Quick question: Why does brake-dust matter?

[mareakin]

I am not disputing that brake dust matter, I am trying to educate myself.

My understanding, and I could be completely off, is that brake-dust tends to coat the wheel and it makes the wheel a lil' uglier--but this is subjective and trivial (at least, to me.)

My criteria for selecting a pad is how well it holds liquid.

J/K. Forgive me.

My criteria is 1. Stopping Power 2. Longevity (because I don't want to have replace the pad every 10,000 miles.)

So, why does brake dust matter? Assuming you don't care about the wheel blemishes.

In my google search, I've read that it may be corrosive and eat at your alloy wheels--but it's not corrosive enough to destroy the structural integrity right? (my reasoning: if it is, it would be outlawed as a bad wheel is major safety hazard.)

Do Chime in, I appreciate it.

 

[JHZR2]

Mainly looks, IMO. I've never seen an alloy wheel destroyed by dust, though I've seen them with truly permanently baked on dust...

It is one of the trades I guess - better braking means more dust or perhaps higher rotor wear. Or, drives you to bigger braking in terms of total system size...

 

[willix]

Brake dust doesn't effect braking performance at all. Dust in large med/heavy trucks in the drums will cause very loud high pitched squealing that is hard to live with. This won't happen with disc brakes.

 

[The Critic]

Supposedly some types of brake dust can be damaging to certain wheel finishes.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Brake dust may eat into the clear coast of the alloy wheels. Stopping Power and Longevity are usually mutually exclusive, if you want better stopping power than expect shorter life span. Similar for tires, higher performance tires don't lasted very long.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: mareakin

My criteria is 1. Stopping Power 2. Longevity (because I don't want to have replace the pad every 10,000 miles.)

So, why does brake dust matter? Assuming you don't care about the wheel blemishes.


Well, sure, but if you could find two types of pads, both equally good at stopping power and longevity, but one that produces significantly less dust, wouldn't you choose this one?

Personally, I just get annoyed with brake dust. I like to keep my car clean, and with OEM pads, within a day or two, the body will still be clean, but the wheels will be all gray/dirty. And if you don't clean brake dust often, it make get baked onto the wheel finish which will make it really difficult if not impossible to remove. I guess it's a personal thing, but I hate seeing nice cars with dirty rims, just like I hate seeing people with dirty shoes. Call my anal if you wish.

 

[pcoxe]

I wax my alloy wheels along with the rest of the car. Makes them easier to clean and will probably reduce any potential damage from brake dust. For me it's easier to wax them than to scrub off baked on brake dust.

 

[djb]

I have some BBS "basketweave" wheels with baked-on black that's far harder than the paint or metal. In some places, the dust ate through the paint and pitted the alloy surface.

Despite that, the wheels are still round and spin.

 

[Trav]

Seen a lot of clear coated alloys with damaged clear coat and pitting from excessive left on brake dust.It appears to be corrosive some how but i have no idea what or if becomes corrosive due to environmental issues like water.

 

[willix]

The key is not heat cycling the wheels, softening the clear coat when they are contaminated with pad material that also contains particals of rusting rotor material. It's like tattooing/burning it in to the paint. Clean em more often and this is not a problem.

 

[bluestream]

Does incredible damage; its like your car getting cancer...

 

[mechtech2]

Brake dust is indeed uglier, but it seems to be corrosive to cast wheels, if left on .
And it can also get build up and get hard and impeded brake parts function.

 

[xBa380]

I was sick of cleaning my wheels 5x as often as my car... I have nice alloys I bought and want them to look nice. The OEM pads were terrible with brake dust and after a day were already shades darker.

Switched to ceramics and LOVE them. Feel great, virtually no dust and make me happier overall.

Win win for me.

 

[SteveSRT8]

The word 'ceramic' is way overused. Doesn't mean much, may be only 1% of the formula!

But they are great for calm street driving.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: willix
The key is not heat cycling the wheels, softening the clear coat when they are contaminated with pad material that also contains particals of rusting rotor material. It's like tattooing/burning it in to the paint. Clean em more often and this is not a problem.


Great observation with the metal burning then rusting into the wheel coating.Thanks that seems to answer the question.

 

[tom slick]

"Ceramic" brakes really just means non-metallic (no steel) and non-organic. Not really anything to do with "ceramics" that we usually think about.

 

[antonmnster]

Even though it seems impossible, I swear the dust deposits unevenly on my wheels, throwing them just a touch out of balance.

It could easily be psychosomatic, but the car FEELS smoother when they're clean.

And the tire guy rolls his eyes whenever they're done balancing my tires, and mutter something like BMW owners are too sensitive...

 

[Trav]

I think he was talking about the metal from the rotors which makes sense.

 

[KrisZ]

To me, brake dust doesn't matter as long as I have great performing brakes and I would never trade off performance for less brake dust.

But, if I can get a pad that has the same braking performance but dusts less, then by all means I will get it.

 

[ekpolk]

I agree with those who note that beyond the strictly cosmetic appearance issues, the dust, if left in place, can be very damaging of the wheel finish. Truly the only thing I didn't like about our 1990 Mercury Sable wagon, which we owned for over ten years, was the design of the alloy wheels. They had a very ornate pattern and each wheel must have had at least 30 or so very tight, small, and hard-to-clean recesses. I often slacked off on cleaning them completely, and paid for my laziness in later years when it became apparent that brake dust had pitted into the metal.

My 04 G35 was in a league by itself when it comes to brake dust. I could wash the car, go inside to get a beer, merely think about slowing down, and when I returned to the car, it would have a fresh coat of brake dust. . .

Great brakes for sure, but I'm also sure that I never got close to using them to their full max potential. Frankly, I'd have compromised a little to get pads that didn't virtually explode with dust, and which were more durable than a pencil eraser. But that's just me.