Now Shipping: Custom Tesla Roadster 2-Piece Slotted Rotors

[m0rph]

Front and rear are labelled correctly
But I'm surprised to see such a big part of the disc not used by the pads, especially in the rear! We don't need the extra cooling so let's look around for a caliper upgrade next!
I also expected to see a darker colour, but I assume this is only the prototype without the black oxide?

 

[adiggs]

Front and rear are labelled correctly
...
I also expected to see a darker colour, but I assume this is only the prototype without the black oxide?

Correct - these are the prototypes intended primarily to get the dimensions and hole placement correct. They haven't been through treatment yet. David figured fitting the prototypes to the car just to be sure (he didn't expect any issues - there weren't), since a mistake AFTER producing ~100 of them is way more expensive than a mistake BEFORE producing ~100 of 'em.


The hats are also not complete in these pictures, though I believe they are the correct metal. He described some of the incremental changes, but I'm willing to admit my ignorance and say that I didn't really follow I did pick up on the end result - another ~1/2 lb lighter from the prototypes, that were already lighter by the amount listed earlier.

 

[adiggs]

More rotor pictures:

Another of the rear rotor, but from further back with the wheel well for context:

Hat

Rotor with finish

- - - Updated - - -

Dave also says:

The finished rotor samples are on their way back, we should have them next week.

Bolts are being plated now, rotor hats get dropped off next week.

There will be a few extra sets if you want to post that, I rounded up to get even quantities so I think there will be 5 extra cars worth.

I'll emphasize this for any latecomers to the thread - Dave is thinking that he'll have ~5 extra sets. If you're late to the party but thinking you would like to join in, information is in the lead post of the thread.

reason for edit: added Dave's comment about rotor samples status

 

[Tesla 940]

I'll start by saying THANK YOU!

Will it be necessary/advisable to replace/install new wheel bearings? If so, any source to get these? Could be an issue if ~100 orders come in at essentially one time.

Any other issues or thoughts about the switch out?

 

[adiggs]

I'll start by saying THANK YOU!

Will it be necessary/advisable to replace/install new wheel bearings? If so, any source to get these? Could be an issue if ~100 orders come in at essentially one time.

Any other issues or thoughts about the switch out?

This is where we hope one of the more knowledgeable folks sees the thread updates and responds. You know - somebody that actually knows something about cars (I are data geek, not car geek).

I'm the Roadster owner that is local to the fabricator, but I don't actually know answers to questions like yours.


For other issues / thoughts, I don't know how much of an issue, but I'm planning to change brake pads to the Carbotech AX6 at the same time as the rotors go on. I'm doing that because it sounds good, and because others I trust to know more than I said that's a good plan And then the rotors and pads can bed in together (so I signed up for the pad set also rather than ordering from somewhere else and risking ordering the wrong thing, or not getting them together at the right time for install).

 

[adiggs]

I'll start by saying THANK YOU!

Will it be necessary/advisable to replace/install new wheel bearings? If so, any source to get these? Could be an issue if ~100 orders come in at essentially one time.

Any other issues or thoughts about the switch out?

Got an email with an answer to your question Tesla940 (from Dennis). He says:

So Tesla940 asked about if he needs to replace the bearings. The answer is no, the bearings are inside the hub which we didn't touch. The rotor is placed right up against the hub. It's a simple rotor swap...

 

[hcsharp]

Hubs are separate from rotors on the Roadster and most modern cars, so you won't have to repack the wheel bearings. In addition, Tesla mentioned that one of the 400 mi upgrades involved new low-friction wheel bearings so I'm anticipating replacing the bearings later when Tesla has the upgrade parts available.

 

[TOBASH]

The new rotors look quite promising.

It will be fun to finally run them on my car.

I'm looking forward to a roadster that stops.

Best,

T

 

[hcsharp]

Does anyone have insights into the ETA for the rotors? I have a quick ratio steering rack on its way and need new rear tires on my car and would like to get it all done at the same time

He said to plan on 12 weeks after he got the last payment which would have been around late Jan or early Feb. Last I heard he was running ahead of schedule so should be pretty soon.

 

[TOBASH]

Is there any news???

 

[scottfe]

wiztecy sent me a PM about my order. But ironically..
"wiztecy has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages."
The answer is "yes" on the AX6 bundle.
You can now contact me via email from TMC, which I monitor regularly.

 

[adiggs]

wiztecy sent me a PM about my order. But ironically..
"wiztecy has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages."
The answer is "yes" on the AX6 bundle.
You can now contact me via email from TMC, which I monitor regularly.

@scottfe - wiztecy has chosen to close his account at some point after the start of this thread and now. For the AX6 bundle, there is information in the first post of this thread about how to contact Fabricator Dave (that's what I call him - he's the fellow building our rotor sets) and let him know that you're interested in the AX6 bundle, as well as how to send payment and other details. My suggestion is that you contact Dave directly so that there are as few handoffs between you and your new rotors / brake pads as possible.


More broadly, I haven't heard anything new, but I figure we're getting into the range where I would expect to hear something new soon. I will drop Dave an email and ask about status / news, or if he has an idea of when he would expect to have status / news.

 

[hcsharp]

We heard from Titanium Dave today. We had asked for an update and here's what he said:

Here is the update:
Rotors are machined and in transit to Nitrex in Vegas. After doing the best I could to 'test' the samples I opted for the non-oil bath deposition process because I can't test how the pads will react to the oil bath over time, if oil will continue to propagate out of the castings. Both process appear to have great rust resistance even after repeated scrubbing with Scothbrite metal cleaning pads. Nitrex estimates finishing the treatment about the 24th. Shipping back to Portland for assembly puts us at about the end of the month for us to start shipping.

Rotor hats are due back any day from plating, bolts are plated and ready for pick up.

Brake pads are here and ready to ship with rotors. These can be shipped prior if folks want since shipping will be charged when they go out, should be a little less money to ship with the rotors.

To get a discount on pads, I need to place an order for 20 pair of pads at a time so no way to add pads at this time.

Due to rounding production numbers, there were a total of 31 cars of rotors made. Put folks in touch if they want to get a set at this price. It will be fine to make another batch in the future, and hopefully I can hold price but it's never a sure deal. I have had vendors give me a 'nice guy price' to get started and then realize they can't afford to keep doing prices unless the numbers are greatly increased.

 

[dsm363]

Thanks for the update. I missed this post so thought I'd refresh this thread. Can't wait to install them.

 

[hcsharp]

From Dave:
Here is an update. The hats are back from nickel plating and look great, see attached pics. The friction discs are being treated now, hopefully they will ship back today or early next week and we can start assembling them for shipping.

Asoka, I can put this set on your car if you want to get going on driving the new set and start giving some feedback to the forum.

I had one more person pay for a set of the extra rotors that were made so there are still a few sets available.

Dave Levy
Ti Cycles Fabrication (Bicycle stuff)
Cedar Ridge Fabrication (Car stuff)

Lots to look forward to!

 

[tomsax]

They look awesome! Thanks for the update and the photos.

 

[dsm363]

Agree. Thanks for passing along. Look amazing. Now need to find someone to install them=)

 

[swaltner]

The rotors look great, but several of those pieces of safety wire don't look to be installed properly. If those were on the airplane I'm building, I'd have scrapped/replaced half of those pieces of safety wire.

 

[dsm363]

The rotors look great, but several of those pieces of safety wire don't look to be installed properly. If those were on the airplane I'm building, I'd have scrapped/replaced half of those pieces of safety wire.

Can you expand on what you mean by this and if you think it's an issue? Thanks.

 

[supersnoop]

Can you expand on what you mean by this and if you think it's an issue? Thanks.

The purpose of the safety wire is so that, if one screw backs out, it tightens the other. If the screws are tightened appropriately, then one should prevent the other from backing out. But, there are several cases, at least two on each rotor in the above picture, where one screw could back out without affecting its mate.