Super Duty Slotted Disk Brake Upgrade – Part I

Title: Power Slot Installation and Overview

By: Written by: Daniel C. (DCSpecial)

Synopsis: This article will cover the installation and overview of the Power Slot Cyro Rotors and Hawk LTS Pads on my 2001 F-350 Super Duty.

In today’s aftermarket full size truck industry we’re always looking for ways to make our trucks bigger, badder, and faster than the next guy. One item that seems to be often overlooked is brake upgrades. With trucks pumping out well over the amount of factory rwhp and often running much larger tire and wheel combinations it is very important to upgrade the factory braking system to be able to harness all that power and weight and bring it to a stop. Driving a 2001 F-350 Crew Cab 4×4 Diesel with a slightly modified motor and large 38″ mud terrain tires often leaves you wanting/needing some extra stopping power over the stock setup.

With a slew of products to choose from, it’s often tough to decide which is the best, most cost effective route to take. After taking a look at all of the rotor and pad upgrades available, it became evident that the Power Slot Cryo Rotors and Hawk LTS Pads were the decision to make. Power Slot has teamed up with Frozen Rotors to offer cryogenic treatment on their Power Slot rotor line. Deep cryogenic treatment is a one-time process that permanently improves the performance and service life of metals from brake rotors and engine parts, to machine tools and gear sets. Using a proprietary computer-controlled process, the metal is cooled gradually to -300°F and then slowly returned to room temperature and heat-cycled as the final step. Although not apparent to the naked eye, the improvements to the rotor are significant. The cryogenic treatment process redistributes residual stress in the rotor giving it an extra level of protection against warping. Another nice feature is the fact that Power Slot applies a proprietary military-spec Cadmium plating on their rotors. This protects the rotor from harmful corrosion throughout its life. Other competitors use inferior Zinc plating on their rotors, or no plating at all! In salt spray testing, their Cadmium plating last up to 60% longer than Zinc. The Hawk Performance pads are the perfect companion to the Power Slot Cryo Rotors. The LTS pads are designed for light truck and SUV use for daily driving, hauling and if you are frequently towing. The LTS pads are made out of a higher friction compound than their HPS pads, while still maintaining their low dust and low noise properties while still being gentle on your rotors.

With the product selection completed it was time to find a good, reputable vendor to purchase the Power Slot Cryo Rotors and Hawk LTS pads through. Mark Craig at Diesel Performance Parts, Inc. (DPPI), 1-866-455-7788, was contacted and got the ball rolling to upgrade the big Ford’s braking system. DPPI has been involved in the light duty diesel performance market since 1985. As the truck industry and aftermarket industry have changed over the years they have maintained themselves among the leaders in supplying parts for the light duty diesel trucks offered by the auto manufacturers. DPPI has done this by offering only products from the best manufactures on the market and offering great pricing while maintaining excellence in customer service. Mark Craig proved to be a great guy to deal with ordering up the Power Slot Cryo Rotors and Hawk LTS pads. It truly was a pleasure to deal with him, he took the time answer any and all questions and offered up feedback that he has gotten through customers has well as his own experience with the product since he runs the same combination of products on his truck as well as his wife’s SUV. I would definitely recommend Mark Craig and DPPI for Power Slot Cryo Rotors, Hawk Pads, as well as the countless other products that he offers.

With the order complete, the Power Slot Cyro Rotors and Hawk LTS arrived shortly there after.

With all the parts in, it’s time to begin the installation. The first thing to do is jack the truck up and properly support it by placing jack stands underneath the axles of the truck. Be sure that the floor jack and jack stands are rated for the vehicle. With the vehicle properly supported remove the tire/wheel combo from the truck.

Starting at the front of the truck, the first thing to do is remove the two bolts that secure the brake caliper to the caliper mounting bracket. With the bolts removed, remove the caliper from the bracket (a pry bar may be needed).

Securely place the caliper on the leaf spring so that it is out of the way and isn’t pulling on the brake line.

With the caliper out of the way, remove the spring that connects the two brake pads in the caliper bracket.

Next, remove the two bolts that hold the caliper bracket to the steering knuckle. Turning the wheels will give more room to be able to get to the bolts. Hold onto the bracket as the bolts are removed to keep it from falling to the ground.

With both bolts removed, place the caliper bracket to the side and remove the stock pads out of it.

With the caliper bracket off, remove the rotor from the wheel hub. The rotor will just pull off of the wheel hub. Depending on the condition of the truck it may be necessary to spray the area where the rotor meets the hub with penetrating oil and strike the back of the rotor with a dead blow hammer to break it loose.

Now with the disassembly done, it’s time to reassemble with the Power Slot Cryo Rotors and Hawk LTS pads. There are “Right” and “Left” Rotors (Left refers to drivers left). Slide the new Power Slot Cryo Rotor onto the wheel hub.

Before reinstalling the caliper bracket verify that both caliper slides are moving freely and are lubed.

On this truck, on the front axle, both brackets had the upper slide frozen/rusted in. So they were soaked in PB Blaster and worked them free using a 13/16″ wrench and pliers.

Be sure to clean off the rust, lube the slide pins and reinstall into the caliper bracket (being sure to properly install the dust boot over the slide pin).

Next, reattach the caliper bracket to the steering knuckle. Be sure to tighten using hand tools and torque to factory specs.

For part two of this article click here.