Are there ways to help protect your rims?

I recently picked up a set of rims. And one of the rims has some curb rash. No biggee.

But more importantly, my current set of brake pads (Axxis Ultimates) do dust quite a lot. (Offers great stopping power, but the drawback is extra dusting).

So what can I do to help protect the rims? The rims are not on the car yet, so if I can look into some sort of "extra" protection...that would be helpful.

I know I can get some clearcoat on it, but the problem is that you never know if the extra coat will adhere properly, be able to withstand the heat, or even withstand the brake dust for long.

Powdercoating is something I can do, but I don't really want to paint my rims just yet. Would rather keep it the OEM color for now. Of course, if I have no choice, I may powdercoat.

Please mention all methods that you guys know about.

 

I can't help with curb rash, but a lot of the Hawk pad users use non-stick cooking spray on their rims to help with the brake dust.

 

Eh? Hmmm...that sounds like an idea. I'm assuming that they just wipe the grime off at the end of a day or two then? Maybe even a week for the really lazy (like me)?

 

Yep. I've never tried it, but I would imagine you wouldn't want to wipe the wheels until you are ready to spray some more non-stick spray.

As far as I know, the Axxis pad dust isn't really corrosive (like the Hawk pads), so I don't think it would be too big of a deal for that dust to stay on the rims a while.

 

The Axxis Ultimate pad does dust a lot. But good to know that it isn't expected to be corrosive.

My next grocery run,...some non-stick spray like Pam (the unscented one). I don't think I'd appreciate the smell of "butter" when I'm driving. haha.

 

Try out wheelwax.com. They make a product just to prevent brake dust from stickin to your wheels.

 

LOL non stick cooking spray! pam is the miracle food!

 

I am going to try the wheel wax on my RS3 Forgelines. Get "Heavy Metal" from Les Schwab(forgive me ) to get them really clean, and nicely polished. As far as pads, go to EBCs for the street, they last fine, and will not dust. Just do not use them at the track. people say they suck, but I ran them on my Supra, and the greens worked fine, even from 180+ Carl

 

When using Hawk Blue pads I used Pam for awhile. It worked okay but would tend to get slung off at track speeds. Also, if it rained it would wash off anyhow and you're still stuck with the Hawk's dust bonded to the surface. I ended up switching to Performance Friction pads for the track and polish the wheels with Meguiars metal polish before each event. The polish also helps to protect the wheel and makes it easier to remove the dust that does accumulate.

 

hawks are great - i run them on my crx race car enough said.
ECS sucks - i RAN them on my crx daily driver and they were noisy, put dust all over the place, and didn't stop as well as the hawks.

i am planning to go with some hawks for my rx7 once i get around to doing that. they don’t put out all that much dust and stop the car great. i havent heard any thing about the hawk's dust being corrosive, any one got any links that has more info on that?

 

https://www.rx7club.com/suspension-wheels-tires-brakes-20/hawk-black-brake-dust-ugh-415881/

There was also a thread showing the dust harming the paint on someone's car. Just search around the net, as there are lots of discussions about them. I will never run them again. There are better pads around that aren't as harsh with the dust (not that they dust less, just easier to clean without damaging the wheel finish or paint on your car).