I just purchased a 2006 S60. I did not realize that Volvo brakes produced so much dust. It is horrible. Clean the wheels and then drive around for a day and they are black again. So, here is the question. I have read some online posts that talk about the ceramic brake pads. Many say they work well as far as dust, produce no noise, and actually brake better. Two mechanics have told me that it would be a big mistake to go with the ceramic low dust pads, as they will produce way too much noise and the car will not brake as well. Any suggestions? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

I've had the same issues with brake dust!!

Unfortunately though, I don't know what to tell you about the ceramic pads. I'm sure someone here can help as I'd be very interested to know as well.

 

I have brake dust and figure there is nothing I can do about it. I have used aftermarket pads and they squealed like crazy. I have never tried ceramic pads on any of my Volvos, but read that some people have complained that you have to push on the brake pedal harder than with OEM pads.

I had ceramics on my Suburban once, the car was rarely driven and the pads caused pitting in the rotors. Somebody told me that the worse thing you can do with ceramic pads is not drive the car.

 

I put the Akebono Euro Ceramic pads on my 02 S60 about a month ago and I noticed no difference in the pedal and no difference in stopping distance. I have heard no squeaks or squeals. Best of all, after 4 weeks, NO DUST! I'm happy.

 

I'm having this same issue with my Xc90 and am trying to figure out how to approach it. When i had this problem on my 940Turbo i replaced the pads with Ceramic. Within a few weeks the rotors were warped. shaved them down, warped in a few weeks again. put 4 brembo cross-drilled rotors on it, 3 months later- warped. Shaved them down- sold the car a few weeks later. Brake guy that did the rotors basically said that something has to give, it will either be the pad or the rotor, hard pad= no dust = no heat dissipation (sp?) = warped rotor / shorter rotor life.

I will likely just go to a semi-metallic. i know when i did it on my other volvo it did help a fair amount.

 

Replaced semi metallic with ceramic on 96 850 turbo. 25,000 miles now and better stopping, no squealing or noise, and very little brake dust. Used Advance Auto supplied pads. Rotors now have 80,000 miles and still fine.

 

I just went thru this issue with Ceramic pads..I would NOT recommend them at all..Number 1...they did brake very good but the DUST was ten times worse then the normal pads..also, they wear out a lot faster then other pads, because they are so aggressive. They will wear out your rotors a lot faster too.

I have gone to a Kevlar pad and it is doing very well..with hardly any dust to speak of.

I also use Kleen Wheels dust sheilds on my wheels too, this really cut out the brake dust problem..the New Kleen Shields have small vents in them so your brakes DO NOT overheat, like I have read some people have had problems with in the past.

Like I said..I am having very good results with the New Kevlar pads..I even took the wheels off the car to see how they are doing about 3 months after installing them..I saw very little dust.

No matter what kind of pads you use..your going to have a little bit of dust..you can't get around that..thats a fact with any car..just normal wear and tear.

Good Luck and Happy Motoring

 

Unfortunately, black dust is a by product of one of the best all round pad materials you can buy today and that is carbon.
It takes heat very well, does not chew up rotors and works well during hot and cold stops plus resists fade very well. Asbestos was also very good in this respect, but it has some health issues in manufacture and disposal.....
Ceramic pads just throw heat back into teh rotors and if you drive agressively you will eat trotors.
Kevlar is not too bad but it is worse on rotors than carbon but not nearly as bad as caramic or the older semi metallic pads.
At teh end of teh day a brake disc is a consumable item but no one wants to replace them yearly!
So I say live with black dust if you want teh best all round pads, learn to drive without braking as much or clean your wheels more often. Any other pad is a compromise for teh street.

Regards, Andrew.