Crossdrilled and Slotted Rotors

Unless you're doing serious mountains or 'crossing, they never
need that much cooling!
.
_H*

 

Yes, but even on the Classic, the majority of braking is still done by the regen, so even though these rotors might improve friction braking, I'm not sure that they'd make any real difference.. In fact, upon further thought, I think they might actually be detrimental on the Classic because it does use some friction in combination with regen- if you increase the effectiveness of the friction braking, you lose regen efficiency...

Regardless, replacing rotors on any Prius is IMO a waste of money- these are one component that really should last the life of the vehicle: I've got 225,000 km on my 2001 Classic Prius, still original brake pads, original rotors, and I fully expect that I'll still have these components by the time I retire the vehicle.. I know some people have had rotors replaced prematurely, supposedly due to "rust", but I'm thinking that's the dealer making some profit vs. there being any real problem.. A couple of "emergency stops" in the parking lot to force friction brake usage generally cleans things up..

The Classic isn't so subject to rotor corrosion because as I mentioned above, it does use more friction braking, but nonetheless I've always sprayed the rotosr, calipers and drums on all my cars with zinc cold-galvanizing spray.. I don't have to be particularly careful with where I apply like caliper paints as the spray is silver colored and the coating wears off the friction surface, but protects the rest of the components from rusting, and keeps them looking good (especially as you can see these components through the slots in the alloy wheels- I think there's nothing so ugly as a nice set of alloy wheels with a rusty brake drum behind it), so every time I swap off my winter/summer tires, I wire brush everything to get the dirt and brake dust off, and resray where needed (which is most cases is nowhere-the coating is that effective, even through the winter with all the salt), but I'll usually do a quick spray anyways just to get the shiny silver appearance as the old coating will have gone dull..

Anyways, good luck selling your rotors..

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JaviNOS @ Apr 27 2007, 09:27 PM) [snapback]431562[/snapback]</div>

That's Porsche.... :angry:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(c4 @ Apr 28 2007, 09:38 AM) [snapback]431634[/snapback]</div>

What is zinc cold-galvanizing spray? Where did you get it? Thanks!

 

Normally galvanizing of components is done by hot dip: ie, you melt zinc in a big vat and then dip the component you want to protect from rust into the molten zinc and then pull it out again so that it gets a coating of zinc (this is done for car frams, etc)..

A somewhat easier, but slightly less effective method is to get zinc powder, and mix it up with a bit of epoxy binder and load it up into a spray can, which you can spray on any ferrous metal surface to prevent rust.. The zinc acts as a sacrificial anode and thus protects the underlying steel/iron from rusting.. Again, it's a bit less effective than a hot-dip coating, but it offers a better level of rust protection than just about any other solution.. I prefer the German-made "Walter" brand- they carry two varieties, "Zinc-100" and "Zinc-200"- the difference being that one is a shiny silver and the other is dull matte greay. Both work, but the silver version looks a bit better.. There are many other brands of cold-galvanize and in my experience, they all work quite well as it only takes a little zinc to prevent the rust.. I buy the Walter stuff at an industrial supply, but other brands are often avaialble in the automotive paint section and/or welding supplies section of your local auto parts or hardware store..

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(c4 @ Apr 28 2007, 11:21 PM) [snapback]431956[/snapback]</div>

Thanks, I'll give it a try. I used to use something called "Extend" on brake drums, basically a paint that reacted with the rust and stopped it, and then a coat of high temp flat black.