How do I clean stock aluminum wheels?

[HOGWILD]

cleaning them frequently helps a lot, and the Michelin Wheel and tire cleaner "MELTS" brake dust!

[Tyler2262]

If the 409 and Simple Green doesn't work, I'll try the Michelin. Does that have to be ordered online?

[HOGWILD]

Originally Posted by Tyler2262

If the 409 and Simple Green doesn't work, I'll try the Michelin. Does that have to be ordered online?

https://host8.successfulhosting.com/...me.php?cat=294
Only place that i know of that sells it, comes outta Daytona Beach Florida and crawls by UPS unless you get over 50 bucks worth. If ya get 50 bucks worth shipping is free and it shows up really fast!

[LifeTech]

If the wheels are kept in polished condition they rarley need a hard chemical cleaning. But I surmise that the brake pads are spewing alot of crap. This will contaminate the wheel surface pretty bad.

What kind of brake pads are yu using??

LT

[Tyler2262]

I'm not sure what pad they are, I think that they're the cheapest ones from Advanced Auto. Usually when I go there, he uses the cheapest parts from Advanced Auto.

[Tyler2262]

The spray cleaners didn't work. I'll have to try the 0000 steel wool.

[Anarcy21]

I had hard stains on my aluminum wheels, you can check my photos and see. I used Mother Mag and Aluminum polish and the powerball from Mothers, and it eliminated those stains so fast, It was great. I have some touch ups to do, but was amazed that something worked!

[Tyler2262]

I wish hard water stains was all I had to worry about, this is what my wheels look like.

[Tundraman10]

I had that same problem trying to remove that baked on brake dust. I thought it was brake dust but it actually was the alloy starting to pit. I used my commercial wheel acid that detailers used and I could not get it to come off. I did try using steel wool and light sand paper and it didn’t help that much. This is how I washed my wheels and tires in this order.

Pick up the following items: a bottle of Bleach White (at any auto parts store) or commerical grade white wall cleaner from a car detailing supply company, a regular stiff brush (square shape with a handle on it), a brush that is cylindrical with a handle on it, a grill scrapper brush with a handle on it, Latex cloves (optional),a mesh bug sponge, a can of wheel wax.( any brand)

2. Spray wheel and tire with bleach white 10-15 squirts
3. Let is sit for 15 seconds.
4. Take the square brush and brush around the wheel crevices, and tire.
5. Take the grill scrapper brush and brush hard around the white walls to make them shine.
5. Take the cylindrical brush to get in those tight crevices better
6. Take the mesh bug sponge and attack those tight crevices even better
7. Spray wheel and tire off.
8. Apply some wheel wax. I prefer American racing wheel wax $12.
9. Take a microfiber rag after the wax has somewhat hardened on the wheel and proceed to wipe it off.

Note: that brake dust will stick to wheels a lot more for a while. Just take a rag about every week of or every other week and just simply wipe then off.

[Tyler2262]

Thanks for the info. I'll try that sometime this week. Will the Bleach White damage the wheels?

[Brandon1]

Originally Posted by Tyler2262

Thanks for the info. I'll try that sometime this week. Will the Bleach White damage the wheels?

Yeahhhh, i'd keep that Bleach White off the wheels. Bleach white is a REALLY strong chemical cleaner, that while it may not damage clear coated wheels, it WILL damage your uncoated wheels. Hell, mine are clearcoated and I wouldnt spray it on them.

Just pick up some Eagle One Wheel Cleaner, thats the strongest/safest OTC wheel cleaner available.

All the other steps look ok, but i'd just be super careful about using those types of brushes on wheels. A grill scraper? Thats a little harsh IMO, you can lift the "nap" of the rubber and scuff it up.

[supersoz]

The smartest thing to do is to seal the wheels with a synthetic sealant, especially new wheels, before they start to pit. Once you get them clean, seal them. I've tried a bunch of different wheel glazes/waxes, but they don't last very long. I've been using DG #105 with outstanding results. All I use to clean my wheels is a sponge w/ soap and water. No need for harsh chemicals with a sealant. My rims are a year old and look like they just rolled off the showroom floor. Plus with using just a sponge,(not the one you use to wash the truck) you will avoid scratching the clearcoat on the wheels.

[akauth]

FYI.

Whenever you use a strong cleaner DO NOT let it dry the wheels. If you're going to do heavy duty cleaning I'd pull the wheels off the vehicle and lay them flat on the ground so you can control what gets hit with chemical.

Too, you can clean the inside of the wheels that way. They'll be filthy and that will work it's way out - you'll probably see pitting.

If you use simple green and a "bug scrubber" you should be able to harder stuff off. You can use a paint cleaner and let it dry and wipe it off like wax.

Wax them regularly after you get it off and keep them clean and you shouldn't have any problems.

If you clean them on the car, touch up the wax on the surrounding paint since you'll probably get cleaner on them and it will strip the wax. "Clean" pain it vulnerable paint. Always have wax - synthetic is best - on the surfaces you want to protect.


Alan

[Tundraman10]

Also I forgot to mention. Dilute the bleach white white wall cleaner 50/50 in a spray bottle. The bleach white wall cleaner is made by Westley's and it sells at any auto parts store. It comes in a white spary bottle with red and blue on the sticker. Note: if you have a pair of junk wheels lying around and your not affraid of runing them apply your wheel cleaners to them first just to make sure that it doesn't ruin your good set of wheels.

The grill scapper brush workes well on white wall letters. just make sure there is no dry rought on the tires because the grill scrapper brush can dig into the tire and flake chunks of the rubber off. Try not to get the grill scapper brush anywhere near the wheels because it will scuff the wheels.