance/time
*Can allow for a thicker set of pads to be used for longer time between changes
*Reduced weight and resistance, means increased power to the wheels.

Bad:
*Thinner rotors means a drastically reduced lifespan overall, no matter what you do.
*Significantly reduced heat dispersion. With less material to soak the heat from braking, you will see faster degradation, including warping, with high-demand driving.
*Possible requirement for specific pad materials to get best performance. Some reduced rotors require a certain pad type. Ceramic, high carbon, etc etc.
*Calipers can wear faster, as the reduced mass of the rotor will require more piston travel to reach effective braking compression.
*Calipers can end up taking more residual head bleed off than is safe for them.

While there are some directly tangible differences to swapping to a lighter rotor, the long-term costs associated with it can be detrimental. You also have to seriously consider your driving style, and whether or not the negatives can be mitigated by a reduced need for 'performance' braking patterns. With most drivers, they won't see any truly adverse effects aside from the shorter lifespan of the rotors, and the possible wearing out of the calipers.

However, if you engage in any driving pattern that regularly calls for aggressive braking, I would personally say you'd be better off simply getting a set of slotted and drilled rotors, as in that situation you'd be more concerned with the ability to bleed off heat and withstand the more rigorous driving pattern.

(Please note, this is from my personal experience, where lighter rotors were usually thinned to get the weight reduction)

[Lancer1993]

Personally if I had the money and need to upgrade my brakes I'd go for something off a EVO X but you're talking $1500 for used calibers and discs. Though once set up you could always put on new discs when needed.

Of course I don't even know if they will fit on a basic CJ or any FWD models?

[billy boy]

2 piece vs 1 piece rotors - the 2 piece weights a fair chunk less that a traditional 1 piece with less rotational mass. once you've paid the extra up front, you can replace the rings which are cheaper. also find better heat dissipation