Cleaning calipers
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 4,496
Likes: 1,264
From: Jacksonville FL
I am not sure if you have a base, Z51, or Grand Sport, but you will find on many threads here that the brake pads on the Z51 dust heavily. Base pads are not as bad I am told.
Many of us with black wheels have this same issue. The stock Z51 pads would literally dust up the wheels driving around the block after thorough cleaning. Many have swapped out to less dusty pads, like the PowerStop pads, which do help. I can now go 500 miles with the PowerStops before a thorough cleaning is needed.
But even with those, the calipers will still dust up. Hit them with a soft narrow wheel brush when you wash the car.
Just as an added bonus, many of us are having pitting and peeling problems with the GM black painted wheels from the brake dust. I had to get my wheels powdercoated with 1500 miles. So far my calipers seem to be in ok shape. I am going to guess that GM used high temp caliper paint on the calipers. I do not believe GM calipers were powdercoated.
Oh, and just FYI - if you think the $300+ CarbonTech's will help, they will but they still dust a TON more than the PowerStops that are a third the cost.
Many of us with black wheels have this same issue. The stock Z51 pads would literally dust up the wheels driving around the block after thorough cleaning. Many have swapped out to less dusty pads, like the PowerStop pads, which do help. I can now go 500 miles with the PowerStops before a thorough cleaning is needed.
But even with those, the calipers will still dust up. Hit them with a soft narrow wheel brush when you wash the car.
Just as an added bonus, many of us are having pitting and peeling problems with the GM black painted wheels from the brake dust. I had to get my wheels powdercoated with 1500 miles. So far my calipers seem to be in ok shape. I am going to guess that GM used high temp caliper paint on the calipers. I do not believe GM calipers were powdercoated.
Oh, and just FYI - if you think the $300+ CarbonTech's will help, they will but they still dust a TON more than the PowerStops that are a third the cost.
Get rid of the stock pads!!!
E-Ray, 3LZ, ZER, LIFT
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 35,106
Likes: 12,446
From: NE South Carolina
Just to correct the record, the PowerStop pads are made in Ohio, not China. Their rotors are made either in Brazil or China, the same foundries as Brembo uses.
BTW - Since the middle of 16 your Z51 black wheels are from China and before that Mexico. Next time you remove them check out the stamping.
BTW - Since the middle of 16 your Z51 black wheels are from China and before that Mexico. Next time you remove them check out the stamping.
Hmm, sorry if the "made in China" was not correct. Read that they were but my bad if that is incorrect 
The quality consistence of materials used to make some products and the product itself is easier to check and verify than others. With an item like brake pads, I'm less concerned if they are made in the USA. May not be an issue but a higher probability with US company concerns with liability etc. If GM sells it, they are liable. Not as clear cut with a distributor who can pass the liability to the manufacturer.
The quality consistence of materials used to make some products and the product itself is easier to check and verify than others. With an item like brake pads, I'm less concerned if they are made in the USA. May not be an issue but a higher probability with US company concerns with liability etc. If GM sells it, they are liable. Not as clear cut with a distributor who can pass the liability to the manufacturer.
SIDE BAR: Validates my concerns about a critical product like brake pads. In my early former life I had managed an R&D group where we developed welding fluxes, etc. They use many oxides, mostly raw ores, and one was Bauxite. That is the ore that aluminum oxide and then aluminum are made from. All ores contain impurities, what we referred to as, "tramp" elements. Recall we could have purchased Chinese Bauxite but it contained impurities we could not tolerate when welding steel. We paid significantly more for Bauxite from Australia that had much lower impurities and you could believe their chemical checks, which we validated with our own measurements.
Another element used was sand, silicon dioxide. We bought that from an open pit mine in Ohio. It was near a drag strip I frequently visited when I lived there. You could see areas in the very large open pit mine that were pure white and most others that were the yellow/brown color typical of sand. They sold the white high purity product to electronic firms making chips. The brown was sold for concrete etc. They sold for far different prices so in the same mine you could get different levels of impurities! We bought low impurity product.
Manganese ore was the same. It came from Africa and fortunately we had a Division that made batteries. They use a lot of manganese oxides in dry cell batteries. Impurities create small cells that cause a reduction in shelf life. When they had a boat load with very low impurities, purchasing bought the whole boat for our Division, perhaps a 2 year supply-it was that critical!
Last edited by JerryU; Dec 21, 2016 at 12:48 PM.
Drifting
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,615
Likes: 182
From: South Dennis MA
I use simply green on the black wheels and calibers. Use a 50-50 dilusion. Have an old wash mit that I run in and around and it all cleans up nice, quick and easy. I change out to winter wheels and always put 2 coats of a good polish on the wheels each swap. There is an anti static spray I have seen talked about but not motivated to try it since clean up is not that big of a challenge.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,446
Likes: 314
From: Tarpon Springs FL
FL Events Coordinator
ZEP concencrate ....found in any hardware/home depot/lowes store. spray bottle 1/4 cleaner rest water. Spray on, let sit for a minute and the brake dust comes off with a garden hose NO SCRUBBING needed. Including all the nooks and crannies on the calipers....Wheels, rotors, calipers perfectly clean....
Supporting Vendor
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 50,281
Likes: 518
From: Cleveland OH
St. Jude Donor '11,'13
Just called PowerStop, while on my treadmill! The person in customer service, when I asked where the brake pads were made, said China! Without asking they said there is NO manufacturing in the US.
SIDE BAR: Validates my concerns about a critical product like brake pads. In my early former life I had managed an R&D group where we developed welding fluxes, etc. They use many oxides, mostly raw ores, and one was Bauxite. That is the ore that aluminum oxide and then aluminum are made from. All ores contain impurities, what we referred to as, "tramp" elements. Recall we could have purchased Chinese Bauxite but it contained impurities we could not tolerate when welding steel. We paid significantly more for Bauxite from Australia that had much lower impurities and you could believe their chemical checks, which we validated with our own measurements.
Another element used was sand, silicon dioxide. We bought that from an open pit mine in Ohio. It was near a drag strip I frequently visited when I lived there. You could see areas in the very large open pit mine that were pure white and most others that were the yellow/brown color typical of sand. They sold the white high purity product to electronic firms making chips. The brown was sold for concrete etc. They sold for far different prices so in the same mine you could get different levels of impurities! We bought low impurity product.
Manganese ore was the same. It came from Africa and fortunately we had a Division that made batteries. They use a lot of manganese oxides in dry cell batteries. Impurities create small cells that cause a reduction in shelf life. When they had a boat load with very low impurities, purchasing bought the whole boat for our Division, perhaps a 2 year supply-it was that critical!
SIDE BAR: Validates my concerns about a critical product like brake pads. In my early former life I had managed an R&D group where we developed welding fluxes, etc. They use many oxides, mostly raw ores, and one was Bauxite. That is the ore that aluminum oxide and then aluminum are made from. All ores contain impurities, what we referred to as, "tramp" elements. Recall we could have purchased Chinese Bauxite but it contained impurities we could not tolerate when welding steel. We paid significantly more for Bauxite from Australia that had much lower impurities and you could believe their chemical checks, which we validated with our own measurements.
Another element used was sand, silicon dioxide. We bought that from an open pit mine in Ohio. It was near a drag strip I frequently visited when I lived there. You could see areas in the very large open pit mine that were pure white and most others that were the yellow/brown color typical of sand. They sold the white high purity product to electronic firms making chips. The brown was sold for concrete etc. They sold for far different prices so in the same mine you could get different levels of impurities! We bought low impurity product.
Manganese ore was the same. It came from Africa and fortunately we had a Division that made batteries. They use a lot of manganese oxides in dry cell batteries. Impurities create small cells that cause a reduction in shelf life. When they had a boat load with very low impurities, purchasing bought the whole boat for our Division, perhaps a 2 year supply-it was that critical!
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 248
Likes: 24
Adams works amazing!!! You can see it turn purple when in contact with the brake dust.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 25,583
Likes: 16,942
Just called PowerStop, while on my treadmill! The person in customer service, when I asked where the brake pads were made, said China! Without asking they said there is NO manufacturing in the US.
SIDE BAR: Validates my concerns about a critical product like brake pads. In my early former life I had managed an R&D group where we developed welding fluxes, etc. They use many oxides, mostly raw ores, and one was Bauxite. That is the ore that aluminum oxide and then aluminum are made from. All ores contain impurities, what we referred to as, "tramp" elements. Recall we could have purchased Chinese Bauxite but it contained impurities we could not tolerate when welding steel. We paid significantly more for Bauxite from Australia that had much lower impurities and you could believe their chemical checks, which we validated with our own measurements.
Another element used was sand, silicon dioxide. We bought that from an open pit mine in Ohio. It was near a drag strip I frequently visited when I lived there. You could see areas in the very large open pit mine that were pure white and most others that were the yellow/brown color typical of sand. They sold the white high purity product to electronic firms making chips. The brown was sold for concrete etc. They sold for far different prices so in the same mine you could get different levels of impurities! We bought low impurity product.
Manganese ore was the same. It came from Africa and fortunately we had a Division that made batteries. They use a lot of manganese oxides in dry cell batteries. Impurities create small cells that cause a reduction in shelf life. When they had a boat load with very low impurities, purchasing bought the whole boat for our Division, perhaps a 2 year supply-it was that critical!
SIDE BAR: Validates my concerns about a critical product like brake pads. In my early former life I had managed an R&D group where we developed welding fluxes, etc. They use many oxides, mostly raw ores, and one was Bauxite. That is the ore that aluminum oxide and then aluminum are made from. All ores contain impurities, what we referred to as, "tramp" elements. Recall we could have purchased Chinese Bauxite but it contained impurities we could not tolerate when welding steel. We paid significantly more for Bauxite from Australia that had much lower impurities and you could believe their chemical checks, which we validated with our own measurements.
Another element used was sand, silicon dioxide. We bought that from an open pit mine in Ohio. It was near a drag strip I frequently visited when I lived there. You could see areas in the very large open pit mine that were pure white and most others that were the yellow/brown color typical of sand. They sold the white high purity product to electronic firms making chips. The brown was sold for concrete etc. They sold for far different prices so in the same mine you could get different levels of impurities! We bought low impurity product.
Manganese ore was the same. It came from Africa and fortunately we had a Division that made batteries. They use a lot of manganese oxides in dry cell batteries. Impurities create small cells that cause a reduction in shelf life. When they had a boat load with very low impurities, purchasing bought the whole boat for our Division, perhaps a 2 year supply-it was that critical!
Powerstop pads are shockingly inexpensive. I won't use them.
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Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
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All the really good wheel cleaners used to come from Germany (as does Sonax), which has been the home of heavy dusting brake pads on German cars for years.
E-Ray, 3LZ, ZER, LIFT
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 35,106
Likes: 12,446
From: NE South Carolina
Can't speak to other than what I have, Carbotech 1521s. Those pads are not for Tracking where the OEM's can be used. However Carbotech has several race pads and they are compatible with 1521's. So when putting on the brake cooling rings to track, might as well put on racing pads (once the wheel is removed, changing Vette pads is simple.) Then when removing the cooling rings put on the 1521's for street use. No need to clean the rotors.
A positive, in addition to much less dust and the dust not pitting the wheels, is they stop better when cold! That is my observation supported by Carbotech info. After entering a 4 lane divided highway from my street with traffic traveling 65 mph I have to make a turn in 100 yards. I can enter traffic and with cold pads they stop on a dime! I usually have to stop quickly and make a turn onto the little used 1/4 mile long road between farm fields-fun turn! They are also very linear and I have had zero noise in over 2 years (I problem I had with the OEM Z51 pads until I beded them.)
A positive, in addition to much less dust and the dust not pitting the wheels, is they stop better when cold! That is my observation supported by Carbotech info. After entering a 4 lane divided highway from my street with traffic traveling 65 mph I have to make a turn in 100 yards. I can enter traffic and with cold pads they stop on a dime! I usually have to stop quickly and make a turn onto the little used 1/4 mile long road between farm fields-fun turn! They are also very linear and I have had zero noise in over 2 years (I problem I had with the OEM Z51 pads until I beded them.)
Last edited by JerryU; Dec 22, 2016 at 12:26 AM.
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I always wash the calipers every time the car is washed with the same soap and water as is used on the body of the car.
If you have not touched them in 650 miles, that's way too long. They should be cleaned every couple weeks at a minimum. You need to stay on top of them so you don't have a mess when you do clean them. Same idea with the carbon on the exhaust tips.
If you have not touched them in 650 miles, that's way too long. They should be cleaned every couple weeks at a minimum. You need to stay on top of them so you don't have a mess when you do clean them. Same idea with the carbon on the exhaust tips.
I do the same thing and it makes it pretty easy to keep the calipers and exhaust tips looking great.