How to clean wheel wells on low cars

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BMW335i

New member
Please help as my car is too low. My hand can barely fit at the top of the wheels into the well so I was wondering how you guys do it...products/degreasers/etc...
 
I have a '98 328i. If I'm going to do a thorough cleaning, I put the car on jackstands and take the wheel off. Then I spray the wheel well down with Simple Green, let it sit for a bit, scrub with a stiff bristle brush and hose off. Before I put the wheel back on, I spray the black fender covers with Armor All since I'd rather not waste 303 on the wheel wells.
 
When I do my E90 Sport, I turn the wheel all the way to the left/right, depending which side I'm cleaning. For the top, use a long handled soft tipped wheel face brush. For a cleaner, my go to is Hi Temps Tire Cleaner diluted 2:1. Its very potent, but not too harsh. Use this method, and your wells will be spotless.
 
My car is not lowered, but even on most cars it's hard to reach and clean in the wheel well. My brushes don't fit and I hate sticking my hand/arm in there because there's always something sharp that I'm afraid I'll cut myself with. Do you guys think a pressure washer would help greatly compared to a regular garden hose with sprayer?
 
BlackElantraGT said:
My car is not lowered, but even on most cars it's hard to reach and clean in the wheel well. My brushes don't fit and I hate sticking my hand/arm in there because there's always something sharp that I'm afraid I'll cut myself with. Do you guys think a pressure washer would help greatly compared to a regular garden hose with sprayer?
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Pressure washers don't help that much, they only get off the big chunks, you will still need a brush - and please dont hijack my thread ;)
 
I have the same problem, and I was thinking of trying a floor jack. The wheels tend to drop as the car is jacked up. I have not tried this yet, has anyone else tried this before I go out and buy one?
 
I've had the same problem, but I doubt my car sits as low as yours. I ended up buying the Edge Wheel Shmitt and so far, It's doing better than the brushes I've tried, but if your hand can barely fit at the top of the wheel....:nixweiss
 
natebood said:
I've had the same problem, but I doubt my car sits as low as yours. I ended up buying the Edge Wheel Shmitt and so far, It's doing better than the brushes I've tried, but if your hand can barely fit at the top of the wheel....:nixweiss
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My hand can fit, but with a brush it will be very difficult and it will have to be of a very low profile.



I didn't custom lower my car...its stock but its just a low car even stock..
 
Joe Adamski said:
I have the same problem, and I was thinking of trying a floor jack. The wheels tend to drop as the car is jacked up. I have not tried this yet, has anyone else tried this before I go out and buy one?
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I do this every time I wash the low cars, in fact, I keep a pair of floorjacks in the washbay area just for this. You don't always have to jack them up so high that the wheels come off the ground, often you can get enough room just by jacking them up the extent of the suspension's travel.



The Audis and the M3 have rubber/plastic lift pads that make this a piece of cake, though a lift-beam (that would span both pads and allow one jack to lift the whole side) would make it even easier.



If you're gonna buy a floorjack for this, be sure to get one that's low-profile enough for the cars you'll be doing..seems obvious but some cars are a lot lower than the typical floorjack can accommodate.



On "regular" cars I use diluted APC, being careful not to get it on any waxed/etc. surfaces. On the cars with truly detailed wheelwells I use a slightly stronger-than-normal shampoo mix (the same one I use on the wheels). Long handled implements like the Quickee (?SP?) sponge mop and BHBs are great, especially the "baster-brush" shaped BHB from Griot's.
 
Maybe for stuff that has to be scrubbed off you could try a nylon pot scrubber. You could pretty much fit it anywhere you can fit your hand.



BTW no need to get so touchy about hijacking, a pressure washer was a legitimate suggestion. You are asking for ideas after all. ;)
 
BMW335i said:
My hand can fit, but with a brush it will be very difficult and it will have to be of a very low profile.



I didn't custom lower my car...its stock but its just a low car even stock..
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Well, you may look into the wheel shmitt then. I find it easier to reach a mitt in there than any brush I've tried. I'd probably never use it on wheels as it's very coarse, but it's worked well for my wells.
 
I should add, the standard treatment for my wheelwells if they're in decent shape is to spray them with original AA and wipe that down with a terry cloth rag. If you can get a hand in there, you can do this much.
 
I know this pic doesn't show its use on wheel wells, but well that have no more than 2 inch clearance, this little tool does it all for me....



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I bought it at Walmart in the dishcleaning isle, per G35stilez's recommendation.
 
haha, all you people with little cars.



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Put a lift on it.. That will solve all of your problems. I use Megs APC+ in the fender wells too. I use it on just about everything. haha.
 
^ i hate you and all you clearance and stuff.... I cant get my hands...or fingers in 2 out of the 3 cars of mine.... :mad:





I spary my wheel wells down with a strong degreaser (using megs detailer line "super degreaser" as of now) and let it soak for 5-10 min, I also get as much as the under carrage as I can, then I blast it all with a pressure washer at the local coin op place... tend to get 95% of it with exception to the rocks that are 99% tar that have melded themselves to the wheel well I just give those a tap with the flat head screw driver, qucik and very effective...
 
I just jack the car up at every wash.. only adds a couple minutes to the process and gives me the best possible access to the wheel wells. Also makes exhaust polishing a lot easier.
 
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