Front rims always dirty!

[lmoengnr]

Soft pads used for high performance brakes are notoriously dirty (see HSV’s, BMW’s, Porsche’s etc)

Dunno about the euros, but HSV's are the opposite, hard pads, and soft rotors.

At 51000kms, I replaced pads and rotors on my Maloo.
The pads still had at least 10000kms left in them, but each rotor was worn down to below 'minimum thickness'...
Most of the crud build up on wheels is iron liberated from the rotors.
It would only take 2 days of driving for the wheels to go from glossy black, to dusty brown...

 

[panhead]

Dunno about the euros, but HSV's are the opposite, hard pads, and soft rotors.

At 51000kms, I replaced pads and rotors on my Maloo.
The pads still had at least 10000kms left in them, but each rotor was worn down to below 'minimum thickness'...
Most of the crud build up on wheels is iron liberated from the rotors.
It would only take 2 days of driving for the wheels to go from glossy black, to dusty brown...

My mistake, I should have read my own post as I meant hard pads.

The brakes on my Euros and HSV’s are all dirty and the rotors wear very quickly compared to the pads unless of course you go for ceramics.

I'll edit the post.


.

 

[lmoengnr]

I'm using EBC Red Stuff ceramic pads and DBA 4xxxx series rotors.
15000kms so far, not a mark on any of the rotors, and the pads have barely worn.
Very little dust as well, and improved braking performance.

 

[Stroppy]

Thanks guys.

Not sure what the brake pads are, but I think they are good because it was an unmarked police car.

Hey! That's what my Sportwagon was...an unmarked police vehicle (VIC) used, I'm told, by the Police Intelligence Division. I bought it with about 50,000k on the ODO. VicPol cars have an uprated brake package, I believe, as well as a proper alloy spare (no space saver or spray kit) and a dual battery setup (if you have a wagon check your boot and you'll find another receptacle has been added for a battery on the side opposite to the normal battery holder). Most of the time the dealers remove the second battery and the wiring to return the cars to spec.

As to brake dust...that's one of the things you have to put up with, I'm afraid. We still run a TJ Magna as well as the Sportwagon and both cars show more dust on the front rims. The front brakes do most of the work as someone pointed out above. Them's the breaks. (No pun intended)

I don't bother with coatings. I just use one of those brushes that clicks on to your standard hose end and I scrub the wheels once a week, whether I am washing the rest of the car or not. In winter I get a bit lazy because no sooner than you clean the wheels the crap on the road muddies them again.

 

[Forg]

I'm using EBC Red Stuff ceramic pads and DBA 4xxxx series rotors.
15000kms so far, not a mark on any of the rotors, and the pads have barely worn.
Very little dust as well, and improved braking performance.

You must drive pretty hard?
Don't Red Stuff need to get hot before they work properly, so unless you're driving pretty hard you get less performance than your average everyday pad?

 

[Benboy]

Generally Police 'operational vehicles' are fitted with larger diameter discs and the pads are 'high performance' heavily loaded with metal. Yes they might work well but every time you use them the metal in the pads chews into the rotors resulting in a shorter life. You just can't get performance gains without some type of trade-off.

 

[lmoengnr]

You must drive pretty hard?
Don't Red Stuff need to get hot before they work properly, so unless you're driving pretty hard you get less performance than your average everyday pad?

I had been told that by a few people, about needing heat to work....
But I have a good mate who actually uses them in a modded AU XR8 with big brakes.
He said "Try them, you wont be disappointed".
He was right, they are a great pad.
My Redline is due for brakes now, if I wasn't about to trade it in, I'd be getting DBA rotors and Red Stuff pads for it as well.

 

[Tonner Matt]

You must drive pretty hard?
Don't Red Stuff need to get hot before they work properly, so unless you're driving pretty hard you get less performance than your average everyday pad?

I've noticed that a lot of forum members recommend or rate these pads very highly, so did some research on these pads myself and EBC state that "They work as well or better as on OEM pad when cold and just get better as they get hotter"
Checkout this link:
http://ebcbrakes.com/product/redstuff-brake-pads/

 

[Forg]

^ It's been over 10 years since I last looked into performanceyness of pads, seems like the EBC range has changed (for the better).

 

[greenacc]

As panhard said some car wash on a soft brush from Repco with a final rinse with the hose will get the dust off no trouble.
And whenever you have the wheels off for any reason you wash out the inside of the rim the same way and the wheels will stay nice for years.