Brake cooling ducts

go-stang5.0 · Apr 6, 2006

Does anyone here have front brake cooling ducts? Prolly not but I thought I'd ask. Reason is, I keep setting pads on fire and warping rotors when I go to the race track. I am running some streetable race pads now and they still get too hot and the rotors go to hell in one track day. If anyone has done this w/o switching to the 96+ spindles please chime in.

94Blue302GT · Apr 6, 2006

obviosly not drag racing...?
What type of brakes are you using now? Maybe go for a cobra big brake upgrade?

go-stang5.0 · Apr 6, 2006

Yes this is a daily driven/ open track application and I already have the cobra setup. I torched my last set of pads and got flagged off the track last october. I have sorted that out with some streetable race pads. However now the pads hold up but the rotors dont. I went from starting with a seasoned set (meaning they were broken in) of baer track+ rotors that was warped beyond belief by the end of the afternoon (the entire car shudders violently....you can hear the change rattling around in my ashtray when I touch the brakes!). Anyways, I dont think switching to a brembo, wilwood or similar "heavier" duty setup will really help because fade is not an issue. The calipers are providing enough clamping force because I was still able to lock up the front brakes at the end of my track sessions (last few laps when brakes are hottest) and this is on a 275 width front tire. So new calipers wont help...and those brake kits have similar sized rotors which looks to be my culprit. Basically I need a way to keep the rotors cooler and I think the only way I can do that is to setup some brake cooling ducts.

Just to give you an idea of how hot they were getting...I let my friend take some laps in the car and at the end of the long straights I could see my rotors glowing orange in daylight! I need to cool them off somehow. Any ideas?

BTW if anyone cares I open track at Gingermann Raceway in South Haven, MI.

Killercanary · Apr 6, 2006

Could you fab up something on your own via the fog light hole and cutting a hole into the dust cover on the front rotors and plumbing a hose from one to the other. I think the cobra R brake duct set used to be for sale through ford racing.

zZsKyZz · Apr 7, 2006

I work at A&A auto in PA and we started carrying a new rotor company called DBA.. They look to have pretty decent rotors, I'd give them a shot.

94-302-vert · Apr 7, 2006

Look at finding a rotor with a directional vane, either cross drilled or slotted, and look at some wheels that will actually force air into or out-of the brakes...

Now you can also look at doing the forced air thing with ducts or maybe even electric fans.

Now what about a cryo frozen rotor? would that do anything?

donkey_punch · Apr 7, 2006

like posted above i set of cross drilled and or slotted rotors would help. plus a set of pads that are for open track use. ones that work best in really hot conditions.

the down side with the pads that work in hot condition is that they suck when they are cool. like when your driving in the street. when i first bought my cobra the car already have the red pads from EBC ( i think that the name of the company) and i was wondering why the car was horrible at braking. so i go for a brake change and find out that the red ones are for track use, and they didn't work good for the street cause of the compound make of the pad.
i ended up changing them out for the green ones (street pads), and they suck as well. but a brake pad thats is made up for the track is your ticket. the problem is they won't get the job done on the street for your DD.
another thing, from my understanding (i'm not 100%) you can't cut slotted, crossed drilled, or rotors that are both slotted and cross drilled on a lathe. maybe someone else can clear that one up.

your best bet might be to have a rotor, and brake pad setup for the track, and switch them out for the track days.

go-stang5.0 · Apr 7, 2006

Cross drilling and slotting is not an option. Both processes reduce the integrity of the rotors. Especially cross drilling. My current baer rotors are directionally vaned and they still warped like crazy. I already got a set of cryo rotors from tire rack (not installed yet) however I still think I will need some brake cooling ducts. I'd like to keep the fog lights as I just repared them recently and also the cobra r ducts require the 96+ spindles. I was thinking about making some scoops out of sheet metal and attaching them ot the bottom of the front bumper but I need help on routing the hose. I seen people try to use cooling stuff on our spindles and the hose always rubs on the wheel or something else.

Leezure · Apr 7, 2006

We use this on our GT1 car.

600 Deg F. Aircraft Silicone

Designed for moving air from -80 deg. F to 600 deg. F. Silicone ducting is lightweight and extremely flexible. Excellent for close quarter applications where ducting has to snake around objects. Construction includes fiberglass cord with high temperature silicone rubber coated woven fiberglass fabric and bronze plated steel spring wire helix. Can be screwed together to form a continuous length. Good for applications where high temperatures exist such as brake ducting.

Available in 11 ft. lengths only.

Part No Size Price
THESS-100
1" $38.99
THESS-125
1.25" $39.99
THESS-150
1.5" $45.99
THESS-200 2" $52.99

THESS-250
2.5" $59.99
THESS-300 3" $64.99

THESS-350
3.5" $74.99
THESS-400 4" $82.99

This is from Racer Parts Wholesale but you can find it elsewhere. With this hose you can route it from anywhere in front of your car, under the radiator or around it and zip tie it to the K member. From there you can mount it as you see fit to the strut so you have constant air movement over the brake disc.

I have seen jerry rigged set ups and high end aluminum brackets used to make this work. Either way works as long as it is secure and allows for flex.

go-stang5.0 · Apr 7, 2006

Kool...I'm gonna look around locally for some cheaper ducting and stuff. However if I dont find any thing that looks like it will hold up, then I will look into the silicone hosing. It just seems kinda pricey to me. Also, I never had a dust shield on the front brakes so I cant make anything out of those. I will prolly end up making some brackets to mount the hose to the hub, control arm, strut...wherever I decide to secure the hose. But I gotta take some measurements first.

Zero Signal · Apr 7, 2006

I know the high end brake kits, use super fat rotors that are designed to actually flow air through them. Also, the fat rotors inheritly resist warpage becuase of their shape alone. That sounds like what you need and I agree on the cross drilled/slotted. Those designs are not meant to cool the rotor anyway, they are meant to help expel any gases trapped under the pad.

blksn955.o · Apr 7, 2006

are the baer rotors the cross drilled and slotted zink plated ones???

We put the kit that has those rotors above, the vett. pbr calipers, ss braded lines and I think hawk pads on my buddies 00gt. He didnt open track it but had a "habbit" of going well over 100mph on back roads in the country out here...he had toasted several pads and rotors on his stock setups. Those rotors he got were BAD ARSE and driven realy (read deff. put to the test) hard with no issues.

There is a diff. in a stock type or spec rotor being cross drilled and/or slotted v. a quality aftermarket rotor that is cross drilled and/or slotted. They all dont use the same quality metal.

go-stang5.0 · Apr 7, 2006

Even the 2000 cobra r kits use a 1.1 in wide rotor. It's not until you get to stoptech's and $2000+ stuff that you get the thicker rotors. All that stuff is out of my budget. I'd rather swap rotors everytime I go to the track befor switching to something like that. But yea leezure I checked out RPW's website and they have cheap plastic scoops for the front also...and theres lots of sizes and choices. I gotta figure out what scoops I want and where to mount them and then its just a matter of running the hose and mounting that to a spot where there directed to the rotors. I think I can do this whole setup for less than $100 bux. Sweet!

Oh does anyone know of anyone that makes ducts for the rotor side that possibly mount to where the dust shield used to be?

Leezure · Apr 8, 2006

Make sure to take pictures of your progress!

go-stang5.0 · Apr 9, 2006

Oke Doke....It may be a bit before I get around to it. I dunno when my next track day is (gotta find another car club to go with...last week it was w/ the chicago VW club). I was the only one w/ a solid rear axel that day . But yea I'll get pics while i do it.

SeventyMach1 · Apr 9, 2006

This says it's for 05-06 Stangs ... but sounds like what you need to find.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005...054735011QQcategoryZ42605QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

View attachment 478301

Redsnake2 · Apr 9, 2006

brothers performance sells those kit for our cars

go-stang5.0 · Apr 10, 2006

I have considered getting something like that for for the rotor side however that stuff is too pricey. If I can find some cobra dust shields i can trim them and weld on an end for hose attachment (and directing of airflow) like that for nothing as opposed to $150-$200. Ill consider it but I'd still rather save money and do it myself...I'm an engineering student w/ access to lots of metal and a mig welder. Surely i can use my skills to save a few bux.

bvi steve · Apr 10, 2006

You need to make sure that the air is directed to the center of the rotor. Then it will flow out thru the rotor on the inside. If you blow air just on the flat part of the rotor a air block will form and very little cooling will occure. Also it may take more than one hose. Real roadrace cars have several hoses. You can not get them to cold unless it is very cold and or raining at the track. Make sure your hose has nice smooth bends and check for interference during travel and turning. It will take some time to get it right but it will be worth it.
good luck.

go-stang5.0 · Apr 10, 2006

Yea I know to aim the hose to the center of the rotor. I also know multiple hoses are ideal however clerance will be an issue. Plus the car is just open tracked...I think I will be ok for now w/ just 1 3" hose on each side. I will consider a multiple hose setup when I redo the front end (coilovers, tubular a arms and kmember)...there will be more space for hoses then.

Brake cooling ducts

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Keep it lubed .... keep it straight .... and keep

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