brake dust sticking to wheels

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Nov 11, 2020
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Is there anything that can stand up to break dust etching/sticking to your wheels? Do any of the ceramic coatings stand up to the brake heat?

I am assuming the brake heat, then heating up the wheels causes the ceramic coatings to soften, and also the adhesive on the wheel weights to let loose and all the wheel weights fly off.
I have Apex Wheels and use G-LOC brake pads. I’m trying to figure out the best way to protect them from the massive amount of brake dust, heat, dirt etc. from using them on road courses. The heat, brake dust, tire, rubber box dirt, etc..
I’m thinking some kind of spray ceramic after each day or weekend may work?
I figure it’s important to wipe them down and put some type of protection on them often. I don’t know if that needs to be every 30 minutes every four hours or what? I already have two layers of a ceramic coating on the wheels but the first time I tried to clean them when getting home from a weekend Summit Points road course and HPDE, the Wheels did not want to come clean. I’m assuming it’s the brake dust that has etched itself into the coating/Wheels.
What looks like rust around the area where the lug nuts go, and on the outer lip or indentation around the wheel.
The other thing I’m wondering, is it better to just buy a non-spray ceramic coating for more money initially and then add alcohol or water to it to water it down and make it easier to apply and spend less money in the long run?
Any experience and wisdom about this and a product or products best to use is appreciated.
 
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The dust is normally rust. Rust from the rotor as it wears. Semi metalic pads (which I like because they grab immediatly without having to heat up and i swear has saved my hyde time and time again) and other heavy duty pads are agressive. My method it to keep them waxed and clen regularly. To continue with this some say they "ruin the rotor" aka they cannot be reused on the next brake job which most times the t]rotor is already at the minumum, so there is that. Ceramic ands most OEM organic and mixes are not bad. Anyway just clean them by hand because once the iron oxide adheres its a fight to get off. Over the counter products are tough on paint
 
Nothing beats getting the soapy sponge in there. I’ve not found a coating that does much to prevent the sticking of brake dust. Sometimes during tire rotations I’ll give the inside a good cleaning while the wheel is off. Errr, well I used to, anyway. It is time consuming but undoubtedly looks quite good.
 
Brake dust is a fact of life. I recently had my factory alloys refurbished. After a week or so I thoroughly cleaned them and coated them with TW S&S. Washed the car and dust came off very easily using just car wash soap.
 
I use Ultima waterless wash plus on my wheels. The sealant in it seems to prevent brake dust from etching the wheels as it simply wipes off. Unfortunately it doesn't stop the accumulation of brake dust, which can be a lot with my Textar R90 pads.
 
Is there anything that can stand up to break dust etching/sticking to your wheels? Do any of the ceramic coatings stand up to the brake heat?

I am assuming the brake heat, then heating up the wheels causes the ceramic coatings to soften, and also the adhesive on the wheel weights to let loose and all the wheel weights fly off.
I have Apex Wheels and use G-LOC brake pads. I’m trying to figure out the best way to protect them from the massive amount of brake dust, heat, dirt etc. from using them on road courses. The heat, brake dust, tire, rubber box dirt, etc..
I’m thinking some kind of spray ceramic after each day or weekend may work?
I figure it’s important to wipe them down and put some type of protection on them often. I don’t know if that needs to be every 30 minutes every four hours or what? I already have two layers of a ceramic coating on the wheels but the first time I tried to clean them when getting home from a weekend Summit Points road course and HPDE, the Wheels did not want to come clean. I’m assuming it’s the brake dust that has etched itself into the coating/Wheels.
What looks like rust around the area where the lug nuts go, and on the outer lip or indentation around the wheel.
The other thing I’m wondering, is it better to just buy a non-spray ceramic coating for more money initially and then add alcohol or water to it to water it down and make it easier to apply and spend less money in the long run?
Any experience and wisdom about this and a product or products best to use is appreciated.
I detailed vehicles for many years. I had a boss with a Range Rover sport that was really bad. I used a double dose of wheel cleaner and wheel brush. I can't remember the brand but I used a synthetic sealant that made a world of difference
 
I ceramic coated my Mustang’s wheels, when I got the car, and I have no noticeable residue at 5000 miles.

I have rinsed them when washing the car, but I haven’t put a sponge to them.
 
I’d spray the wheels down with a little Griot’s or Meguiar’s ceramic wax after cleaning them but before rinsing the car down.

Euro brake dust is magnitudes worse than Japanese/Korean “ceramic” brake dust due to the friction formulation - there’s metal and graphite in Euro pads, which tend to be a semi-metallic/low-metallic sintered material. But, Japanese/Korean pads are resin-based and there’s phenolic resin, rubber and even cashew dust in an a “ceramic” organic pad. The aftermarket brake friction suppliers are in a game to one-up who can claim “low dust”.
 
I love seeing the people driving around in their Euro luxury car and their front wheels are a whole different color than the rear because they never clean their wheels.
 
I love seeing the people driving around in their Euro luxury car and their front wheels are a whole different color than the rear because they never clean their wheels.
Yea, Euro dust is black and corrosive. Euro brakes also need to meet ECE90 homologation so things are a little more uniform.

Japanese/Korean(all their brakes, as well as many of the Detroit 3 owes their existence to Akebono, while NBK/Nisshinbo has a JV with either Hyundai Mobis or HL Mando as Saeron Brake) brake dust is brown and not as bad. I took a gamble with Duralast Elite made by Bosch on a Toyota, so the jury’s out but AZ and Bosch claim less dust.
 
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