Excessive Brake Dust???

[sreilly77]

2016 Silverado with 34,000 miles. Put new Adaptive One brake pasts and NAPA ultra premium rotors on the front about 3 months ago. Brake dust has been quite excessive. Calipers are not hung up. Greased up the pins. Everything seems to be fine. I've used these pads and rotors in the last on my old Silverado without issue. Anyone else had similar experiences? Brakes work great, but the front wheels start turning black after a few day of driving. Most of the driving I do is open road (I cruise down the highway without a lead foot). Thanks in advance.

[Blue Bowtie]

They are disc brakes, and are going to emit dust. Carbon metallic friction compounds create more noticeable dust, ceramic compounds create less noticeable dust, and organic/semi-metallic compounds are about middle of the road. Gray iron rotors contribute to dusting more than nickel alloyed iron.

They are brakes, and are going to create particles. If they were drum brakes they would still create dust, but contain and deflect more of it inward. You are stopping a probably 4,500 lb. vehicle (empty) and not a 2,300 pound Kia, so more particles are going to be created.

[Tech II]

Well, if you didn't have excessive brake dust with the OEM pads, but do with aftermarket pads 3 months later, what do you think causes the problem?

[j cAT]

did you use silicone brake grease on the caliper pins ???

if you used petroleum grease based then the pins will stick because the petrleum based grease swells up the pin guides ..

aftermarket brake pads can cause more iron dust ..depends on what type used/manufacturer ..then the pads could be sticking due to the backing plate with poor cuts ,.. I have had to file these down sharp edges ..

[sreilly77]

Originally Posted by Blue Bowtie

They are disc brakes, and are going to emit dust. Carbon metallic friction compounds create more noticeable dust, ceramic compounds create less noticeable dust, and organic/semi-metallic compounds are about middle of the road. Gray iron rotors contribute to dusting more than nickel alloyed iron.

They are brakes, and are going to create particles. If they were drum brakes they would still create dust, but contain and deflect more of it inward. You are stopping a probably 4,500 lb. vehicle (empty) and not a 2,300 pound Kia, so more particles are going to be created.

I know disc brakes make dust. The point is they are making way more brake dust than before. I used adaptive one brakes on my old truck, and never had this issue. The point is the dust is excessive. I've had 15 different cars and never had this problem with my wheels pretty much turning black in 24 hours. Curious if the caliper pins are getting hung up.

[sreilly77]

Originally Posted by j cAT

did you use silicone brake grease on the caliper pins ???

if you used petroleum grease based then the pins will stick because the petrleum based grease swells up the pin guides ..

aftermarket brake pads can cause more iron dust ..depends on what type used/manufacturer ..then the pads could be sticking due to the backing plate with poor cuts ,.. I have had to file these down sharp edges ..

I just use the grease from my grease gun on the pins. Same thing I've used for years. But will definitely try silicone grease tomorrow. Thanks for the input!

[quickcurrent]

Originally Posted by sreilly77

I just use the grease from my grease gun on the pins. Same thing I've used for years. But will definitely try silicone grease tomorrow. Thanks for the input!

I have used petroleum based grease on my pins forever (decades) and have never had any serious issues with that grease swelling up the rubber components, until recently with a Chev van. I had to replace the boots and the rings around the pins as they swelled up and caused all kinds of problems. Started using the silicone on this vehicle and have found that silicone can gum up way faster than petroleum grease, even if it does not swell up the rubber parts.

I believe it depends on what type of rubber/compound the boots are made of. Natural rubber definitely cannot take petroleum jelly, other rubber compounds can; when they can, I find petroleum grease works much better. If you have to use silicone lubricant, check your pins frequently (at least every six months).

[j cAT]

silicone brake grease not silicone dielectric grease .. has a wide temp range .. my 2000 the petroleum grease messed up all those rubber pin guides and pin seals.. there is rubber in the cal pin hole a rubber bushing !!!

[sreilly77]

Originally Posted by j cAT

silicone brake grease not silicone dielectric grease .. has a wide temp range .. my 2000 the petroleum grease messed up all those rubber pin guides and pin seals.. there is rubber in the cal pin hole a rubber bushing !!!

Well I finally got to taking off my front wheels to apply the silicone brake grease. And everything behind the wheel was full of dust! It turns out not only were one or both caliper pins were 'sticky', but the Locktite anti-seize that I used on the brake pads tension clips had harden and created a ton of dust! I've used this Locktite on other vehicles without creating so much dust, but I guess my truck brakes get much hotter.

So I used a bunch of brake cleaner to remove all of the Locktite and applied the silicone brake grease. What a difference! The wheels are now creating 'normal' brake dust that I'm used to seeing since I bought the truck. Also, the driver caliper was slightly hung up due to a sticky caliper pin. Now that it is greased up nicely, the brakes release freely and I've even noticed a 1 mpg increase in fuel economy! I can't believe I didn't even notice it was getting hung up.

Thank you so much for the advice. I really appreciate it, j cAT!

[j cAT]

thanks for posting the results of the fix..

on the brake pads I apply anti seize on the backing plate just a small amount like paint ..no squeal did this for decades .

[sreilly77]

Originally Posted by j cAT

thanks for posting the results of the fix..

on the brake pads I apply anti seize on the backing plate just a small amount like paint ..no squeal did this for decades .

I did the same exact thing to the back of the pads. I'm very happy with the results. Thanks again!