[AlaskaMatt]

8000 easy miles (4000 miles just driving Detroit to Alaska). I've been getting some shudder but it comes and goes.

I started trying to figure it out once I saw uneven wear on the rotors. These wear lines line up with the end of slots that are clogged. I'm speculating that the brake dust from the clogs are creating high spots that then cut into the pads and also create the high rotor lines.

Anyone else seeing this?

I spent a bunch of time trying to scrape out all of my rotor slots. It is a PITA getting between the dust shield and the rotor on the back side.

I know some folks are changing pads, but I'd prefer not to be doing that especially so early. The cosmetic dust isn't really bothering me that much.

 

[Black Track]

Ouch! I haven't seen that on mine...yet.

 

[OverKill]

This is weird…. Have you been driving down a lot of dirt roads? The only thing I can think of is some small stones worked their way into the grooves on the rotors and cut the grooves into the pads. Has this occurred on both rear rotors or just one? The rear rotors & pads are the same on the TH as they are on the GC SRT so if this was common you would think we would hear of it happening more often.

I would see if your local dealer will replace the pads and turn or replace the rotor as a manufacturer defect since you only have 8k miles on it.

 

[DemonSkip]

Looks like you got some trash in between the pad and rotor and it cut into both over time.

 

[AlaskaMatt]

No pebbles or anything were in the grooves - only caked-in brake dust. I'm thinking it migrates to the edge of the slot and cuts the pad in that spot. The rears were where it was most noticeable, probably due to the smaller swept area. This was not isolated to one spot.

 

[DemonSkip]

So that happened on all 4 rotors? If trash/big deposits got hooked and started at the back of the pad, it could eat into and travel through it over time. The circular scoring in the rotor and the wear on the pads in the pics shown would suggest that.

The dust/build up transferred on the rotors would look more like heat checking with low/high spots. The pad deposits in the micro cracks on the rotor surface would cause this to happen. Looks almost like cheetah print. Heat checking is completely normal and will not cause any problems however.

How thick are the rotors? You may be able to skim cut them and reuse with new oe pads, depending on the thickness.

 

[AlaskaMatt]

So that happened on all 4 rotors? If trash/big deposits got hooked and started at the back of the pad, it could eat into and travel through it over time. The circular scoring in the rotor and the wear on the pads in the pics shown would suggest that.

The dust/build up transferred on the rotors would look more like heat checking with low/high spots. The pad deposits in the micro cracks on the rotor surface would cause this to happen. Looks almost like cheetah print. Heat checking is completely normal and will not cause any problems however.

How thick are the rotors? You may be able to skim cut them and reuse with new oe pads, depending on the thickness.

With 8000 miles, I have plenty of rotor thickness left. Both sides of the rears were noticeable (easiest to see on the pads). The most obvious rotor impact shown in my photo lines up exactly with the end of a slot. Roughly 1/2 of all of my slots were at least partially impacted with brake dust.

I may take a rainy weekend and see what I can do about the worst rotor lines. I expect it will be time consuming and require a lot of care to do it right since I don't own a brake lathe and rumor has it that shops will refuse to work on slotted rotors. Living in Alaska is only going to make that part harder.

 

[AlaskaMatt]

I brought my photos and talked to the dealer to get their opinion on warranty. Talked to someone in service and the warranty guy. They’re going to talk to the shop manager and get back to me.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DemonSkip]

If you have issues with the OEMs, you can give our 2 piece setup a try. We have a replacement that's a bit lighter with about the same price tag for the fronts, with OEM pricing in mind. The rears we offer are also a 2 piece but are significantly higher in price, when compared to the oem rear cast 1 piece units.

 

[AlaskaMatt]

Dealer has scheduled me for an appointment to look more closely - August 7th.

 

[AlaskaMatt]

Follow-up on this (I was changing wheels/tires last night) - I had some warranty repairs done last fall, but again my slots are filling up with brake dust, but now only a problem in the inner side where the pressure washes don't reach it. It is a PITA trying to pick the caked dust out of them and I end up breathing the dust from the tedious process. At least this time they were fully packed and didn't create uneven wear, so I've got that going for me.

I'm going to be interested in rotors without slots if they are available when it is time to replace these. So far, any aftermarket rotor suppliers I asked never responded to whether they could provide them without slots.

 

[ROCKETW19]

Follow-up on this (I was changing wheels/tires last night) - I had some warranty repairs done last fall, but again my slots are filling up with brake dust, but now only a problem in the inner side where the pressure washes don't reach it. It is a PITA trying to pick the caked dust out of them and I end up breathing the dust from the tedious process. At least this time they were fully packed and didn't create uneven wear, so I've got that going for me.

I'm going to be interested in rotors without slots if they are available when it is time to replace these. So far, any aftermarket rotor suppliers I asked never responded to whether they could provide them without slots.

Demon only makes these in the one way right now. I had asked for slotted and drilled. they said no not now at least.
if you get non slotted disks what will clean the pads? wont it just get worse? Could your issue be the wet climate and dusty pads making a cake batter out of it? I would change the pads they are cheap and no more dust should be no more problem correct? the rotors are gonna cost you 200 times the price of pads.

 

[Lil Hemi]

Alaska, are you still running stock pads?

 

[AlaskaMatt]

Alaska, are you still running stock pads?

Yes, still running the stock pads

 

[AlaskaMatt]

Demon only makes these in the one way right now. I had asked for slotted and drilled. they said no not now at least.
if you get non slotted disks what will clean the pads? wont it just get worse? Could your issue be the wet climate and dusty pads making a cake batter out of it? I would change the pads they are cheap and no more dust should be no more problem correct? the rotors are gonna cost you 200 times the price of pads.

I don't want to change anything just yet. Yes, I would expect moisture from snow/ice is a contributing factor. Of course, that is why I got the Trackhawk in the first place so that I could drive it all year.

The dust shield on the back side of the rotors makes it all that much harder to get to.

As far as what will clean the pads - nothing has been cleaning 1/2 of my pads now and I'd rather go for uniformity when it comes to braking. I used to race high speed autocross without slots and that was actually recommended. I just will need a source when it comes time.

It seems that omitting a process in the production of rotors should be a really easy thing for a small producer. Adding drilling is an extra step. I am just asking to remove a step.

 

[Lil Hemi]

I saw similar filling up of slots and wear marks on the rotors from the brake dust building up. I changed to the powerstop pads and no more dust aka no more dust clogging up the slots. I’d definitely give that a try first since it’s less than $150 to change them out.

Btw, I’m outside of Austin TX so snow wasn’t a contributing issue to my scenario.

 

[ROCKETW19]

Good point about just removing a step! Have you called Demon? If you message them here it might be awhile before they respond but if you call or email them direct they were fast to reply.

I get what your doing but I still think removing the dust will cure your problem and the pads are so so cheap compared to rotors Id try that first.

Do you know why the plain rotors were recommended over slotted? so many opinions on what style rotors are best but I never heard the plain rotor reason yet.

 

[Lil Hemi]

Here’s a clip that might help explain the different advantages of each type.

https://youtu.be/78wbht355R8

 

[AlaskaMatt]

Here’s a clip that might help explain the different advantages of each type.

https://youtu.be/78wbht355R8

That pretty much covered it - vented-only rotors were used because they gave the most heat sink without having stress areas that would be weaker. A lot of us were already replacing rotors every few race days because the heat cycles would make them crack. The cracks would show up first as fissures longitudinally and then eventually crack through if you waited too long. Fortunately, the final crack was always on the cooling cycle after the race.

 

[AlaskaMatt]

Good point about just removing a step! Have you called Demon? If you message them here it might be awhile before they respond but if you call or email them direct they were fast to reply.

I get what your doing but I still think removing the dust will cure your problem and the pads are so so cheap compared to rotors Id try that first.

Do you know why the plain rotors were recommended over slotted? so many opinions on what style rotors are best but I never heard the plain rotor reason yet.

Demon either wouldn't do it or didn't respond, I can't remember now.