Do you clean your brakes?

[CraKaJaX]

If so, what do you use and what's your process? How often? Do you take the entire assembly apart or do you leave everything intact? I've never actually cleaned my brakes, but I've noticed a pretty significant build up in dust on my front end. Rotors look completely fine as do the pads - probably could use a good scrubbin! I'm going to be rotating my tires this weekend and figured as long as I'm there I can clean them. So... how does ATOT do it?

 

[RLGL]

I don't waste my time at that

 

[f1r3s1d3]

Hose em down lightly when I wash the wheels? I mean, if I haven't touched the brakes in over a year or two I might regrease the caliper slide pins when doing an oil change or something.

 

[xBiffx]

Do you clean your brakes?

By applying firm and even pressure on the pedal.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I have never cleaned my brakes. I've cleaned new rotors before installing them but that's it.

 

[Raizinman]

Disc brakes are really self cleaning, meaning the dust from the brakes will attach to your newly cleaned wheels. Sort of a neat trick how that works.

Drum brakes can accumulate excess dust. Whenever I do a wheel rotation I pull the drums to check the brakes and then empty out the dust from the drum. I do NOT use an air chuck and blow the dust all over the shop. We had one rookie tech do that and he then had to wash three cars that had brake dust all over it, besides other techs who were pissed that had their tools covered in brake dust.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

If you have shiny painted calipers with fancy words on them you might wipe off that super cool logo.

 

[brainhulk]

This question. 1st time seeing it

 

[jlee]

I clean my wheels...there's no need to clean brakes, unless you mean cleaning the calipers so they're pretty again.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I haven't done any of my cars in recent past, but years ago when working on the calipers during a pad change, I hit the assembly with some compressed air @120psi... Brake dust can accumulate bad if the pads wear quickly. Most of the lifetime pads are actually made of harder materials and generate less brake dust....but wear through rotors faster. It's a trade off.