Brake dust

PostPost by: The Veg » Wed Mar 01, 2023 12:43 am

Now that I have my Plus 2 back on the road, I'm noticing that it makes A LOT of brake dust! Stopping is excellent, nothing unusual about the performance of the brakes, but even just 100 miles puts a quite visible black haze on the front wheels and enough to notice on the rears. Am I correct to assume that this is unusual?

I rebuilt the calipers but have not changed the pads as they had quite bit of meat on them. I did look through the receipts that came with the car and found a 2004 receipt from Paul Matty for JPSF050B front and JPSR026 rear pads. I don't know who made them. The car has done under 2000 miles since then so I suspect that these pads are still on it. Assuming that they are, if anybody recognises the part numbers, are these pads particularly dusty, and if so, is there another type that you'd recommend?

Or perhaps it's just the age of them and I should renew them anyway?
1970 Elan Plus 2 (not S) 50/2036
2012 BMW R1200GS
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PostPost by: h20hamelan » Wed Mar 01, 2023 12:58 am

Organic pads? You could change to ceramic or mix. But you wont have as good braking.
I use a laser thermometer to test callipers temp
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PostPost by: StressCraxx » Wed Mar 01, 2023 2:08 am

Some pad compounds throw a lot of dust, particularly the softer compounds. They are usually much easier on the rotors. I'm using Porterfield R4S pads on my Elan. They do make a lot of dust, but their braking behavior is great. Dust is easy to clean off.
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PostPost by: mbell » Wed Mar 01, 2023 3:31 am

Have ebc green stuff on mine and yes they generate a lot of dust. Only needs a hundred or so miles to get a covering in the wheels.

Suspect you just have to live with it or get pads that are too hard.
'73 +2 130/5 RHD, now on the road and very slowly rolling though a "restoration"
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