Power Slot Installation and Overview

DCSpecial

Mr. Sinister
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Messages
3,898
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 4x4 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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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).

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

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

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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).

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

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Before installing the Hawk LTS pads into the caliper bracket be sure to coat the backing plates of the pads using Disc Brake Quiet or something similar.

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While waiting for the Disc Brake Quiet to get tacky, carefully push the pistons back into the caliper without damaging the rubber boots and them clean off the face of the pistons and the entire caliper.

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Now everything is ready to install the pads into the caliper bracket and install the two springs that go between them (the springs will want to push the pads out, so be sure to hold onto them and be ready to go onto the next step).

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With the pads in the bracket and the springs between them, reinstall the caliper and bolt it to the caliper bracket. Again, tighten by hand and be sure to tighten to factory specs.

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to be continued.....
 
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With the front complete it’s time to move onto the rear. Make sure that the Parking Brake is NOT engaged.

Again, start by removing the caliper that is held in by two bolts to the caliper bracket.

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Next, remove the pads and the caliper bracket.

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With the caliper and the caliper bracket removed, remove the rotor. It may be necessary to spray the area down with PB Blaster around the hub and strike the backside with a dead blow hammer while rotating the rotor to break it free. Once it breaks free, pull it straight off.

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And now it’s time for the reassembly of the rear with the Power Slot Cryo Rotors and Hawk LTS Pads. Slide the Power Slot Rotor onto the wheel hub and reinstall the caliper bracket after verifying that the caliper pin slides are freely moving and lubed. Be sure to tighten using hand tools and torque to factory specs.


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As was done on the front of the truck, coat the backing plates of the rear pads with Disc Brake Quiet.

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While waiting for the Disc Brake Quiet to get tacky, push the pistons back into the caliper while being careful not to damage the rubber boots.

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Install the Hawk LTS rear pads into the caliper bracket and reinstall the caliper. Be sure to tighten using hand tools and torque to factory specs.

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With all four corners done, it was time to put the tire/wheel combo back on and lower the truck back down to the ground.

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Now that the truck is down and drivable it’s time to start the break-in procedure that is stated by Power Slot. The bedding in of the new Power Slot system is the most important part of the job. When reassembly is completed, seat brake pads and establish pedal height by depressing the pedal several times before driving.

In order to assure maximum life and brake pad performance the system should frequently be heated cycled. Prolonged, excessive, heat during the bedding process can dramatically affect the performance of the Power Slot system. For best results make 6-10 stops from 35 to 5mph applying moderate pressure. When brakes cool make another 2-3 hard stops from 50 to 10mphalways keeping the vehicle moving. Next, the system should be cycled by firmly applying brake pressure to produce heat in the system, but only for short periods of time. Allow the system to cool and repeat the process. This will begin the tempering process. Avoid excessive or high speed braking until the new system has seated in. This will take you approximately 200 to 500 miles. Not following the break-in procedure will severely affect how the new Power Slot system will function.


Pretty much immediately, while doing the break-in process to the Power Slot system a definite improvement over stock can be felt. The Power Slot system really shines under moderate to heavy braking. The Power Slot Cryo Rotors and Hawk LTS pads work amazing together to bring the 8200lb+ truck on 38” tires to a stop in a hurry. Unlike stock rotors and pads that start to fade when they heat up, the Power Slot system seems to actually bite harder as it gets hotter. And added bonus to the system is that the Power Slot Rotors look much better than the stockers, this is great for people who run spoke type wheels like the ones on this truck where the rotor can be seen with the wheel on.


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Special thanks to Edwin at Power Slot and Mark Craig at DPPI

Power Slot
info@powerslot.com
www.powerslot.com
(818) 709-4800
20645 Bahama Street
Chatsworth, California 91311

Diesel Performance Parts, Inc
info@dieselperformanceparts.com
www.dieselperformanceparts.com
(866) 455-778
411 Allied Drive
Nashville, TN 37211
 
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Awesome write up Dan...as always!!:rockwoot:

Great pics and details!!:D You make it look so easy!!
 
nice job for sure. probably not the place, but a good way to really increase your braking is a Vanco Hydroboost system. Works awesome with the Powerslots....
 
nice truck man

dude that truck is so cool :rockwoot: :rockwoot: :woohoo:
 
awesome

Your truck looks great, really like the front hubs, how much more do the stick out than the stock hubs , I'm guessing that they are the dynatrac hubs and been looking at every pic and yours by far is the best, I know Dynatrac has two different ones , I think a standard and a stubby one ,which one is yours and like I curious about how far out do they protrude compared to the stock hubs . Thanks for your time, Larry
 
I have the standard Dynatrac hubs.....I'm not sure if their stubbie ones are available yet or not. They do stick out pretty far. My truck is on stock tires now and the hubs stick out a good 1" farther from the edge of the tire.
 
I'm glad this thread has been ressurected. how have the rotors and pads been holding up. I am getting ready to replace mine really like the looks of the powerslots. rear for dually's is the ?
 
The truck has been parked for the last couple of months. Drove it today, it's on stocks, the brakes work great....can stop on a dime with stock tires LOL


Last weekend we put some on my 99 F-150...that thing stops really nice too. Already put a good 300 miles on them on it :D
 
Thanks for the info, sharp looking truck by the way. Now just gotta call dppi on monday.
:woohoo:
 
Thanks....looks sort of funny on stock tires though LOL

I'll be back on bigger meats (40s) this week though :rockwoot:
 
stock wheels

Do you have a photo with the stock wheels ,would like to see how those front hubs look with the stockers .:thankyou2:
 
Thanks

your truck looks incredible, I'm ordering my front hubs first thing monday, thanks again, Larry
 
brakes are next for my truck

Awesome write-up. Better than Chilton or Haynes. I'll be using it when I do my brakes. I'm gonna use the same products. Thanks a bunch.
 
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