Armor All Wheel Protectant is the real deal
- Thread starter imported_Aurora40
- Start date
tom p.
Active member
SpoolinNoMore said:
Michelin offers a product as does Eagle One.
Bill D
Hooked For Life
I tried the Eagle One a year or so ago, worked ok , but from what I gather this AA one is a real home run?
Accumulator
Well-known member
RenuAuto said:
I'll have to get back to you on that; I OptiCoated the wheels on my Beater Tahoe and the fronts (drum brakes on the back) are gonna get mighty nasty between cleanups so it'll be a decent testbed.
tom p.
Active member
Bill D said:
Bill, I think the AA product is superior to the other two, but not by a huge margin. Grab a can of the AA stuff and see how you feel about.
Bill D
Hooked For Life
tom p. said:
Will do, Tom. Maybe a nice 4th of July treat!
I just bought a can of this product for $3.50 on clearance at a store here. They only had 3 cans left. I may go back and buy the other two if they aren't gone already! That's quite a testament! They had dozens of cans of this stuff a few weeks ago,but I balked at buying it. The brakes on my wife's Grand Prix have always been terrible to dust the front wheels,and nothing has seemed to help very much.
The store was a regional chain called Atwoods. Home | atwoods They actually have decent automotive section,but the detailing stuff is kinda overpriced. It's the cheapest place in the world to get Seafoam also.
The store was a regional chain called Atwoods. Home | atwoods They actually have decent automotive section,but the detailing stuff is kinda overpriced. It's the cheapest place in the world to get Seafoam also.
Bill D
Hooked For Life
Darn, wish Atwoods was more a national chain 
Bill D said:Darn, wish Atwoods was more a national chain
Yeah, that was a whale of a deal. I've got to get back out there and see if they have any of the Wheel Protectant left. Every once in a while they absolutely kill Wal-Mart on some of their prices on various things. Atwoods is kinda how stores used to be before "big box" retailers took everything over.
Dan
Well-known member
tom p. said:
I agree, it works a bit better, leaves less white residue and is easier to apply.
imported_Aurora40
New member
Just wanted to post an update. I am still completely impressed with how it worked, because the wheels would have been black after the abuse the brakes got.
But since washing the car and such, the product has kind of an odd behavior. I used Meg's #36 because I didn't want to strip the stuff off. The wheels cleaned easily, but they get sort of streaky/cloudy from water. And the wheels have a weird sort of feel to them, it's not slick like wax. Water is totally repelled, though, like in the lug areas. Also you can see brake dust built up there, but it was like a pocket of loose dust, not bonded. It sorta floated out like cocoa mix when pockets of it dance on top of the water.
You can wipe off the streaks with a towel, so no real problem. It's just sort of weird.
I don't believe I will use it on a regular basis. But it was a winner for a track day. And if I still had the ZR-1, I'd definitely use it on that kind of car. One that only sees dry days, gets driven hard, and not washed often (it stayed pretty clean). The front wheels generally were the only dirty part, to where sometimes I'd just wash the wheels.
But since washing the car and such, the product has kind of an odd behavior. I used Meg's #36 because I didn't want to strip the stuff off. The wheels cleaned easily, but they get sort of streaky/cloudy from water. And the wheels have a weird sort of feel to them, it's not slick like wax. Water is totally repelled, though, like in the lug areas. Also you can see brake dust built up there, but it was like a pocket of loose dust, not bonded. It sorta floated out like cocoa mix when pockets of it dance on top of the water.
You can wipe off the streaks with a towel, so no real problem. It's just sort of weird.
I don't believe I will use it on a regular basis. But it was a winner for a track day. And if I still had the ZR-1, I'd definitely use it on that kind of car. One that only sees dry days, gets driven hard, and not washed often (it stayed pretty clean). The front wheels generally were the only dirty part, to where sometimes I'd just wash the wheels.
imported_Aurora40
New member
15951 said:
No smoke, the brakes were phenomenal. Never any fade nor concern. But they definitely got worked hard. And I was probably harder on them than I needed to be, I tended to overbrake for corners. This was with OEM pads and rotors, and BFG KDW tires.
The color change is sort of common on track-used CTS-V's. It's sort of a badge of honor, though I thought generally it was guys with track tires and higher temp brake pad compounds that had it happen. I was quite surprised to see it. I've no idea if it was some intentional thing for warranty concerns, or just some weird behavior of the paint.
AuAltima3.5 said:
Don't take this the wrong way, but why do you say this? Just trying to quantify the info, do you have experience with it? I certainly bled the brakes before the event, to make sure the fluid had the highest boiling point reasonably possible. But why would you need to change it afterwards? I'd think the extreme heat would prevent water absorption because water at that temp would turn to gas.
2005GTPinMD
New member
For those interested - I saw the protecant on sale at target for 5.99.
HCF said:
I noticed this too. I had applied Z-CS before to seal the wheel. Then the Armor All Wheel Protectant.
I went at it with a mf real light after it dried, but it took the protection away!
I tried a water beading test before and after the light cleaning with the mf and the difference was big.
I think this would work great on painted finishes that are not reflective like Chrome. The haze it creates is annoying.
My results were disappointing with the Armor All stuff.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Bis said:
Thanks for posting that (I saw it on your "chrome wheels" thread too). I haven't tried my AA Wheel Protector stuff yet, but I might've tried it on the "machined" finish (and well-sealed) A8 or Tahoe wheels and I bet it woulda behaved just as it did for you. I suspect you saved me some frustration
I put Akebono Euro pads (ceramic) on my wifes BMW one week ago. THe difference in brake dust is amazing. Those of you who have BMW's or detail them know that after one day the wheels are dirty and after a week you can't tell what color they are....Well after one week with the new pads the wheels are almost as clean as new. I am going to try to go as long as posible with them and see the difference. By the way before the new pads I cleaned the wheels twice a week. Now the way things are going with the new pads it may be once a month.:sing:
Accumulator
Well-known member
TedFred- How's the braking performance with those pads?
Accumulator said:Thanks for posting that (I saw it on your "chrome wheels" thread too). I haven't tried my AA Wheel Protector stuff yet, but I might've tried it on the "machined" finish (and well-sealed) A8 or Tahoe wheels and I bet it woulda behaved just as it did for you. I suspect you saved me some frustration
Yeah man, I am including the link here so people with Chrome wheels may benefit from my results:
http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-de...protect-them-day-one-but-how.html#post1447524