Horrible brake dust

2003 E-150 Club Wagon 5.4

This van, with only 20k miles, has what I believe to be the original brakes. I bought the van with less than 17k, and I certainly haven't replaced them.

Anyway, these brakes produce a TON of dust on the front wheels. I've never had a car, truck, or van that put of half as much brake dust.

What do you guys recommend? It's bad enough that I'm willing to replace the pads even if they have life left in them. They're going to permanently damage the aluminum wheels I'm afraid.

Thanks,

CJB

Reply to
CJB
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Wash the truck weekly?

Reply to
Lance LaFrinier

and don't let them armoral the tires/rims, that will make it more sticky

Reply to
johanb

The brake dust on aluminum rims is common enough. You may just not be used to dealing with it. The amound of dust correlates to brake wear. If you have that much dust you may have more wear than you believe. You better check those pads, especially the inside ones that probably require wheel removal to inspect. New pads won't solve the dust problem.

Reply to
Al Bundy

If you don't know, just say so.

Yes, I wash the van at least weekly. I wax it every 6-8 weeks. I use wheel cleaner and a wheel brush every time I wash it. However, within 100 miles, the wheels are noticeably cruddy. If I let the things go for more than a week, they're black. Were talking about within 300 miles I have black wheels. This is city driving we're talking about, but we're not hard on the brakes.

CJB

Reply to
CJB

Yeah, at the rate the dust is coming off the wheels, the pads are certainly not going to last too long. I am used to aluminum wheels though, I've had them on a Taurus, a couple Rangers, and even another E series van.

I've heard that some pads produce less dust. I know I'm always going to have brake dust to contend with, but I'd like to get something that's less filthy than what I have now.

CJB

Reply to
CJB
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Google is your friend, here is the first hit (of 2.69M) on a "brake dust" search w/o quotes:

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Here is the first hit (of 243K) with quotes:

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DJ

Reply to
DJ

If you wash the truck weekly and you drive only in the city...300 miles in a week of city driving would be hard on the brakes.

If you don't know, and don't want to know...don't ask.

Reply to
Advocate

My wife's jeep had the same problem after installing a set of front brake pads from Autozone. I went with the cheapest available from them to save money and figured how different can they be? Well, let me tell you, I will never do that again. As you have already said, it is really discouraging to have just gotten the vehicle looking good and after a couple of short trips, the front wheel look like you haven't washed them in months. As anybody can tell, having clean wheels really helps the overall appearance of the vehicle.

Anyway, the next brake job that I did, I went to a better parts distributor (Carquest) and got their middle grade of pad. Let me tell you it made a world of difference. Brakes are quieter, are wearing better, and most importantly, do not produce near as much of that ugly grey dust that seems to immediately bond to the wheels even with the proper dust shields in place. I am still cheap by nature and just couldn't force myself to go with the most expensive but the middle grade (Blue) satisfied my needs.

From the

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website... CARQUEST Friction & Hydraulics are manufactured by Brake Parts Inc., a Division of The Affina Group, makers of Raybestos Brand Brakes and are available in the GOLD, BLUE, and RED brands.

Hope that is more help than just telling you to wash your car.

Razor

Reply to
Razorblade

I too, have a 2003 E-150 van, cargo type with 9K miles on it. I don't have a dust problem that seems more then normal. Also have aluminum wheels on it. The van is normally empty so it's a bit lighter then a club wagon I suspect and has the V6 engine. I also live in a fairly small town (10K) so traffic is much slower and lighter as well.

Reply to
BoyHowdy

my 2003 ranger has the same problem.i will install premium brake pads after these wear out.

Reply to
seasons_change

Learn to accept it. It is probably the material used to make the factory pads. My 2004 F-150 has a lot of brake dust on the front wheels and from what I have been told, this is just the way it is with these pads.

Reply to
Mark Jones

ceramic pads cut way down on dust. have on 2 cars and the wheels stay clean now

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Reply to
ds549

I have been told not to use these if I do any towing or heavy hauling.

Reply to
Mark Jones

Ceramic sounds like the way for me to go. I don't do any towing to speak of, just an occasional lawn mower trailer.

Thanks for all replies!

CJB

Reply to
CJB

If you saw a vehicle with disc brakes and no dust ever, then there's something to be concerned about. The airflow around the discs moves the dust away and it gets on nearby items. You could put on these funky discs whose job is to prevent brake dust from getting on the rims, but I think they reduce the brake cooling. Just keep it clean. I rinse the wheels down with Castrol Superclean when I wash my vehicles and it makes it go away, unless it's been awhile then a dishwashing brush cleans it right up.

Reply to
carl mciver

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