Does anyone know which type of brake pads Tesla use as factory default ? I am asking as I've read ceramic brake pads generate the least brake dust and with summer rolling in, I want to keep my rims (especially the fronts) looking clean.
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Factory Brake Pad Material
- Thread starter Corsair
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- brake dust brake pads
They do not use ceramic brake pads.
Ceramic brake pads take long to brake in, and have exceptionally awful performance in cold weather.
Combine that with excessive disc wear, and it is a thing for only specially interested users.
Ceramic brake pads take long to brake in, and have exceptionally awful performance in cold weather.
Combine that with excessive disc wear, and it is a thing for only specially interested users.
I don't find ceramic brake pads to wear out the disc any more than other pads. I would get 40K miles on the OEM VW organic pads which left the wheels coated in dust. At the 120K mile mark, I switched to Akebono Ceramic Europads and I have 180K miles on them with about 33% material left. I think you might be confusing ceramic pads with semi-metallic pads.
As for the Tesla, I'll be willing to give ceramic pads a try but I'd like to learn more about the brake bias on the 85 RWD before I make changes to the brakes. I'm curious to know how much brake force is used at the front and rear under light pedal pressure vs moderate to heavy pedal pressure.
I'm interested in trying ceramic brakes after SavageGeese's youtube vid
At the 7 minute mark he talks about optimum operational temp range for different pads.
Stay off the brakes and use regen as much as possible. Since you should be doing some of this already, you shouldn't be creating as much dust as an ICE.
dark cloud
Active Member
Are your pads needing replacing? I don't understand spending several hundred dollars just so you don't need to wipe your rotors once a week, or give them a quick spray.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
I regen all the time, but still gather a lot of crud on the arachnids. Maybe not brake dust after all. Just exploring possible options. Might ceramic coat the wheels instead.
Spending several hundred not to have to wipe them 52 times per year or pay for spray?
dark cloud
Active Member
Whoa, this is 2 1/2 years ago….
By spray I mean using a nozzle on the end of a garden hose and washing the brake dust off; should be free
I don’t think brake dust works the way you think it does, or you have a very different concept of a clean wheel from @mattnisWhoa, this is 2 1/2 years ago….
By spray I mean using a nozzle on the end of a garden hose and washing the brake dust off; should be free
dark cloud
Active Member
How much brake dust are you getting in a Tesla?I don’t think brake dust works the way you think it does, or you have a very different concept of a clean wheel from @mattnis
Unless you are using some "tire dressing", which when oversprayed on the rim gives the dust a place to stick to.
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mspohr
Well-Known Member
dark cloud
Active Member
You say this like I have never hosed off brake dust off my ceramic coated rimBrake dust doesn’t just hose off a rim, even on a Tesla. Sure it uses the brakes massively less than an ice car but it still uses the brakes.
Don’t hate on folks who like a rim so clean you can eat off it
And not just the rim; I guarantee you my red calipers are at least as clean as yours. (In non-winter months, that is)
dark cloud
Active Member
The point I am making is this: The OP is still going to need to clean his wheels, if he wants them spotless. Ceramic pads may dust less, and ceramic coating will make this easier, but I don't care if they invent a brake pad where the material vaporizes after use, where he lives there is still plenty of road grime and diesel soot that will not spray off easily: ceramic pads and nano technology won't stop this.
The cost for me to ceramic coat my wheels with CQuartz UK 3.0 was essentially zero; I used the leftovers after doing 2 coats on the body.
But sure, spend money and replace your perfectly good stock pads, and second guess the engineers who designed the vehicle and chose the pads to work safely in a variety of situations in conjunction with the specific metal used in the rotors, with some aftermarket ones which may not provide the same friction coefficient as the stock ones. Your still going to have to wipe the wheels.
Just my opinion.
The cost for me to ceramic coat my wheels with CQuartz UK 3.0 was essentially zero; I used the leftovers after doing 2 coats on the body.
But sure, spend money and replace your perfectly good stock pads, and second guess the engineers who designed the vehicle and chose the pads to work safely in a variety of situations in conjunction with the specific metal used in the rotors, with some aftermarket ones which may not provide the same friction coefficient as the stock ones. Your still going to have to wipe the wheels.
Just my opinion.
Oh I see.
You can get far better braking performance with aftermarket pads. The factory pads are a compromise pad between consistent performance across a wide range of conditions, and cost. Particularly with Teslas. Almost any Pagid or Hawk pad will perform better than a factory pad while creating significantly less dust.
Sure the local autozone pads are going to be worse but they are also going to create just as much dust. That’s not what anyone is suggesting.
You should give it a try, I think you’ll like the results. Brake pad technology is a lot better than you think.
You can get far better braking performance with aftermarket pads. The factory pads are a compromise pad between consistent performance across a wide range of conditions, and cost. Particularly with Teslas. Almost any Pagid or Hawk pad will perform better than a factory pad while creating significantly less dust.
Sure the local autozone pads are going to be worse but they are also going to create just as much dust. That’s not what anyone is suggesting.
You should give it a try, I think you’ll like the results. Brake pad technology is a lot better than you think.
