I've started to notice crazy amounts of brake dust on my rear wheels. I've been washing my car every week so I never noticed it before. I recently had to take a road trip and didn't wash it for about 3 weeks. The back wheels are clearly a different color from it. And it seems so counter intuitive, because my brakes should be biased to the front. The previous owner had just put new pads and rotors on.

My thoughts are:

1)brakes got biased to the rear somehow, not sure if there's a valve somewhere.

2)rear brake pads are too thick

3)handbrake is staying engaged

I don't have a clue how to test and diagnose these things, so any help would be greatly appreciated

 

I don't have a clue how to test and diagnose these things, so any help would be greatly appreciated

If not familiar with brake systems your best path is to take the car to any decent garage or brake place and get the brakes checked. There is nothing really special about the brake system so any decent mechanic should be able to check for common problems like a dragging pad or sticking cable.

One thing that IS unique about a GEN1 rear pad is the spring clip on the back of the inner pad.

This is supposed to clip into a groove on the brake piston. If not clipped in properly the piston will ride ON the spring adding about 1/16 of an inch thickness making a new pad too thick . . . A common mistake for first timers . . . Easily fixed by disassembly and seating the pad correctly. (disregard red circle, picture was used previously for a different question)

Another possible 'non-issue' would be the brand of pads installed. Some pads, EBC in particular, come with a break-in or 'bedding' coating which wears off ... how long this takes varies by driving style but a couple of thousand miles is not uncommon AND due to proper system bias you'd expect the rears to take longer. The dust produced by this special coating is heavier and different color from what you see once you get to the 'real' pad. This has been my experience with EBC green and red pads.

Bring it by and I'd be happy to take a look. Which would be more helpful suggestion if you share where you are .... maybe .... then someone close by might message an offer to help. In other words add your location to your profile and consider a car description in your sig as both can help us help you!

+++++++++++
an EASY way to check for a dragging brake. a) jack it up with the e-brake off and spin the rear wheel ... it should spin freely; there can/will be some drag from the brake pad but minimal. If nothing drastic is seen b) Go for a drive ... not too crazy, but use the brakes normally. Stop and check the brake temp's. You could just touch the wheels. If the rears are hot and the fronts are not ... something is wrong. WARNING - things COULD be HOT. You can buy an infrared thermometer for under $30 at Harbor Freight or even Home Despots which makes this a lot safer and more accurate! Check temps on the rotor with this (DO NOT TOUCH if there is ANY doubt about their being HOT) {safe touch method for heat: the back of the hand is much more heat sensitive than are the finger tips ... bring the back of the hand NEAR the surface and you'll feel heat that would typically result in burned finger tips!}

 

Different brake compounds make different color dust...
I ran akeebonoo pads on the front, with a different on the back...result was back had more dust than the front by about 90%...
But it if feels wrong...bring it in...get it looked at...
You might have a sticky rear caliper....years of dirt, salt, corrosion, lack of flushing, use can cause the parking brake ratcheting system to sieze up...one did on my car, fix, a rebuilt caliper, and usually new pads cause one pad will be mostly worn out from dragging....
Similarly the parking brake cables can rust and stop sliding right....
It will become apparent if the caliper or the cables are the problem when they can unhook the cables on the lift and play with it.

 

Thanks for the tips. I will probably take it to a mechanic to check it. I'll look for the spring clip first though.

I'm in North Florida by the way. I keep forgetting to make my signature. The pads were changed about 5k miles ago now.