I guess I can't really appreciate how hot brakes and rotors and calipers really get since I don't race, although I did smell something when I was on the track at Watkins Glen and Beaver Run (nevermind that I never got over 50mph, Matt, I was still braking hard ) but nothing like what Cranberry was talking about where the heat made the wheel decals that he'd forgotten to take off pop all over the place. I just can't imagine that kind of red hot heat around rubber, even when I see it in NASCAR. Just sheer friction heat, right?

 

Yup. friction.

My rear tires are so hot after a 1-hour run you can't even put your hand on them for 15 seconds...

 

Amazing. So, how often do you have to replace tires, rotors, brakes, etc., under these conditions? I know it depends on how many times you race the car but about how many track days before anything has to be replaced?

Now that you mention paint, I wonder if you could paint the rotors steel gray? Would that be a feasible option? Or is that what your rotor pictures are trying to show me?

 

Replace tires every 2 to 3 years, rotors once to twice per year, pads replaced several times per year. I do about 12-track days per year.

Yes, I tried painting the OEM rotors, it helped, but did not really perfectly solve the problem. My street wheels are black on the inner surface, so that rust water stain shows up like a sore thumb. Nasty looking.

 

Just think...brakes slow the car down by converting the energy of the car's inertia into heat energy. Thats a lot of energy and so a lot of heat.

 

Yup. a lot of energy, and I know right where that enetrgy went. It went right into giving me a short life span on both rear bearings and hubs....

 

^^^

 

Before I went to after market rotors, I painted mine along the spine (vents) and on the inner hub. No more rust.

Here are some pics of the old ones painted and the new ones I put on:

 

Granny, I was going to suggest the most fool-proof way to prevent rust on your brake disks (coat them with a liberal amount of heavy grease), but you're too nice a person. HPH

 

Maybe you can convince Rick Hesel to make you a set of stainless rotors that he was working on four years ago:



I never understood why he didn't market these. You can read more about it here

(Notice gomarlins3 rotors in that thread, too)