Vehicle brake upgrade

Eric_Phillips · Jun 1, 2018

I am pulling a trailer with a Toyota Sienna. The load will be within a couple hundred pounds of the max rating for the Sienna so my safety margins will be getting smaller. The Sienna is needing brakes so I was wondering about upgrade possibilities. I was looking at Rock Auto and they list rotors as Economy, Daily Driver, Premium, and Heavy Duty. I noticed all the Premium and Heavy Duty are drilled and slotted. I have heard drilled and slotted aren't necessarily the better option. My thought is to get some Centric Daily Driver rotors with some upgraded pads like Power Stop Z23. On the Heavy Duty side they do have a front axle package of rotors and pads from Power Stop with drilled and slotted rotors and their Z36 pads. The Heavy Duty upgrade is only $60. This is a minivan pulling about 3500lb of trailer not a F450 pulling 20,000lb. As they say with towing it is not the getting started being the problem it is the stopping. Even upgrading to all power stop drilled and slotted rotors and Z23 pads is only an $80 increase over solid rotors so cost is not the issue for me but I also don't need to waste money if there is no real world increase in braking. Do the drilled and slotted rotors provide better braking even with the newer pad compounds or are they more of a liability with increased heat and stress risers leading to a higher possibility of cracking? I have fallen for the Power Stop marketing. Are these good pads or is there another brand I should be strongly considering?

crashz · Jun 1, 2018

The rotors won't make much of a difference other than handle the heat and gasses better. Which relates to less brake fade. If you've ever encountered brake fade, its scary.

The pads will help with braking. If your van has marginal braking, it will be better. No substitute for bigger brakes though.

I upgraded my old 04 GMC 1/2 ton. It always pulled well, but brakes were never good right from the start. The brake upgrade was well worth it. I was always under the GVWR and GCWR and never pulled more than 70% of the max trailer load of 8800 lbs.

lucky llama · Jun 1, 2018

I recently installed the power stop rotors and pads on my F350. Wow. The improvement over stock is amazing. I highly recomend power stop.

TractorGuy · Jun 1, 2018

Will your trailer have brakes and will the vehicle have a trailer brake controller? If so you should be fine with stock brakes.

I use plain rotors even on my track cars. Seen too many drilled rotors cracked at the race track.

When you do the brakes get a couple of quarts of fluid and flush your system. Bleed at each wheel until the fluid runs clear. Put tube on the bleeder and down in a container and pump the fluid out. Don't just let it gravity feed or old fluid will be left in the calipers. On the final bleed have someone press the brake pedal down so you can close the bleeder before the pedal comes back up. That should get any air pockets out if any gets sucked in around the bleeder threads.

You could also make some cooling ducts for the fronts. On my track car I removed the splash shield and added hoses from the grill area to the center of my rotors to force air through the cooling fins of the rotors. Do not force air at the rotor face. That could promote warping.

Bit of a pain to get but if the Canadian company Lomandi makes their kevlar metallic pads to fit your vehicle you can count on them not to fade. If you overheat them they may wear faster but will not fade.

I use regular stock rotors and the cheapest NAPA pads on my truck I tow my car trailer with. Wear fine with little rotor wear and stop great. My trailer has drum brakes on all four wheels and a Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller in the truck.

Fallon · Jun 2, 2018

Drilled & slotted rotors eat up pads faster. The edges of the holes catch on the pads & act like a file instead of a smooth rotor. Not the end of the world or entirely unexpected. Just be aware pad life will decrease a bit.

robertsa · Jun 2, 2018

I used Wagner rotors with Motorcraft pads due to some shimmy that developed with the factory rotors.

I believe someone up there already said it, but I'll say it again. Solid rotors are best on anything but a race car. If keeping the factory rotor size and calipers, the only true "upgrade" is in the pad material. Keep in mind that more aggressive pads will cause additional heat and accelerated wear to the rotors. If that is acceptable, it's your best bet without spending big bucks on bigger brakes.

MoMower · Jun 2, 2018

I’m a huge fan of brakeperformance.com, run them on almost everything I own. Usually paired with Akebono or Power Stop ceramic pads.

Monster5601 · Jun 3, 2018

Eric_Phillips said:
Do the drilled and slotted rotors provide better braking even with the newer pad compounds or are they more of a liability with increased heat and stress risers leading to a higher possibility of cracking? I have fallen for the Power Stop marketing. Are these good pads or is there another brand I should be strongly considering?

Last summer it was time to replace the brakes on my 2013 RAM 1500. After a lot of reading, I went with the Powerstop Z23 solution for both axels. Like lucky llama said above, the brake improvement over factory was amazing, particularly when braking hard. When the brakes heat up they start grabbing and remain smooth.

I know the Powerstops are a solution, that is, the rotors and the pads are formulated to work together, and it appears they do, so their marketing isn't hype in my opinion. After a year, they are wearing normal, no brake dust, excellent braking, rotors do not rust, no nosie, etc.

I bought from Amazon, they had the best pricing at the time. Head over to Amazon and Rock Auto and read the reviews on Powerstop.

Tractorable · Jun 3, 2018

If your stock brakes are strong enough to lock your wheels or trigger the ABS then your braking performance is limited by your tires, not your brakes. You may gain additional sensitivity by changing pad material and what’s most important is ensuring that you have fresh, non-moisture contaminated, brake fluid in your system. Stick with solid rotors for increased braking surface and leave the slotted/drilled rotors to the racers.