Q: Cleaning Hawk brake dust?

[hfnav]

What cleaner can you recommend for performance pad brake dust? I put hawk street 5.0 on my little Mazda. They prove to be sooty. I was not so attentive at frqeuent cleaning. After last night's mild scrubbing with brushes and cloth it resembles a new black scruffy powdercoat. I have an email into Hawk for their ideas. This is on my daily driver Mazda. I hoped some of you open trackers and brake addicts might have suggestions versus my blind search on AutoGeek. Thankyou much. Stay warm.

[Jim D.]

It depends on the wheel finish -- and is it OEM or aftermarket?

Glossy OEM wheel finishes are clearcoated and can handle a strong cleaner like the Mothers Foaming Wheel & Tire Cleaner, or the Mothers Polished Aluminum Wheel Cleaner.

If it's a matte or flat finish, these tend to be more susceptible to stronger cleaners so our Polished Aluminum Wheel Cleaner would be recommended.

Be sure to use a spray wax after each wash to add some protection to the finish, as the finish should be treated like paint. Periodically wax them with a heat-resistant synthetic wax like our California Gold Synthetic Wax.

Pep Boys and Advance Auto and online resources stock both cleaners, and you can find the California gold Spray Wax or Synthetic Wax most everywhere.

[hfnav]

Thank you JIm. They are oem. Asking around says they are clear coated aluminum. They are glossy. I'll try your advice. Meguiars hot rim aluminum and TurtleWAs BugnTar number 7 did little. I was thinking a polish was like NuFinish. Let me try your ideas first.

[Jim D.]

Try our California Gold Scratch Remover for actual polish.

Or post or email me a photo or two.

[hfnav]

They are finally clean. Indeed, a pita. The Mother's helped more. I used it multiple times and increased the wait time listed on the bottle from 30 seconds to 45 seconds. There was still stubborn adhered sections of pad dust. It was like a powder coat. I used a nylon covered mini sponge for some bite. Finally I used my thumb nail to lift the flakes. In the future one of those teflon pan plastic scrapers with different radius curve corners should work.

Whether they are bedded correctly or not, the Hawk 5.0 street pad will come off after it warms up outside. The stock pads had almost no wear. It was the stock rotors that were at limit. OF course I wanted to tinker and hotrod the brakes. It didn't work out so cool. LIve and learn.