97 855R Terrible Brake Dust..Ceramic Pads or big brake kit?

[jblackburn]

I have Wagner Thermoquiets. They don't squeak, they scream.

There are still big wads of friction material left on them, but I'm considering replacement with Akebonos. The noise is awful. I feel bad driving at night, because there is no way anybody within a mile radius could sleep through the racket.

On the other hand, no dust, I guess.

Front or rear? If rear, do you have shims on them?

[j-dawg]

Front. I probably didn't put enough grease on them or something, but I thought it was a pretty thick coating.

[metalhead]

I used the akebonos on my manual '95 850 and loved them, no dust, plenty of controllable power. I put the same on my wife's auto '99 S70 and they felt terrible. I think it's just because of the differences in the way the cars are driven with the different trannies...
I just put blue box pads on her car and her brakes are great now but boy are they dusty! As for my car, FCP had a special on the new Bosch QuietCasts and they're pretty good, maybe a little soft feeling for me but no dust and very powerful...

[Ben850]

Agree with Akebono ceramic.
In saying the rear produces more dust than the front, what was the condition of your e-brake shoes the last time your rear rotors were off.

If you have never replaced the e-brake shoes, they tend to de-laminate and deteriorate back there after 15 to 20 years of age.

I have since replaced the e-brake shoes and springs on the '93 and '96. It is noticeably quieter back there with less dust on both cars.
Akebono ceramic with Brembo on the '93. Zinc coated ATE rotors with the same Akebono pads on the '96 Turbo Wagon.
Upon doing the rear rotors on the '93, The surface had come off one e-brake shoe. Having nothing to replace them with, I had to go without replacing the shoes. Being conscious not to use the brake lever until.
Both have new parts at this point. Yay.
Very little dust to report.

I pretty much knew this was going on in there.

It will happen at this age, even if the shoes look ok at the last point of pad replacement.
This is an extreme example.

[instarx]

I'll pile on. Akebono ceramics are great. I put them on the front along with new ATE rotors and I could not imagine better brake feel. Quiet, smooth and confident.

As for bigger brakes, slotted rotors and all that - unless you plan to do a lot of running from the cops or pulling trailers up and down mountains its all wasted. If your standard brakes can activate the ABS your car won't stop any faster no matter how big your brakes are. The real limiting factor in stopping the car are your tires.