Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes cadmium plated, worth it?

I live in MI. where it seems instead of plowing in the winter we drive on gravel roads made of salt!! My stock rotors are warped and I was wondering if cadmium would keep the rust off the rotors and keep them looking good. Is it worth it? I know it wont help warping

It will help keep them looking good. That's the purpose. About $40 to do a set i.e. $10 each.

Not as good as cad plating but it also helps to paint the rotors with a high temp paint. Don't paint the friction surface though. If you do paint them, clean up the shipping oil first with brake clean. Make sure that you paint the vents because that is where the rust is the worst. Some say that paint will not allow the rotors to cool as well, but I think the result is minimal, not much if any more than the original coating on the SVT rotors or the cad plating.

the plating would work, but not for long since the cadmuim is a sacrificial coating. In other words the cadmium is a more active metal than the steel and therefore corrodes more readily, the cadmuim is sopposed to corrode to prevent the rotor from rusting.

If the conditions are as you describe then they would likely last 1 to 2 years before the plating has corroded away.

however, combined with a high temperature paint the cadmium plating will act as a second line of defense.