Brake rotors: "Plain hat vs "stepped hat"?

[Tremendous_Slouch]

I was pricing frontrotors for my 2002 V6 and they sell two kinds, plain hat and stepped hat. How can i tell which kind my car needs? Anyone know how to find out? If i pull a wheel and look what do i look for?

Heres the ad, from KragenOreilly:

[Tremendous_Slouch]

here is an update on the question, i went back to the site and enlarged the pictures, the difference in nomenclature is clear enough. Heres the two choices of front rotor if you own a 2002 V6.
Several people viewed the post but no answers yet so my question remains, is there any way to tell what kind of rotor you have without pulling the wheel? If no one knows i guess i will just do that.
If you have a 2002 here are some pictures you might want to look at before your next rotor change. I havent looked yet but you might be able to tell just by looking through the holes in the wheel if you have the cast aluminum wheels.

Below is the "STEPPED HAT" rotor.



Below is the "PLAIN HAT" rotor.

[omairtheman1]

autozone has the same part numbers for bothh... ask him to compare both part numbers

[Eye8Pussies]

you car uses plan hats


but by the same token, I've never heard of stepped hats up until now...nor have I seen them...I have an inkling that the stepped hat may be just for aesthetics, as the hat size looks to be the same regardless of the design.

[JohnGD]

I've always seen "heat dams" that's a shallow groove ground the hat. It's first I saw a "stepped hat" but looks like some GMC C7000 use them too.

Compare the old rotors and get similar?? The hat may be for clearance or other "useful" purposes, if so you need to match.


[quote=Tremendous_Slouch;2760078]I was pricing frontrotors for my 2002 V6 and they sell two kinds, plain hat and stepped hat. How can i tell which kind my car needs? Anyone know how to find out? If i pull a wheel and look what do i look for?

[Mike Gerber]

I too have never heard of stepped hat rotors. Why not email or call Raybestos and ask them? At least your hands will stay clean until you have to actually do the brake work.

Mike

[gcretro]

the price difference of those rotors is pretty wide. 26 to 81? whats the difference?

[Tremendous_Slouch]

Originally Posted by Eye8Pussies

you car uses plan hats


but by the same token, I've never heard of stepped hats up until now...nor have I seen them...I have an inkling that the stepped hat may be just for aesthetics, as the hat size looks to be the same regardless of the design.

Eye8pussies you are right, i just looked through the wheel hole. Plain.

[Hajoca]

Stepped type is known as a heat break or heat dam to reduce heat transfer to the hub section , and then transferring to your car's hub (Wheel bearing and CV Joint).

It is usually found on heavy duty rotors, or heavy towing capacity version of a vehicle.

Extra cost is machining and stress relieving that section after machining.

[Tremendous_Slouch]

Originally Posted by Eye8Pussies

you car uses plan hats


but by the same token, I've never heard of stepped hats up until now...nor have I seen them...I have an inkling that the stepped hat may be just for aesthetics, as the hat size looks to be the same regardless of the design.

Pussies you are correct, how did you know? I have the aluminum wheels and just looked through the wheel hole with a flashlight. Plain hat.