Rear Brake Discs: What are the pros & cons of solid, slotted, drilled & vented

[auf_wiedersehen_pet]

My Disco has been serviced today and my mechanic has told me I need new discs/pads. When I drove his loan Disco I noticed how sharp his brakes were compared to mine.

What are the pros & cons of solid, slotted, drilled & vented? There are lots on the internet and the prices don't vary too much.

[boss]

the only con i see is cost

the slotted  ones lasted longer on the TD5 than the landrover ones.
also much better braking(obviousley :roll:) but more than compensates for the big tyres

but like i say, you need new disks and callipers and it can get quite costley

[GreedyGibson]

the slotted and drilled discs aid for better cooling so for road use and heavy braking are better but if you are going to use it off road the holes will fill up with mud anyway.

[auf_wiedersehen_pet]

Do I need different calipers for the wider vented discs?

[davidlandy]

i beleive that the standard caliper is used but has a spacer included in it.

[Disco-Ron]

Mmm, do they 'do' vented discs for the rears....????

Coming froma performance car background, i can tell you that if you're heavy on brakes, the drilled discs will crack, maybe more-so on a heavier vehicle..... grovved are ok, they simply keep the pads from glazing over... however, as said,, in mud they might be worse....

[andrew2986]

I had drilled and grooved disks all round on my Disco. Great on the road but filled up with mud off road and ate pads and the disks didn't last to long. (They were the Paddocks  disks) I also tried green stuff pads, didn't really notice a great difference.
Im back to standard solid landrover disks and pads with the calipers all overhauled and there not so bad, dont fill up with mud and the pads are fairly cheap.

I am, however, thinking of changing to 110 calipers on the front as I believe they have bigger pistons and pads and should have a bigger effect on the braking.

Andy

[Range Rover Blues]

I've never seen vented disks on the back of anything.  I put EBC slotted and vented on the LSE, they do stop much better but TBH just having the disks and pads in top notch condition is half the battle.  ANy rust on the running surface gets polished to a black shiney surface which has luttle grip but absorbs the braking effort, having the outer half of the disk corroded away reduces the mean diameter of the disk.

Fit decent branded stuff (I have Delphi disks on Blue, no complaints) and good branded pads too.  If you use the brakes a lot then matbe performance stuff is the way to go.  I have EBC pads and diska sll round for the LSE because it get sdriven hard and tows frequently.  That said, EBC pads and disks all round, £210 :D

[JumboBeef]

I am, however, thinking of changing to 110 calipers on the front as I believe they have bigger pistons and pads and should have a bigger effect on the braking.

In the light of the recent very big news story about replacement brakes on a Land Rover (you all know who I mean), I wouldn't fit anything to any of my Landys' brakes which shouldn't be there.  If you had an accident, you can see what might happen to you.

I just had new (standard) pads, disks and calipers on the front of my Disco: the difference from the way it used to be is huge.

[Range Rover Blues]

I've got a pair of 110 callipers and they do have bigger pads, not measured the psitons though but as they run on the same disk I'm not sure whether they stop any better or just last longer.  The 110 and 130 use the same rear brakes don't they.

As for the case you refer to I think the issue is that the 2 callipers were odd sizes, I don't think anyone can complain about you fitting bigger brakes, it's the quality of the work that's important.

[stageonesimmo]

Got to agree with both sentiments here actually - as long as you do the same the both sides, all will be well.  Also, dont underestimate the drop in performance over time of the standard set-up - just the other week the brakes on the wife's MR2 were dire - all it took to make it stand on its head was a strip of the caliper sliding pins, a re-grease, a de-glaze of the pads and it was good to go - no fancy grooved stuff or anything like that, just got the orignal stuff working how it should and it was like a new car!

Same was true of the disco - the rear calipers were shot so I put some new ones on with new pads and discs and it was transformed, again, just sticking to the stock set-up saved a fortune but got (to me) just as good a result.........

I think the cracking issues with drilled discs is limited to race set-ups really or you may get it if you tow heavy loads regularily.  You may also get it with cheaper discs that may not have been stress-relieved after drilling.  If its a worry try 'dimpled' discs as opposed to drilled as this will cut out the cracking issue.  But with all of these drilled/dimpled/grooved options, there has to be a trade-off for the extra stopping power which will be increased wear rates so figure on changing the pads more often - to my mind, a well looked after properly functioning stock set-up will be easier to keep running well and cheaper as you wont shell out for new pads as often..........

[Range Rover Blues]

Grooved disks are supposed to stop the pads galzing up, as Simo says at the cost of pad life.  I havn't had mine on long enough to comment but 100% I have to agree that starting with everything working and in good condition is the way to go.

[auf_wiedersehen_pet]

Mmm, do they 'do' vented discs for the rears....????

I've never seen vented disks on the back of anything.

There's lots out there.

[Disco-Ron]

Mmm, do they 'do' vented discs for the rears....????

I've never seen vented disks on the back of anything.

There's lots out there.

Well, i for one meant on the back of a land rover,...... as i suspect RRB did....... :roll:

[Range Rover Blues]

Definitely not on a LR, but I've never seen vented disks on the back of Cosworths, Astons or any other car I've worked on (true they would have had to be Fords, LR or part of Ford's PAG).

Given that 70% of a car's braking happens at the front, just how overkill would it be to have vented rear disks?

[auf_wiedersehen_pet]

My probable choice is slotted/drilled with Green Stuff pads. I'll change the front to match in the Spring.

Thanks to everybody for their help - sorry for any confusion caused.

[JumboBeef]

I would, in all honestly, save your money and just fit standard kit.  I did and I cannot fault the stopping power of my Disco now (and I tow a caravan with it).

[carracarra13]

I have to agree Imoop I would stick with standard and sped the extra cash on fuel playing   :lol: :lol: