Savage42

Standard cryo does have benefits, but not nearly as dramatic as Thermal Cycling, which is a very advanced with over a decade of research & testing and takes up to 30 hours to treat a part. They are close to stating that you will see 3 times the life (in writing & is conservative), as we have seen upwards of 5-6 times the life of rotors/drums (2-3 times of pads/shoes) on every vehicle running Thermal Cycled parts over the last several years. With new facilities opening in several states here in the USA, one in Canada and now also in Poland, Germany, UK and Australia, it'll become better known in the coming years. Stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks. Like the saying goes......"Accelerate until you see God, then BRAKE!" Now you will be able to brake just a little harder and longer.

Hey, I agree with the idea that one driver can be nice to his equipment and go just as fast as the next guy running the same car but is abusive to his equipment. I've seen that first hand when running historic Trans-Am cars at the Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca, Wine Country Classic at Sears Point, etc. The bottom line is if you can get brake rotors and pads that will offer better performance and last 2-3 times longer for nearly the same price as non-treated stuff, it's a win-win deal. For those who don't run track days and push their car 100%, then it may not be a big deal. For those who do race or run their cars hard and you can cut your brake budget in half (along with time or labor, if you do it yourself or pay someone else), there are plenty who would be up for that. Maybe it's just a daily driver/autocross/HPDE car that you'd like to get 100k miles on the brakes....I don't know. I am known for being a late braker, so anything to give me an edge and save money is OK by me. I expect it to be more appealing for guys who spend $2k for pads & rotors, but maybe not so much for guys with Miatas & such with relatively cheap parts. Still, I'd pay a little more just to not have to do a brake job for that much longer. Once we have a few other cars done and more results recorded, we will be supplying treated rotors for just about any application and treated pads for just a little more than what you pay for them at the parts store. So, like everything else, it's an option. I thought I'd offer to do this for free for the Z guys for a limited time. Stay tuned for more details from the track and we will be doing tests on a brake dyno with a major racing brake company as well, so we will have real world and controlled test results. Drive hard & have fun!

Hey guys! Just wanted to follow up after a track day test we did at Sebring this last weekend. We treated the rotors and pads on a Porsche GT3 and installed them the day before the event. Sebring is one of the hardest tracks on brakes in the country AND most of you may know that Porsches are known for their amazing brakes, which means they tend to be very hard on them, as well. It was a 90 degree day at the track, low humidity (thank God) and there were 160 cars entered at this Porsche Club event. The owner of this GT3 is a certified instructor and he ran 6 sessions with a couple of them back-to-back, which is 3 hours of abuse at Sebring. He commented on how he never had any fade, actually had more brakes than tire and we even had other drivers come over and ask if he had just put the pads and rotors on, as they looked new. Typically, micro stress fractures will appear at the end of the first track day on Porsche rotors. As you will see, there isn't even a hint of a single one, no brake dust and brakes do indeed look new. With the Porsche guys who run track days all the time, they actually end up tossing the brake rotors once the stress cracks go from hole to hole and/or the cracks hit the outer edge before they actually wear it out. The last pic is of brakes on a 2011 Porsche GT3RS that I rode in that the owner bought on New Years Day this year. Glad to see some actually use their cars for what they were built for. He will be getting treated brake parts this next time around. We are going to treat a set on a new Corvette Z06 this week for a 2 day track event at Sebring in 2 weeks, as well as a LS1 powered ex-Penske Panoz race car. Check it out.

Well, lets get a set of rotors and pads treated so you can personally see the increase in rotor life and decrease in brake dust. If treated brake components on trash trucks has resulted in shorter braking distances, reduction in squeal & brake dust AND having them last at least 3 times longer when stopping 10,000-12,000 pounds (loaded), it may help a little on our cars. Aggressive no longer means they have to wear out more quickly.

Well, take it for what it's worth. It's a 3 year old thread and it looks like the guy who started it was banned from their list. I will be posting more "real world" results as we get more stuff treated and run on the track.

Mike, I have a few friends that run the HPDE days here at Sebring, Road Atlanta, etc in their Porsches and say the exact same thing. I heard that guys who run REALLY hard have to change brakes at 5-6 track days! Yikes!! Here is a Porsche that had some of the issues you stated. A rotor failure is a scary thing to even think about. There were 2 Corvette ZR1s and a Ferrari California running there on the Carbon brakes, which is just crazy! From what I heard, the Ferrari rotors are $6k each, so right in line with what you said. The pair of Nissan GTRs were running cast iron rotors, so they are being smart about it. Here is a picture of a stupid set of drilled rotors on a car running at Sebring! As to this very issue, I am offering to treat (Thermal Cycle) a set of rotors and pads for you at No Charge! We just started a new division to do automotive performance and racing parts at: www.thermalmetals.com which is licensed partner of www.thermaltechnologyservices.com here in Florida. We now have facilities in Michigan, Canada, Poland, Germany, Australia and so on. The owner of the company & inventor will guarantee (in writing) that you will see a minimum of 2.5 times the life of the rotor. As a result in treating both the rotor and pad, you should expect to see twice the life of the pad, along with a reduction in brake fade, dust, squeal and stopping distances. We treated a set of brakes on a Porsche powered CanAm car that was run in a 24 hour race that would have to swap out standard rotors after 10 hours....with treated rotors, they went the whole 24 hours! We aren't going to do any advertising, just treat some sets for hardcore track day guys and racers, then let the results speak for themselves. Locally, we are doing a couple Porsches, a Panoz GT racer and a few other high end sports cars. We have also seen an improvement in treating the carbon rotors, but demand for that will be minimal. Once we get enough verified results over the next couple months from guys running them, we are looking at selling the slotted, treated rotors for Porsches and other performance vehicles close to the same price that the sell them for now from those other guys. This will be good for everyone who actually runs their sports cars on the track, not so much those guys who never even get the brakes hot on their Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc.

What's the story on Ironman's Z?

Between his crash and Sonny Smith flipping his 427 Cobra, that was one of the more eventful weekends for the tow truck driver.....which sucks! Glad he is fine!! Might as well post your vid here:

You have to realize that 99% of cars like Ferrari, Lambo, etc. will never be pushed to their limits, especially when it comes to braking! Also, the 458 Italia has carbon-ceramic rotors, so the stress crack issue may not be an issue, but they also cost nearly 10 times as much. Interestingly enough, the Ferrari 430 Challenge (race) car runs rotors with just slots and no holes. I'd bet that only the small holes they run on carbon brakes will work, as I don't see slots carved into that material as a good idea. The purpose of slots or holes is to allow gases that build up between the pad & rotor to escape. That being said, a solid rotor with slots does that job and won't stress crack. Of course, they don't look as cool, but when researching what kind of brakes to put on my V8 Z, I talked to the guys at StopTech, Wilwood, etc and got the same opinion. Since my car will see track activity, they recommended the GT slotted rotors with directional vanes. (as seen below) Almost every race car that I've seen with holes has stress cracks radiating from them and is a situation for a possible failure under extreme conditions.

Just to clarify that "selling points" of this setup, you can't compare this package with a Wilwood setup. First, the piston size has very little to do with anything and "bigger is better" is not always the case. You have to factor in brake bias, master cylinder sizing, etc. Secondly, an aluminum caliper is far superior to a cast iron caliper in overall performance, not only in cooling faster, but unsprung weight. Lastly, getting a rotor full of holes and slots is NOT the best option. It reduces surface area. In most cases, a vented rotor with just some slots is the ideal setup and you typically get stress cracks at the holes when drilled, which is not a good thing. Most of the aftermarket brake guys are open to the fact that they only put a bunch of holes in the rotors because people pay to have them "look cool" and is not an enhancement. I'm not saying that this upgrade isn't worth doing, but don't go off the marketing hype on a web page. Now, most people won't drive their cars to the limit on a road course or any other time, so most of this info may be irrelevant unless looking for the ultimate in maximum performance levels. Disclaimer: opinions, thoughts and experience based on the size of your pocketbook may vary.

Better pics of the carrier (center section) from the other side would be helpful.

OK, here is a "cheap fix" that has worked in the past and is only recommended and should be done with an open or welded diff, NOT an LSD. (you will figure out why) I had a friend who had a howling diff in his 510 wagon, which has an axle, but still the same issue. My guess is that there is a weird wear pattern on the gears from either dirty/old gear oil, maybe water did get in it as mentioned previously (causing wear) or they ran it low on oil. In any case, you probably have a resonate vibration when the gears mess due to an imperfect wipe area. So, my buddy decided to go get a bottle of Slick 50. I think we all know the stuff is crap to put in your engine, as it doesn't work like they say, but they have found that getting the teflon into high pressure areas (like the ring & pinion) can actually embed the teflon into the surface of the metal. He put it in the diff, drove around and the howl completely went away. He drove it that way for a long time, as the gear oil and Slick 50 seemed to work well. Of course, I would not want the stuff to get into a clutch type LSD! It's a cheap experiment that worked before and is something you can try, as you really don't have anything to lose at this point, right? Good luck!

I would have to go with the comment regarding the "feel" being due to difference in steering couple & rack bushings (worn out/replaced/upgraded). As for the steering racks, they 240 rack does have a quicker ratio, but can't remember exactly the number. I think it's something like half or 3/4 of a turn quicker. From what I've seen, steering knuckles are the same.

Wanted to let you guys know that the brackets are in the mail and you should see them by the middle of the week.

I would be interested. Have been looking at which what to go with this kind of setup and that is really cool. Let me know how much. Thanks.

I would be interested. Have been looking at which what to go with this kind of setup and that is really cool. Let me know how much. Thanks.

I've got brackets for both of you packaged and will go out tomorrow. I will have to verify the length on my cable, as it was a little while back when I installed it. Going off memory, I bought the 48" cable but cut 14" off it, so could have gone with the 36" and saved a few bucks. I will measure and confirm. Thanks!

Yes, still the same price. As for cable, the Lockar cable can be bought from most online performance parts places and you can get the one for an LS1. If you are doing a different engine swap, then you just want to measure to see how long of a cable you need.

Yes, I sure do.

That's true! I got my motor with 28k on it and here are some pics of the motor when I broke it open to put all new gaskets in it. I cleaned the tops of the pistons in the short block and it was this clean inside. A few oil changes and the thing is pretty much new and just "broke in".

I would say either a louvered hood or one of the ones with vents should help. Good sound deadening/insulation on the firewall, of course. Haven't heard of anyone doing the hole saw idea, but that may make a marginal difference but would make it look ugly. Some may or may not care about that.

Actually, I am working on this very idea for my car, as well. I'm interested to see how it all works out for you guys. On the Expansion Valve being NLA, there is a directly replacement. I did some research and you can get an Expansion Valve (4 Seasons part # 38608) that can be picked up for less than $30. Hope that helps.

It's just an option that is proven to work. If you want one, just let me know. Good luck!

Are you kidding? By the time you get in your car, use your gas, buy the aluminum, spend time cutting and drilling, etc. and you end up with a "homemade" piece, you really don't come out ahead. I prefer to buy from those who support our passion by making pieces for our cars, take a minute or two to order the cable & bracket online, have it arrive and just install. I'm not the only one keen on saving my time, energy and money, but maybe that's just me!

I have the custom bracket that mounts to the firewall. You then use the stock throttle parts, as seen in the picture, and then run a Lockar LS1 cable to the throttle body. Simple & slick setup that can be used on just about any conversion. Hope that helps.