Brake Rotors - Most Rust Resistant?

[Oldswagon]

I live in an area that sees severe winters and lots of salt use. My Toyota Tundra while it sees regular use, also can sit for half a week without use which causes the brakes to rust frequently. At best I am getting about 4 years out of a brake rotor before it becomes so severely rusted that it needs to be replaced. At this point my brake pads are not worn yet, but I replace them with the new rotors. I typically buy coated rotors, but the coating doesn't last long in this environment.

Does anyone have a recommendation on what brake rotors seem to be the most rust resistant? I'd like to be have my rotors last at least until the pads are worn out. I was thinking of trying Raybestos Specialty - Truck Rotors as they have a max of .002" runout and are painted. However for that price I can get OEM Toyota too, which I have used in the past, but also rust pretty badly after about 4 years.

 

[Imp4]

Fellow rust belter here.
I've purchased quite a few sets of coated rotors from RA. Never the cheapest and never the most expensive.

They all seem about the same as far as rust protection to me.
Definitely better than uncoated but I guess I'm really not sure how good they're supposed to be so I'm just happy that they're better.

I'll never go back to the uncoated ones again.
I guess you pays your money and you takes your chances...

 

[Dave9]

No. You are "probably" following some misguided idea about what constitutes an amount of rust the requires replacement. I could be wrong, certain areas are ridiculous about how much salt they put down, but pictures would do a lot to help us understand your issue because mere "rust" is faced by many millions of drivers every year and you have given no details on exactly why that required replacement which makes it seem more like you are doing it unnecessarily based on some myth.

The brake pads will scrub the rust off the important area fine with only a half a week sitting.

The rest, use a little sandpaper on the mating area when it comes time to pull it off for inspection or pad replacement. Put a little silicone grease on the contact areas to get them back off next time.

Not only do you not need special rust resistant pads, you don't even need coated rotors, unless you are in a severe driving situation where your brakes are overheating due to the rotor cooling vanes getting too clogged with rust to move enough air through them. This would be vehicle and load specific, factors you did not mention so I doubt they are relevant.

Did you see some false information somewhere that led you astray from reality? I guarantee that there are many people that live in your area that don't have a quest for magic no-rust rotors, yet manage to not get into accidents because they couldn't stop due to rotor rust.

Pictures might help to convince me that I'm wrong. I mean pictures after you drive a mile and put on the brakes, not after just sitting without doing at least that.

Back to the idea of overheating, because it is a real factor on certain applications, do you have evidence that is happening and if so, what vehicle and brake package does this truck have?

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted by Dave9
No. You are "probably" following some misguided idea about what constitutes an amount of rust the requires replacement. I could be wrong, certain areas are ridiculous about how much salt they put down, but pictures would do a lot to help us understand your issue because mere "rust" is faced by many millions of drivers every year and you have given no details on exactly why that required replacement which makes it seem more like you are doing it unnecessarily based on some myth.

The brake pads will scrub the rust off the important area fine with only a half a week sitting.

The rest, use a little sandpaper on the mating area when it comes time to pull it off for inspection or pad replacement. Put a little silicone grease on the contact areas to get them back off next time.

Not only do you not need special rust resistant pads, you don't even need coated rotors, unless you are in a severe driving situation where your brakes are overheating due to the rotor cooling vanes getting too clogged with rust to move enough air through them. This would be vehicle and load specific, factors you did not mention so I doubt they are relevant.

Did you see some false information somewhere that led you astray from reality? I guarantee that there are many people that live in your area that don't have a quest for magic no-rust rotors, yet manage to not get into accidents because they couldn't stop due to rotor rust.

Pictures might help to convince me that I'm wrong. I mean pictures after you drive a mile and put on the brakes, not after just sitting without doing at least that.

Back to the idea of overheating, because it is a real factor on certain applications, do you have evidence that is happening and if so, what vehicle and brake package does this truck have?



Wow, how many assumptions can you make about me and my vehicle? I added a pic of the rotor from my truck to the original post. That's 4 years old. It is not serviceable without machining, which I am not doing on that rotor. You cannot sand that rust off, as you see the rotor is actually flaking. This is the norm for my area. It's not just my vehciles, all cars have brakes that rust out fast in this area.

I'm not looking for a magic rust free rotor, just something that is good quality and the most rust resistant. 20 or 30 years ago my old cars I drove had brake rotors that would not rust out near this quickly.

 

[nobb]

Are you washing regularly? Go for a wand wash every so often to blast off all that salt...that's the best way to prevent rust.

 

[Kestas]

Coated rotors are what you want. Before coated rotors I used to paint new rotors before installation.

Otherwise all rotors are made from gray cast iron. That has never changed.

 

[UG_Passat]

Where the pads make contact with the rotor, that's going to rust anyway. Nothing you can do about that. Coated rotors only protect the non-pad contact areas.

The most rust resistant rotors are carbon-ceramic rotors on fancy cars, since it's not an iron alloy.

 

[2010Civic]

I'm having a hard time seeing what is going on in that picture. Looks weird?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Rock Auto has Advics rotors for the rear, but not the front, of your truck. Advics is the OE supplier, and those rotors are US-made.

I like the Powerstop Geomet-coated rotors. Other good choices are Centric Premium and Wagner E-coated.

Do you Krown your truck, or any other rustproofing?

 

[WyrTwister]

Thank God I do not live in the rust / salt belt . In ~ 50 years , I rarely replace rotors / drums . Unless the pads / shoes are run down , metal to metal .

Never replaced them for rust .

Move to Texas . But leave any Liberal / Socialist ideas where you came from .

 

[demarpaint]

Raybestos Element3 coated rotors are getting some rave reviews. Trav had recommended them to me. I just finished rear brakes and rotors and used them on a 2012 Forester driven on Long Island where rust is a fact of life. They are good quality and reasonably priced. Trav lives in the rust belt and had good results with them.

 

[Lubener]

They are made of steel, steel rusts, there's no preventing it on a drum or rotor. There are coated ones but you can't coat the braking surface where it actually counts. I never in 30+ years had to replace a drum or rotor because of rust and I see plenty of salt here.

 

[eljefino]

Those look awful. I wonder if a more aggressive pad will scour them under daily driving better, keeping them clean longer. You want a pad that's "hard on rotors". IDK what fits that bill, but think semi-metallic could be the way to go. You could also change your driving habits to include a good stomp on the brakes, like for re-bedding, every time you take it out. It looks like your pad is getting cocked sideways a bit, so it probably has some "sticktion" in its bracket which the "good stomp" should help free up, or you can dismantle them when you put the snow tires on and sand down the ears and lube all the important points.

 

[cronk]

I think you may have multiple things going on here.
1st, with the rust on the braking surface, I wonder if your pads are seized up and not moving freely in the caliper bracket. I typically clean the surfaces the pad rides on with a roloc disk, needle scaler or bead blaster if really bad. Put some grease or antiseize under the stainless shims, and on the pad contact areas, and lube the slide pins with silicone caliper grease.

I think a zinc coated rotor like Raybestos element 3 hold up longer than a painted rotor.

Finally it may be partially the pads themselves. Ceramic pads leave a ceramic coating on the rotors and if the vehicle sits, rust will start to develop on the iron under the ceramic coating and cause the flaking.
I know it may sound backwards, but I have an F350 that still had semi metallic as the oe pad, and they seem to keep the rotor cleaner than ceramics do on the other vehicles I own.
I'd be tempted to try a set of semi metallic pads on zinc coated rotors and see how that works out.

I live in Northern NY, just about 45 minutes south of Ontario, so I feel your pain, NY will just salt the highways repeatedly until they are bare. The corrosion is horrendous!

 

[Oldswagon]

Thank you for the response. I am aware all rotors are pretty much made of cast iron and all will rust with time. However, I know there is a difference in how fast a white box rotor will rust versus a premium coated rotor. Thanks for the recommendation of the Raybestos Element 3 coated rotors. I may try them, as they are very well priced. My only hesitation is that Raybestos specs a max .004" runout.

If you look at Raybestos information, they clearly have two grades of iron. For their Element 3 and R Line rotors, they say the iron is "G3000-qualified material" with a max of .004" of runout while for their Specially Truck rotors and performance rotors use "Enhanced Iron Material with a maximum of .002" of run out. The higher end rotors are almost twice the price. Other brands don't seem to provide this information, but I am open to any brand that is good quality.

I am not sure if this higher end iron is more rust resistant? As I said, they older cars from years ago never seemed to have rotors that rusted out this badly/quickly as they do today. Most people in the service industry around here are convinced the iron used in modern rotors is not the same quality it once was, which is causing more brake rust problems.

FWIW, I the truck is rust proofed by Krown and is in above average condition for it's age. The remainder of the truck and undercarriage are in great shape but rust proofing does nothing for the brakes..I also disassemble and service the brakes at least once a year to ensure they are cleaned and lubricated.

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted by cronk
I think you may have multiple things going on here.
1st, with the rust on the braking surface, I wonder if your pads are seized up and not moving freely in the caliper bracket. I typically clean the surfaces the pad rides on with a roloc disk, needle scaler or bead blaster if really bad. Put some grease or antiseize under the stainless shims, and on the pad contact areas, and lube the slide pins with silicone caliper grease.

I think a zinc coated rotor like Raybestos element 3 hold up longer than a painted rotor.

Finally it may be partially the pads themselves. Ceramic pads leave a ceramic coating on the rotors and if the vehicle sits, rust will start to develop on the iron under the ceramic coating and cause the flaking.
I know it may sound backwards, but I have an F350 that still had semi metallic as the oe pad, and they seem to keep the rotor cleaner than ceramics do on the other vehicles I own.
I'd be tempted to try a set of semi metallic pads on zinc coated rotors and see how that works out.

I live in Northern NY, just about 45 minutes south of Ontario, so I feel your pain, NY will just salt the highways repeatedly until they are bare. The corrosion is horrendous!


Thanks good info! The ceramic vs semi-metallic might explain why the rotors on my old cars never seemed to do this as they were common place at that time. The pads were Element 3 on that rotor, and it was a Wearever coated rotor. That rotor I showed in the pic did have a seized pad. It was serviced in the last year, but after each winter at least one or two of the brakes seem to always seize up again.

I though the Element 3 rotors just have a coating, and aren't zinc plated? It seems some of the Powerstop stuff is zinc coated, but I questioned their quality?

 

[4WD]

I put Callahan coated rotors (slotted) on my last GMC … probably did a half dozen long brackish water crossings … lots of time on the beach … and parked overnight next to saltwater … they stayed pristine …

(OEMs looked horrible when I made the change) …

 

[bullwinkle]

I just put a set of Brakemotive drilled & slotted zinc dichromate plated rotors on the front of the Ram in my sig, and a pair of Raybestos Element3 rotors on the back of the MGM-this is a test to see which one lasts longer. The Ram's rotors were getting rusty enough that I was afraid they would come apart under heavy braking, and one of them had pad material in the rust!

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted by Oldswagon
My only hesitation is that Raybestos specs a max .004" runout.


The ones I have installed have all been half or less than that when checked on a brake lathe in good condition. Brembo and Pagid also offer coated/plated rotors that hold up well, I am sure there are others but I have used these.
I think the .004 number is the max it could be after machining, it probably eliminates a step in final control a higher priced model may receive. I don't know that for a fact just a thought.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Oldswagon
Does anyone have a recommendation on what brake rotors seem to be the most rust resistant?

The ones that don't live in the rust belt.

I've run premium coated parts store rotors and cheap eBay white box no-names. The hat area might stay prettier longer on the premiums, but other than that, they all rust in our climate.