Man...I've never seen anything like it.

I realize the wheels are black and might show more dust but as lightly as I'm applying these brakes so as to bed them in properly,the wheels are coated with a dull dusty finish after only a short time behind the wheel.

I have had a lot of cars but I have never seen as much dust as this...anyone think this will get better or is this about what I can expect?

 

No, it doesn't get any better. My XJ and my AMG are the same way.

 

Yep, and BMWs, MBs, and most other performance-oriented cars. Get used to it, and buy a lot of wheel cleaner. Actually, I think it is worse in the beginning. I'm noticing less and less after 3K miles.

 

I have over 6k on my brakes and they are still coated within a day, enough that I'm considering trading out for black wheels. As for a previous post, this is WAY worse than my BMW and others I've had, although I don't think it stopped as fast either...

 

Yes, it's still bad, and equal to my 08 BMW M3, but perhaps I'm noticing it less because I swapped the 18" Vela wheels that came on the car to 20" Gyrodynes I purchased slightly used. The larger gap between wheel surfaces and calipers on the 20 inchers coupled with a more open wheel design seems to collect less.

Black wheels are an expensive and ineffective "solution" that you probably won't be satisfied with. They too look bad coated in dust.

I haven't researched it, but for almost every other make, you can purchase pads of a different composition, which don't dust nearly as much, but that solution will likely increase your stop distances a bit. Like everything else, it's a trade-off.

 

The only truly effective solution I know of is getting ceramics. They are expensive however.

Walt

 

EBC 'red stuff' ceramic pads produce a lot less dust, if available to fit.

 

Well re-washed the car this morning, I must say the gloss black paint on the wheels makes them easy to clean. Got them all perfect and then drove less than 2 miles away to a friends pre-owned car lot and when I got out, you could see a dull black haze over the wheels...amazing!

I will say though that the car is super easy to wash and wax...I think I'll try some spray wax on the wheels and see if that helps any.

 

same here. The brake dust does seem to accumulate rather quick.

 

Yes, wax wil help with the cleaning.

 

Don't use the brakes so much. After 14K miles, I don't think it is as bad. A bit of rain combined with the brake dust is what really makes the wheels look terrible. Fortunately for you, it never rains in CA.

 

Brake dust has been an issue for me as well.. on my Gyrodyne grey wheels it does not show up too quickly though.
I seem to remember that on one of the other forums.. perhaps the XK, some of the members experimented with different pad manufacturers and thought they found some that do not 'dust' nearly as easily and as I recall, they did not necessarily have to be ceramic.
Once mine wear down, I plan to look into different brakes if I can find some that run cleaner.

Lawrence

 

Bought some Armor All wheel protectant yesterday, it's a product you spray on and leave to dry, supposedly leaving behind a protectant finish.

I applied it then after about 20 minutes I noticed a weird coloring so I proceeded to wipe them down with a damp chamois and I'll go the wax route next...

 

I also made the mistake of trying that Armor All product on my original Vela wheels shortly after I took delivery. It does not work and seems to actually make the dust stick to wheels even more, as well as more difficult to clean.

 

I'm sure you all have wheel brushes, but I've found wheel woolies work well for getting inside the wheel. Got 'em off Amazon.

 

Thanks for that DJS,my Centrifuge wheels have large open "windows" so cleaning them is a breeze,especially with the gloss black finish...keeping the brake dust from sticking and making them appear dull is the issue I'm trying to tackle.

 

Try the Meguiars Brake Dust Barrier:

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotiv...-dust-barrier/

I'm a huge fan of their products, but I've never tried that one specifically. However, I've never been led wrong by any of their other products.

 

My last two new cars (I also buy fixer-uppers to fiddle with) had satin black, and gun metal coloured wheels respectively. Both of these hid brake dust really well, and looked good when dirty.

Notwithstanding, Jag brake pads appear to make huge amounts of dust. It is getting better though.

 

A person on the Internet (APOTI), is claiming that caliper covers reduce brake dust. I'm personally curious about my options regarding brake dust and caliper color, so I'm looking for someone who knows about this:

Caliper Covers vs. Caliper Paint

"Caliper covers also have additional benefits beyond appearance and ease of installation: They reduce the amount of brake dust that gets on your wheels, so your car will stay looking cleaner between washings. And contrary to some opinions, they can actually reduce caliper temperature."

 

That's hogwash. Don't fall for it.