NEW set of Chrome Wheels: I want to protect them from day one, but how?

[Accumulator]

Bis- That'd drive me nuts, wonder why it happened :think:



Is your water especially hard or something? I do keep rerinsing my wheels while I wash the rest of the car, but other than that I never do anything special and I usually dry my wheels after I've done the rest of the vehicile.



If you decide it's the Zaino and you want to try something different, I can vouche for FK1000P, which has never disappointed me on wheels.

 

[Bis]

Bis- That'd drive me nuts, wonder why it happened :think:



Is your water especially hard or something? I do keep rerinsing my wheels while I wash the rest of the car, but other than that I never do anything special and I usually dry my wheels after I've done the rest of the vehicile.



If you decide it's the Zaino and you want to try something different, I can vouche for FK1000P, which has never disappointed me on wheels.

Yeah, it does drive me nuts.

The curious thing that I am noticing is that the front wheels are very different than the front wheels. No brake dust, just a lot more water marks!

All wheels received the same exact treatment, so I wonder why I am seeing a difference?

If its due to the heat generated on the front wheels then I'd have to say going to a high temp product *might* help, but I am somewhat stumped on the lack of effectiveness from the Zaino treatment and the Armor All stuff.



I may give them a wash and try Zaino again all by itself on the front. I am thinking the Armor All may have compromised the Zaino somehow...



About my water: yes, it seems like its pretty hard as well. I always keep the full vehicle wet until I am ready to dry it. But those wheels were very finicky from the start.



Thanks for following up Accumulator.

 

[Accumulator]

Bis- Yah know, I can't help but think there's some kind of connection between the front brakes doing a disproportionately large % of the braking and the difference with the spotting :think:



BUT...I somehow doubt that heat has much to do with it. I drive my vehicles pretty hard, and/but the temp-indicating paint I've had on some of my rotors always says that they don't get all *that* hot on street-driven vehicles. I drove my MPV (with the t-i painted rotors) a lot harder than most anybody would drive a minivan, braking hard enough to experience significant brake fade at times and the front wheels never got remotely hot enough to factor in to something like this.

 

[b34tBoX]

Just wanted to add, that personally I've never had much success trying to protect wheels with a product. Mainly because I think the majority of us use a rim cleaner on them during washes that literally strips the protectant off them anyways.

Once a year give them a full-blown polish. Generally it's easier to take care of them than polished aluminum. Both of which I've owned.



Try black powder coated wheels, they are fun to maintain.

 

[Bis]

Bis- Yah know, I can't help but think there's some kind of connection between the front brakes doing a disproportionately large % of the braking and the difference with the spotting :think:



BUT...I somehow doubt that heat has much to do with it. I drive my vehicles pretty hard, and/but the temp-indicating paint I've had on some of my rotors always says that they don't get all *that* hot on street-driven vehicles. I drove my MPV (with the t-i painted rotors) a lot harder than most anybody would drive a minivan, braking hard enough to experience significant brake fade at times and the front wheels never got remotely hot enough to factor in to something like this.

The rear's are drums, so it makes sense that I would see brake dust in the front, but that's not what I am seeing. Its mostly water marks...



I am taking the fronts off right now and gonna wash them, and give them the treatment again, this time without Armor All. I'll let you know how it goes.



If that doesn't help than high temp stuff is what I'll try.



I may find that not much was achieved in the end, but at least I put the products to the test and got to share the experience with the forum. :0)

 

[Bis]

Just wanted to add, that personally I've never had much success trying to protect wheels with a product. Mainly because I think the majority of us use a rim cleaner on them during washes that literally strips the protectant off them anyways.

Once a year give them a full-blown polish. Generally it's easier to take care of them than polished aluminum. Both of which I've owned.



Try black powder coated wheels, they are fun to maintain.

I was told not to use wheel cleaners on these wheels. I am going for straight-soap and water...

 

[Accumulator]

The rear's are drums, so it makes sense that I would see brake dust in the front, but that's not what I am seeing. Its mostly water marks...

Yeah, but don't you think it's oh-so-coincidental that it's working out that way :think:

I am taking the fronts off right now and gonna wash them, and give them the treatment again, this time without Armor All. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh man, sure eating up time and effort, huh?

I may find that not much was achieved in the end, but at least I put the products to the test and got to share the experience with the forum. :0)

Heh heh, glad you're able to put a positive spin on it at least

I was told not to use wheel cleaners on these wheels. I am going for straight-soap and water...

If you seal/wax them that'll be sufficient for most maintenance washes, but at some point you will need to use a wheel cleaner. I'd use Griot's Wheel Cleaner or P21s' stuff on them with zero hesitation, no *way* either of those would mess them up.

 

[Bis]

I washed them and was actually surprised as to how clean they looked after a quick wipe and spray of water. I dried them and they look very decent. The key here being the drying part. :0)



Getting between the spokes and reaching the inside of the wheel and behind the spokes was kind of difficult, I left a lot of dirty spots. Are there any tools used for reaching the full depth of the wheel during the wash/dry? Any tips are appreciated.

 

[Accumulator]

I washed them and was actually surprised as to how clean they looked after a quick wipe and spray of water. I dried them and they look very decent. The key here being the drying part. :0)

Ah, sounds like things are going better

Getting between the spokes and reaching the inside of the wheel and behind the spokes was kind of difficult, I left a lot of dirty spots. Are there any tools used for reaching the full depth of the wheel during the wash/dry? Any tips are appreciated.

Most of the tools designed for that e.g., Griot's pn 15736) aren't soft enough for my taste. I generally reach back there with a tiny sheepskin mitt (Griot's pn 10209) or a big swab (Griot's pn 10241).



There are some "microfiber on a stick" tools made for this that others simply love, but I'd worry just a little about the MF retaining something gritty that might mar the finish. Guess that's no more of a concern than with the stuff I'm using, but I still wonder about it. Sorry, no idea where to find such tools, but I bet AutoGeek has them.

 

[Bis]

Ah, sounds like things are going better







Most of the tools designed for that e.g., Griot's pn 15736) aren't soft enough for my taste. I generally reach back there with a tiny sheepskin mitt (Griot's pn 10209) or a big swab (Griot's pn 10241).



There are some "microfiber on a stick" tools made for this that others simply love, but I'd worry just a little about the MF retaining something gritty that might mar the finish. Guess that's no more of a concern than with the stuff I'm using, but I still wonder about it. Sorry, no idea where to find such tools, but I bet AutoGeek has them.

I'll look into it on the website. Thank you.



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