Any reasonable way to reduce the brake dust on the wheels? After washing my car, I waxed my front wheels today hoping that might make a difference....

 

Don't drive it! They are sport brakes they are going to do that no matter what!

 

Yes there is a simple way to reduce the brake dust on your wheels. Go to the local parts store and buy these three things:
1) Brake or Carb Cleaner (comes in a tin arissol can)
2) Megiars Wheel Scratch X
3) Bottle of "Liquid Glass"

-First wash your rims
-Then spray an even coat of the brake cleaner on the wheel
-Let sit for about 30 seconds
-Wipe off with a clean dry cloth

-Following the instructions on the bottle, apply the Meguiar's Scratch X
-Let sit for about 10 minutes or so

- Following the instructions on the bottle of "Liquid Glass" aplly a thin coat of it on each wheel making sure not to overflow it onto any of the tires (it may cause cracking in them if it settles)

Enjoy clean shiny rims for the rest of your days!

 

brake cleaner on paint??

just wash your car more often.

 

You can buy a "shield", for lack of a better term, that fits over the hub that blocks the dust from getting on your wheels. I've seen them before, a long time ago, don't know where to find them, maybe Pep-Boys. It's painted black, and it's solid so you can't see through the wheels. Basically it's sandwiched between the wheel and the hub.

 

wow - lots of bad advice in this thread (no offense guys).

Brake dust is a way of life. Performance pads dust, that's all there is to it.

You can give up a little bit of braking performance and go to a lower dust pad. I very strongly recommend the Hawk HPS as a pad for people looking for good performance with much lower dust. But even that I wouldn't recommend for our cars - you've got a great braking system, don't compromise it by going to a less effective pad.

First, never use brake cleaner on your wheels. Never use anything that caustic. That goes twice for Meguiars ScratchX or any other such polishing compound. You'll generate a ton of tiny scratches in the clearcoating of your wheels, and they'll deteriorate rather quickly.

Waxing your wheels is the right thing to do. Take them off the car some time (one at a time, easy to do with a jack in your driveway). Buy some good wheel cleaner - the BBS brand sold by Griot's is very good, or buy the best that your local autoparts store sells. Buy some cheap wax while you're there - turtlewax or etc. Don't waste your Meguiars on your wheels.

Spray the dry wheels with the wheel cleaner, liberally. Use a wheel brush (if you don't have one, Target sells good ones) to get the major dust off. then use water. Then hit any small crevices with a toothbrush (replace your toothbrush, use your old one for your wheels).

Once clean and dry (never re-use towels you use for drying wheels on your paint, FYI) then put two liberal coats of wax on the wheels. Rub it in pretty good.

For the rest of the calendar year you should be able to clean the wheels in just a few minutes with the wheel cleaner and the brushes. Just make sure your wheels are cool and dry, hit them with the wheel cleaner and use the wheel brush and toothbrush.

Wax once a year, or twice a year if necessary.

The "shields" that J's is talking about are called KleenWheels. They should _never_ be used on a performance vehicle. They go behind the wheel and shield the brake dust from reaching the wheels. But they also keep airflow from getting in and will overheat your brakes. Besides, who wants to cover up those beautiful brembos?

 

what about EBC green or red stuff brake pads? they reduce dust and the dust is light colored, plus better pads for racing anyways... any thoughts?

-shahul

 

there are also sport ralliart brake pads,
more metalic then stock pads

 

any grinding?
some race pads that are more metal are very abrasive

-shahul

 

I had the EBC green stuff on my 200sx se-r and it seemed like I had more brake dust build up than with the regular pads. Maybe it was just my imagination, but once I switched back to some cheapo pads the dust didn't build up as quickly.

 

Get some black rims.

 

I'l second Jedi's comments.

You will never be able to cut down on the brake dust that appears on your wheels.

NEVER use a polish/ compound wax on your wheels unless you are trying to bring back a dull finish clearcoat. Polishes contain abrasives that are meant to rehab a finishes shine only.

NEVER use harsh cleaning products like brake cleaner....that stuff is very caustic and is meant to clean brake dust off of iron and cast parts....not polished and painted wheels.

Use a non abrasive natural wax of some kind after you cleaned the wheels very well.....

If you have a hard time cleaning the wheels before the wax application, use a clay bar to remove the brake deposits. Clay bars work because they shear, not because they contain abrasives. Please throw away that clay bar when you are done. The brake dust trapped int he clay will scratch your car if you use it afterwards on the body panels.

SC~

 

Looks like alot of useful info here.

Just to be clear. My brake dust isn't hard to remove, it is just that there is so much of it. I washed my car on Saturday. Today was Wednesday. No rain or anything, and my wheels already look pretty nasty. Just normal A to B driving for me.

 

well just clean them every other day like i do

 

I first saw this comment made about the brake dust on XKE rims (chrome wire, you think you have problems). I wash my rims, drive 20 miles and they wre dirty again. Oh well, Wear your dusty rims with pride as these buggies can STOP.