HELP salt+water+brakedust stained my wheels

H

havabooz

New member
well..its basically my fault because it was too hard to keep them clean through the winter..they shoulda been off in the first place but its too late for ifs and buts



i cleaned the wheels today with dawn cause i figured its pretty strong stuff..the stains arnt bad but i def want to get rid of them



i need to know the strongest wheel cleaner that will cut through the grime but not harm the clearcoat on the wheel



i would think that claybarring might help but it will be very hard to get in the crevices and around teh bolts



are there any wheel cleaners that i can leave on the wheel that can eat through the stain?



any help is appreciated



ps..i have a set of iforged wheels that are clearcoated
 
I would like any suggestions too, because even with wheel cleaner and clay bar, I still have some brake dust spots.
 
i will try and scrub some more but it doesnt seem to be sufficient.....ive never used claybar but the idea of it seems like it will work...the wheels werent left for years but long enough to get the stain (about a month)....my hose was frozen so i was never able to clean the wheels....now im stuck..there has to be something out there
 
car magic makes some stuff that has some strong acids in it and ive heard it works good..have to go through a dist. though which can be a pain
 
Yeah, leaving that crap on nice wheels for a long period of time is bad news.



I am going to refer you to this article from Larry Reynolds. There are a few key tips in it.



We used to deal with severely stained wheels on MBz cars...I am talking about wheels that had not been properly cleaned for years. :mad: We used to spray the P21S gel wheel cleaner on and let it sit overnight. We would come back the next day and spend hours on getting the wheels looking new again....it was a LOT of effort.



It's important to properly clean wheels frequently.
 
i read the article...it suggests p21s or sonax to get the wheels clean but it doesnt guarantee that it wont eat through the clearcoat...the article has reccomendations for keepign a clearcoated wheel nice looking but it doesnt really say what it needs to get it clean from the stains of brakedust..



i wouldnt mind trying the p21s but i would mind if it peeled the clearcoat off the wheel..scratching the clearcoat isnt that big of an issue because im assuming zaino z5 or 3m swirl filler can help that..but i dont want it to peel
 
p21s gel cleaner seems the best...it actually does indicate that its safe on clearcoated wheels...i will give that a try along with a toothbrush and see how things work out
 
I have never experienced any P21S product doing damage to a wheel.



Did you read the bit about polishing with a little metal polish for problem areas:



Larry sez: ..put a generous amount of 3M on your cloth and add a small amount of P21S Metal Finish Restorer Metal Polish (about the size of your pinkie nail). Polish out the clouding with this combination. The P21S/3M combination will usually get the job done. When it has, follow up with a coat of quality Carnauba wax. If you don't want to use a paste wax on your wheels, or want a quick way to apply wax, use Sonax Spray Motorcycle Wax on the wheels. It is a pump spray hard wax that goes on easily and doesn't chalk and requires only light buffing.
Click to expand...
 
i would assume that polishing should be done AFTER the wheel was clean??...im confused...but like i said im gonna try the wheel gel first...one wheel is just getting back from being re-clearcoated (not my fault) ..and i dont wanna send any more wheels back...thanks for the article by the way
 
use that polishing technique on residual "problem spots".



Good luck and let us know how is turns out.



I can tell you that the Gel cleaner is quite a bit stronger (and thicker) than the regular strength. I don't buy the gel 'cause I don't need/want that much cleaning power every week.



If you thought you could get away with the regular P21S, that would be a better choice since it's a broader application product that you can use all the time.
 
true..but once the problem is solved i will go back to only having to use soap and water..sometimes only water..the brake dust wasnt very pesky...but the melted salt acted like a glue....if you ever saw a clump of melted snowsalt you will realize that its very thick and gluelike
 
I used to have terrible problems with the wheels on my wife's Passat. The brake dust caked on, and actually pitted the surface.



I found that the only way that I could get the wheels clean was to clean using normal wheel cleaner (I prefer Griots Garage - but to each his own), dry the wheel, and then polish it with Klasse AIO.



The solvents in AIO seem to break up the stuck-on brake dust pretty readily.



After using the AIO, I put a couple of coats of SG on them, and that makes them MUCH easier to clean during normal car washing.



Good Luck!
 
try putting some good polish and sealant on those wheels. Mine had AIO and a hefty coat of SG. I havent washed those wheels in all winter and brake dust comes of with just water.
 
im sure if i had put a coat of zaino it would have been fine....but the wheels had so many coats of crap it was ridiculous...



vapore---did your wheels look like they had been through hell right before you washed them..cause thats what my wheel looked like





and one more question...why do people use metal polish on clearcoated wheels..it makes no sense
 
MGK65 is right, I put Hawk HPS on my 350Z at about 5K miles, brake dust drove me batty. Now, hardly any brake dust to clean off!
 
ha...did u know i had a 350z or was that just by chance...the brake dust from the stock Z pads isnt terrible in my opinion...im not blaming anyone but myself here..i got myself in a problem and i gotta get out..the products might be here friday..but more likely monday
 
###UPDATE###



its been a while since i posted but i wanted to let you know the best way to remove it



the p21s wheel cleaner did NOTHING...when i was claybarring my car i decided to do the wheels just to see if it worked...i figured since the wheels are clearcoated it should..and i was right!



claybar took out 95% of the grime...the other 5% was too hard to reach because of the bolts on the wheels
 
I actually had a similar experience. I took this from my post over here ( http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36295 )





This is my mom's work van. This will be an "Extreme Makeover" job when I get home from college to do it. In the meantime I just did an NXT wash and vacuumed it out while I was home.



No full pics, but the rims were stained badly. I used generous amounts of SFP and a Polishing Pad on the Makita Rotary.



Before

DSC01180.jpg




After

DSC01181.jpg
 
tom p. said:
Yeah, leaving that crap on nice wheels for a long period of time is bad news.



I am going to refer you to this article from Larry Reynolds. There are a few key tips in it.



We used to deal with severely stained wheels on MBz cars...I am talking about wheels that had not been properly cleaned for years. :mad: We used to spray the P21S gel wheel cleaner on and let it sit overnight. We would come back the next day and spend hours on getting the wheels looking new again....it was a LOT of effort.



It's important to properly clean wheels frequently.
Click to expand...



Thanks for the link.:xyxthumbs
 
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