Ceramic brake rotors...

[b_pappy]

I ran across this for cleaning the wheels on the ZR1. Does anyone have any first hand experience? Adam? Right now, it might be in our best interest to caution owners at least.

2009 ZR1 GM TSB - Detailing Procedures <hr style="color: rgb(209, 209, 225); background-color: rgb(209, 209, 225);" size="1"> Customers and dealership personnel must be advised to NEVER ALLOW WHEEL CLEANER, TIRE CLEANER, or BRAKE CLEANER TO CONTACT THE ROTORS. Ceramic rotors will absorb any material that comes in contact with them. Only soap and water should be used to clean wheels and tires. Any product that is applied to the rotor surface will cause damage to the surface and is not covered under the GM warranty...

 

Bruce

[Bill-V8V]

I believe Adam mentioned only using the Car Wash Soap on them. I'd hate to ruin one of these bad boys, they look a little expensive

 

[scott mc]

what about everything that is on the roadways? salt, calcium chloride etc. I am sure it is much worse than green wheel cleaner?

[Chris@Adams]

I will remember this if I ever hit the lottery!

[whiterp199]

One day I will have to worry about this. It will be good to know.

[Rich]

what about everything that is on the roadways? salt, calcium chloride etc. I am sure it is much worse than green wheel cleaner?

 

If I'm spending that kind of $$ on ceramic rotors, that car won't EVER see salt, calcium chloride, or any other kind of road crap.

 

I'm actually looking to put those on the Vette in the spring. Thanks for the heads up!

[coolth]

WOW!! very good info.

[jjwvette]

I will remember this if I ever hit the lottery!

 

[Team Adam's]

Huh... didn't know the actual ROTORS were ceramic, but thinking out loud here... if thats the case would ceramic pads not be susceptible to the same issues, and if thats the case how is that my ceramic pads aren't having issues?? Just a thought.

 

Honestly I don't think a new ZR1 is ever going to be dirty enough to justify more than a soap and water cleaning anyways.... at least it shouldn't be IMO.

[scott mc]

good point Rich.

[GPDAN]

so you are telling me Dylan that zr1 owners wont be taking their cars to el mirage like i took my g8?

 

 

[Rich]

:lolsmack:There are crazy Corvette owners out there too.

[kyle@stillen]

Hey Guys,

 

We are the North American distributor for AP Racing and we have quite a bit of experience with Carbon Ceramic brakes. We have worked very closely with AP Racing on the development of their CCM brakes and we are even running them on our Nissan GT R Targa Rally car.

 

I will send an email to the engineers over at AP Racing and see what they think about the affects of different solvents/chemicals on the rotors.

 

I know that the construction of the rotor that we use vs. the construction of the rotor that GM uses is slightly different but I don't think that would make any difference in its ability to resist cleaning chemicals. We have washed our race car dozens of times and have used wheel cleaners before and so far we have not had any problems with our brakes.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that CCM brakes, by their nature, put out very little to virtually no brake dust. You probably don't need a very aggressive wheel cleaner in order to remove that dust. I remember during the Targa Rally I had to remove the wheels from the race car three days in to the event and I was absolutely stunned that my hands were pretty much clean after touching the wheel. This was on a car that had been raced for three days straight on public roads in Newfoundland, Canada.

 

http://blog.stillen.com/category/gt-r-build/

 

In there you will find more information on our race car, the event, and the brakes.

[b_pappy]

Be interesting to hear what they say. GM is probably using an abundance of caution, the replacement rotors are expensive. They probably don't want to replace many under warranty, plus like you said they dust less anyhow.

Bruce

[Superdutytd]

One of my friends has a Porsche Turbo and I know they reccomend P21S as being safe for the Ceramics. It's expensive as all get out but does great job and is safe for the Ceramics. I hope no one around here minds me saying that but if you do come across some bad wheels that have ceramics behind them you can use this as a last resort.

[Adam]

Great input Kyle, thanks! I've cleaned many-o-ceramic brake rotor in my day, and have used both our APC and GWC on them. They were cool to the touch, and the barrels of the wheels sere filthy.

 

Autocross does that to wheels I suppose. I'd absolutely use Car Wash Shampoo on the wheels whenever possible. I'd say the same thing about all wheels, and try to use the least amount of cleaner in all instances!

 

Also, don't drive the ceramic rotor-equipped vehicle in the salt/ ice/ or extreme winter weather. Asking for chips, cracked windshields, and mag-chloride stains on the car by doing so.

 

[mc2hill]

I'd absolutely use Car Wash Shampoo on the wheels whenever possible. I'd say the same thing about all wheels, and try to use the least amount of cleaner in all instances!

 

Maybe using the Car Wash like this would work -

A while back a friend gave me a foaming sprayer and I thought 'this may work for cleaning the wheels when they are only a little dirty'. Well that sprayer didn't work great so I upgraded to a Tolco foaming sprayer. This sprayer is like a mini-foam gun - great for wheels and spot treating bugs.

 

Now when I wash the car I take 8 to 16 oz. of the wash solution out of bucket and refill the sprayer or put it in a gallon jug.