brake dust/wheel cleaning

I

imported_gfe76

New member
Have read various opinions about using muriatic acid on alum wheels with clearcoat.

Anybody ever used it on caked on brake dust? I know to use gloves, mask, apron, and to add acid to water to dilute (rather than water to acid). I plan on diluting 1:1.

thanks for replies..
 
To me, using that is going WAY overboard, unless its an absolute must...i have yet to find a need for it...I'm not in this business to hard myself, and I'm pretty sure that stuff can do some serious damage if not used properly...
 
I have some of the P21S wheel cleaner and that probably would work well. The wheels on my wife's suv (which I believe are aluminum) are badly neglected because I can't seem to find a good brush to get in some of the openings (or one that lasts more that two uses). I used the wheel cleaner as directed letting it sit for 15 minutes or whatever, and it made a pretty good dent in the brake dust with some light scrubbing. And we're talking about stuff that has been caked on basically for years.
 
The vast majority of the time, I don't use any wheel cleaners. Just my ONR or a bucket of soapy water and a dedicated MF towel and maybe some quick brush work does the job.
 
gfe76- Welcome to Autopia!



There's a vast range of products between regular car shampoos and wheel cleaners and hydrochloric acid (you didn't mention the strenght *before* your planned dilution, but still...).



There are some mildly acidic wheel cleaners that are plenty aggressive...even these can be *too* aggressive, especially if the wheels have any areas where the finish (paint/etc.) has been compromised.



I'd proceed cautiously and stick with products made for automotive wheels; if these products could be made more effective without being too strong, the manufacturers would sell stronger versions of them. Something like Meguiar's Wheel Brightener should be more than strong enough. I've cleaned the back-sides of old wheels (never cleaned before) without resorting to drastic measures, just took some time and elbow grease.
 
I've had good luck with Eagle One All Wheel Cleaner, when a strong cleaner is needed. Most of the time the car wash solution is adequate.
 
itb76 said:
I've had good luck with Eagle One All Wheel Cleaner, when a strong cleaner is needed..
Click to expand...



Isn't that the same stuff that used to be called "A 2 Z" or something like that :think: If so, yeah, that's fairly potent stuff too.
 
thanks....I was just looking for a fast economical way of cleaning somee pretty bad looking wheels without buying a lot of small bottles of expensive cleaner.
 
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