Goof Off vs 3M Adhesive Remover vs Brake Cleaner for removing sticky stuff

Accumulator said:
Are Hunter balancing machines still the [stuff]?
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Alot has come along way in the last couple years. For tire mounters, everything from just the wheel/tire on/off from the floor for the worker, there is a lift that does just that. Everything that touches the tires is all rubber, and makes mounting 35 and lower profile tires, makes it like child plays....

Same goes for balancers. Pay a little bit more and get it match mounted. Dots aside, they will go the extra mile and mount the high/low respectively on the tire and wheel to minimize on wheel weights. Road Forced balanced tires should not cost you any more at a good tire shop , but then again, it varies...

I pay $180-$200 for a alignment and for many, this may be too expensive...
BTW, I think I mentioned this in this thread or another. Their alignment sensors are TOUCHLESS . Like a Laser touchless wash, it really is touchless. Clamps onto your tires. No 4 metal nubs on your wheels....which for some ,when you`re running 8-10K wheels, these things do count.

Beissbarth makes some fine stuff too, just not popular in my neck of the woods
 
GearHead_1 said:
It would be my hope that the most important thing any would gather from anything I`ve related in this discussion is that a good wheel balancer and a tech that knows how to use it will make a tire ride and perform very well regardless of a dot here and a dot there. :)
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This is where I confess that when I do tires, I don`t generally pay attention to the mounting dots. :o I`m more Auto Technician, less tire changer, so the times I do get a chance to do tires, it`s a glorious turn-your-brain-off/muscle-memory kind of job (think applying wax vs polishing).

BUT: When I balance them, they all get Road Force checked. We`ve got the Hunter tire changer (one step below the one that literally does everything for you) and the Road Force Balancer (again, 1 step down - I actually have to pick the tire up to put it on the machine). When mounting tires, I also take steps to help the bead relax into position (you give the lightly inflated tire a gentle squeeze with the rollers and run it a few revolutions). Then when balancing, I also pay attention when the machine is doing it`s checks to make sure the tire is spinning true and doesn`t have visible issues (sometimes even the machine misses this part). Road force is king, lots of weight is queen. Either are too high, and I`ll re-index the tire 180 on the wheel and have another go.
 
On topic for wheel weight adhesive removal: Balanced my wife`s summer wheels this weekend, so I actually paid attention to the process I use. Also compared Brake Clean vs the 3M adhesive remover. Didn`t do any more experimenting than that because hey: Who wants to be at work on a weekend? :)

My approach goes as follows: Apply juice to rag, work into the foam still stuck on the wheel. This softens it up. Next, scrape the foam off with your plastic tool of choice. Now you just have the adhesive to deal with. Another application of adhesive remover of choice, and it`ll blow what`s left right off. Quick and easy.

In the end, I`d say play it safe and go with the 3M Adhesive remover - on cheap/refinished wheels I have had brake clean affect the surface slightly. The 3M stuff works well but didn`t seem to have any effect on the paint. I`ve had goof off spray mess paint up on race car stuff in the past.
 
Way OT, but OHeadLite,......granted machines cost money, but man, the autolift on the machines is such a HUGE PPE for a guy that does tires all day. I would take a paycut (well given the right balance) if one to choose to work in a shop that had one and one that didn`t and all I did was hustle/bustle tires all day long
 
We`ve got it for the Tire Machine, just not for the balancer. Glad I don`t have to huff them on and off all the time - We`re more of a shop that also does tires vs a tire shop.
 
Accumulator said:
While I`d never use/allow the use of the Wheel on exterior paint (yeah, I`ve seen those "doesn`t this look fine? Whaddya mean `no` ?!?" type results) I`d use it on the inside barrels of certain wheels. Not the ones I care about though.

DBailey- Huh, interesting that something works better than the 3M!
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But where else would you use a pin stripping removal wheel except for on exterior paint? I know it looks very scary, and I am amazed every time I use it that it does not mess up the paint, but it does not. Use a good wheel like the 3M ones. Just only use it on metal panels. NEVER EVER on plastic panels like bumpers. It will take the wheel weight foam backing/adhesive off in about a minute. Then wipe it clean with the 3M, GOOF OFF or the XENIT.

XENIT really dissolves adhesives well.
 
DBAILEY said:
But where else would you use a pin stripping removal wheel except for on exterior paint?
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Well, that`s the thing...I wouldn`t use it nor allow anybody else to (on my vehicles).

I know it looks very scary, and I am amazed every time I use it that it does not mess up the paint, but it does not. Use a good wheel like the 3M ones. Just only use it on metal panels.
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You apparently have more skill with it than the people I`ve seen use one (I`ve never tried it). Every time I`ve seen somebody use one the results weren`t satisfactory IMO. Even on new vehicles where there was no ghosting, correction was always required if I inspected it properly.

I guess I oughta just keep quiet about this approach since I`m never gonna do it (lifetime supply of the 3M which works fine for me).
 
I had a chance to compare 3m and the Xenit this past weekend. It was a BMW 323i where the owner was using clear packaging tape to hold the 2 front grill pieces in place as the tabs had all broken. There was 3 layers of tape. The bottom layer was old and cracked. It was quite a mess. I did one side with the 3M and the other with the Xenit. A pinstripping tool was not a good choice as the tape was balling up into a gooey mess. So i had to use plastic scapers and the cleaners. On this tape adhesive the 3M was the better choice.

I do highly recommend the Xenit though as it has numerous uses and is safer on surfaces then the 3M. I have resurrected some pretty nasty carpet mats with Xenit.
 
DBAILY- What kinds of surfaces are vulnerable to the 3M but OK with the Xenit? I`d *guess* that some plastics might bleach/dry out with the 3M...
 
3M has turned chrome painted plastic funny on me. I had 3M leave an embossed imprint of my thumb on the roof an Escalade once. It had a bad tree sap problem. That stuff actually softened the clear up enough to leave my finger print.

You clean all kinds of stuff with XENIT. Pretty much anything you would use a APC on. It is just very strong citrus cleaner.
 
DBAILEY- Huh, never had anything like that happen to me, but I`ll be more careful from now on thanks to your experiences. Thanks for elaborating.
 
Well I got my tires and treated them to a full Autopian detail. The most time consuming thing was getting the weight glue off. Goof Off works just fine. I had to put the car on my lift to get at some of the adhesive spots and I dressed both sides of the new tires :D
 
Bill D- I gather you did it with the wheels on the car...was that easier than taking them off to do it? I`ve never done `em on the car...
 
Bill D- Huh, never thought to do it that way in all those years I had a lift!n (Which yeah, I do sometimes miss after all :o ).
 
The whole process of removing the weight residue took an hour max. Then today I had to remove a dealer decal from my dad`s brand new van
 
Bill D- I think I almost deliberately avoid keeping track of how long such stuff takes me.

Your dad got a new van, huh? No at-dealer decontamination for that one ;) I still think of how *perfect* it was when you did that...
 
My dad said he didn`t have any time for it so no decontamination :( luckily there was no dealer installed swirls. All I have to do is wash and LSP when he wants me too. I wish I had some fk 1000p. Gonna have to settle for Collinite
 
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