Brake Dust Problem

[Eagle Kammback]

Well, lately, I've warmed up to the Sport Trac, if you remember, I didn't particularly care for her when we got her, but now I really do (still don't like the excessive amount of plastic though, under the hood and for the bumpers) but she is a beautiful red 04 Adrenalin.
Well, we went a while without cleaning the wheels and tires, and the brake dust is EXTREMELY excessive, I don't know what they used for brake pads, but they make more dust than a sandstorm.
Back to the point, the wheels seem stained with this brake dust residue, the front wheels, especially the driversside, I need to know 2 things
how do I get it off, while preserving the wheel coating,
and where do I get brake dust shields for all 4 wheels

 

[James909]

I've never had brake dust that didn't come off the wheels fairly easily so I'm not really sure what the best way to get the wheels clean would be. I would start by trying wheel cleaner as I think that would work best without damaging the coating.

Look up Kleen Wheels for the brake dust shields. But another option to consider is ceramic brake pads. They produce very little brake dust.

 

[Joe Dirt]

The best thing I've used is Eagle One wheel cleaner- usually in a silver spray bottle- I swear by this stuff, and I've used just about everything low-to-mid priced, and the Eagle One works as good as the super-expensive stuff- unless you prefer homemade concoctions, someone may have a recipe...

I had to clean some wheels that puzzled me, and that stuff works 95% of the time. I'd swap pads before I'd put shields on. Brake dust isn't a major issue unless it's not kept up with. Must be some skunky cheap pads or something...

 

[BrianF]

try toothpaste

try a little bit of toothpaste. A little greener and it works.

Also a big second on the ceramics. Most newer vehicles are OEM with ceramic pads now. Does not eliminate the brake dust but reduces it a great deal.

 

[X~FACTOR]

I have Hawk brake pads in the front and generic Autozone rear brake pads. The generic ones produce 5 times more brake dusts than the Hawk pads. Point is, switch to a different brake pads.

 

[BrianF]

front vs rear pads

I also like a name brand part too. Autozone gold pads looked very nice but they would not tell me who made them. VIP would, said Monroe right on the box and they won the sale.

Another options is steel brake pads = no dust (but will kill your rotors and can be noisy).

My old man swears by simple green. Maybe try that. He uses it for everything. I think he brushes his teeth with it too.