2009-2014 F150 & Raptor Performance Brake Rotors

The rundown on drilled, slotted, and drilled and slotted F150 brake rotors

One of the most common questions we get about brake rotors is "which style should I choose"? With drilled, slotted, and drilled and slotted rotors all being available for the 2009 to 2014 F150s, there are a ton of different options to choose from. Each style of rotor has its pros and cons, but in the end, you should pick the style of rotor that works best with your application and what you're most comfortable with. Anyway, here's our short and dirty breakdown on F150 rotors:

Blank Rotors: what your truck came with stock. These rotors have flat surfaces that maximize pad contact area. While perfectly decent (and even pretty good with some uprated pads), blank rotors are prone to building up heat and suffering from fade during heavy and sustained braking due to the fact that they don't really have a way of dissipating high temperatures. A lot of people swear by blank rotors, and while they're not necessarily incorrect in their beliefs, there's often better choices out there.

Slotted Rotors: slight upgrades over stock. Slotted rotors feature machined grooves in their surfaces called "slots." Slotted rotors provide a slight improvement in braking performance over standard blank rotors without overly changing your truck's brake system dynamics. The slots of these rotors help clear away dust and debris from the pad contact area which improves bite and makes braking more consistent. Slotted rotors are a good choice and a happy medium of all the brake options available for your truck.

Drilled Rotors: these rotors have holes that are drilled into their surfaces. A shocking revelation given their name. The drilled holes lead down into the rotors internal vanes and help funnel heat buildup away from the rotor's surface. Less heat means less fade and better braking performance even when you're consistently holding down the brake pedal. A lot of people shy away from drilled rotors because of the fear of cracks occurring between the drilled holes. In our experience, cracking generally only happens when the rotors get extremely worn or when they've been used in some really extreme applications.

Drilled and Slotted Rotors: these rotors feature both slots and cross-drilled holes, giving them the best of both worlds when it comes to reducing heat and improving braking consistency. Most of the rotors we offer here at Stage 3 are drilled and slotted and these bad boys are a good choice for just about any truck. While they do sacrifice some amount of overall stopping power, the improvements they provide in both fade, bite, and braking consistency are usually worth it in the long run, especially when they're combined with improved brake pads.