Apparently one of the first things I need/want to do is check the adjustment on the rear brakes. They don't self adjust very good? So I'm stopping with mainly front brakes alone? Some rear brake would be a good thing....yes?

 

You seem to be mainly concerned about brake fade. That's pretty standard on the OE LS and LT brakes.
IMHO .. Aftermarket replacement Drilled and Slotted Rotors will not help that deficiency much if at all. Been there done that.
The solution is right before you if you are serious.
Standard SS front rotors and Properly manually adjust Rear Brakes.
If you want to be a little more fussy, go Premium Napa or Raybestos Rotors and their new front pads to match.

**** Just one Downside to this Install............ Your Mini Spare tire and wheel will not fit on the Front of your LS or LT model with the SS Rotors.
The Flat Tire procedure is in the SS owners manual which you can Download and read or print and it's available on this site.

End of story.....

Silverfox

 

Submitting facts in a discussion is testy? I will have to re read the rules of debate.

If someone tells me I am wrong I am perfectly willing to look at facts that prove it. However, I reserve the right to produce facts on my side of the debate.

Fact is drilling and slotting was never expected to aid in cooling or heat transfer by professionals. They use forced air and venting for that. It is supposed to remove gas and dust from the surfaces and it turns out not very well, if it worked well the pads would wear out quicker. Turns out that physics has a role; removing mass does not help in heat dissipation or transfer.

But, they look cool! If that is your aim go for it!

I have put over 300,000 miles on 2 HHRs.

My experience here with "warping" issues has been that If there is actually warping the cause is the rear brakes have not been properly serviced. Most times "brake judder" is caused by something other than "warped rotors".

At no time was I offended, testy or abusive. I am amazed that I caused offense with the simple statement "Drilled and slotted are for show only, does not affect function." Sorry if I messed your Sunday up.

Please present some facts to defend the position that drilled and slotted rotors are for "go not just show".

 

Okay....I've just read a few articles on the subject. They didn't all totally agree (no surprise) but the main points of the drilling & slotting of the rotors are to aid in brake cooling under heavy braking as in racing or.....going down mountain grades. The only debate seems to be which does the best job of cooling.....holes or slots. Slots tend to wear the pads faster, but holes tend to crack. When you are hard on the brakes there is plenty of heat to go around so obviously some means of cooling them would be a good thing. From what I got out of the articles I read, if you are on the street and just looking to deal with occasional brake fade (other than going to larger brakes) get really good pads and slotted (not drilled) rotors.

 

FWIW....I took a look at the drum brakes yesterday. Other than being small (obviously) everything seemed to be in order. The adjustment wasn't all that loose either. It only took a couple 'clicks' to tighten things up but I'm guessing after a couple back up stops the adjustment will go back to where they were.....yes?

 

IMHO, if you are experiencing fade, don't go with ceramic pads. My best experiences have been with semi-metallic. I use them on my HHR and my GMC Sierra. I tow a 4500# travel trailer with the truck. Fade can get scary.

 

Backup stops don't "un-adjust" them... It just doesn't adjust them as planned.

A couple of clicks will help quite a bit. Make it a routine...

 

 

Doc brown...I've never owned anything with ceramics before, unless they were on something when I bought it. Always installed semi-mets in the past. Guess I'll have to do some reseach on that as well. About all I know about them (ceramics) is that they are popular currently. Will see what I can find out about them with fade in mind.