Nickel Plated Rotors

[novanutcase]

This may sound like a dumb question but what happens to nickel plated rotors after you've driven them a while? Does the plating come off? If so what is the advantage to plating them? Does plating prevent corrosion of the rotor in the areas that the pad doesn't wear off the plating? If the plating only comes off where the pad is in contact will there be a noticeable difference between the plated and non plated areas? Does anyone have a photo of this that they can post? I am in the process of deciding what kind of brakes I am going to go with and the choice of nickel plating was given and I was wondering what advantage it brings other than good looks!

[Blown353]

Yep, the zinc plating in the pad swath is removed within the first 100 miles or so of driving. However, the zinc plating remains on all the non-friction surfaces and prevents the rotors from becoming a rusty mess.

Here's an old picture of one of my front brakes, you can see the difference in appearance between the friction path and the zinc washing still remaining near the rotor hat: http://home.comcast.net/~procharged69/pictures/brakes/front_installed.jpg

[novanutcase]

Thanks Blown!

That's exactly what I was looking for! So it seems that other than cosmetic there is no other advantage to nickel plating.