My low miles (sub 30k) 1997 I'm 99% sure has the original pads and rotors. You literally can't drive this thing around the block without the wheels turning black.

I just took my Z06 wheels off to get powder coated and I am not keeping those factory pads in there. Also would like to throw rotors at it since the fronts both have the typical soft GM rotor syndrome with lot of grooves cut into them making them look quite crappy.

I see the Brake Motive kits are quite popular but how is the brake dust with those kits? I've read lots of post talking about brake performance and I get that but I also would like to radically cut the dust down.

 

I use Akebono ceramics on all my cars and the brake dust is almost nonexistent. Highly recommended and you can get them from Tire Rack.

 

 

I used to run the Stoptech 309 series, which stopped very well, but were filthy like you mention. I switched to Hawk ceramics, which are very clean.

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and options.

I'm wondering if this was a 1997 thing? Not sure what year all your cars are. Is it possible they made a change after 97? I wish I would have taken a picture of my wheels before I broke them down to get powder coated. They had about 200 miles on them since last washing and we're just ridiculously filthy.

 

This was my gamble as well....

 

Nope....same pads throughout the C5 run.

 

We'll it's definitely more then plausible that the pads have been replaced before, for maybe something the original owner thought was more performance oriented.

 

Perhaps....easy enough to rectify.

 

I run ceramics on my '99 FRC on chrome & now black wheels & have very little dust on them I. didn't notice any change in braking when I made the switch to ceramic pads but did notice much less brake duct. .

 

 

I would suspect this to be the case. The was these cars are driven i can see breaks not lasting long.

 

Just go to your local parts store and upgrade to a good quality ceramic grade pad. If all you do is drive the car periodically on the street then it’s more than enough.

 

are your calipers sticking?

 

Realistically that is all I really need. I don't and likely won't open track the car and If I ever did take it to the track it would be at the drag strip and we have a HUGE shutdown area. The rotors should be cut in this case as they are decently grooved and have some faint slow speed pulsing. By the time I bought the parts store pads plus cut all the rotors I would be in the ball park of the Brake Motive kit which is still very attractive at this time. That kit comes with ceramics.

Valid question for sure, but no. I checked and all the rotors turn free with the wheels off the car.

 

I have Hawks HPS pads and DBA rotors.. They are dusty. They are also noisy too. However they perform well. The next go round I am going with something ceramic.. I don't mind being president of the dusty wheel club, I just don't like the noise.

 

If you have aggressive track type pads, they will dust a ton. Like others said, there are a lot of pads that emit very minimal dust and work very well on the street. If you have pads that you don't want to swap out as of yet, there are spray on wheel products that work very well at repelling dust. This is what I use:

A couple of our cars come with factory Brembo brakes and pads.....the absolute worse at creating a lot of dust. On my Range Rover I remove the wheel and wash it very thoroughly with Dawn dish soap (I know, I'm high tech, lol) and get the wheel looking brand new and spotless. Once dry I spray the product on the barrel then the spokes a couple of times from different angles. For this stuff to work the wheel has to be very, very clean. I coat the wheel with two coats front and back and re-install. Beware, once applied if you touch the wheel with you finger or hand, that area will accumulate brake dust. The stuff goes on like a runny water and drips off the wheel as it drys and then you have to clean the tire. But it works very well and allows me to go weeks between cleanings. Once the wheel is coated, rinsing it and reapplying is done with the wheel on the car. Apply this stuff inside an area where there is no wind or 80% of it blows away.

Normally I don't do my track wheels since I wash them after every track event to examine the rims for cracks, etc. The one time I did coat them it repelled the racing pad brake dust so well my yellow C5 had a lot of the brake dust on the side of the car that would normally be stuck to the wheels. Just an FYI....it works if you prep the well correctly and do a couple of coatings to get complete coverage.

Caution: I believe this is some sort of silicone type spray but I remember reading somewhere that is is very bad for your lungs to breath in. Take precautions when spraying onto the wheel and don't spray out in the wind where it can blow back at your face.

 

Interesting info about the stock pads, I have a 2003, when I bought it it had 5300 miles, I switched the stock pads out due to too much brake dust, at least what I felt was too much for me. I installed Adaptive One Hybrid's that have different inner & outer pad formulations, excellent braking & quiet, but still too much dust, but still less than the stock pads. I intend to go full ceramic next, just wanted to put my info out there about the original pads that were on my car from new.