Not even Wheel Brightener could get it off!

D

Dane Guy

New member
In a previous thread I posted about some really bad BMW wheels with spokes I had to clean. They hadn't been cleaned in years. Baked on brake dust and tar and who knows what.



I knew I was in for a chore so I picked up to Meg's Wheel Brightener figuring that stuff can take off anything. I put it on the wheels and the brake dust practically jumped off the wheels. :bigups



However, I was left with a gazillion specks of what was probably tar. The Wheel Brightener didn't touch it. I tried some crappy tar remover I had laying around and that didn't do anything either. What I ended up doing is sticking a wooden spoon inside a towel and basically scraping the stuff off. It took me 2 hours to do 2 wheels and it was exhausting. My arm still hurts! I still didn't get it all off but most of the specks are gone.



So, now I have to do 2 more wheels and I'd like to save my arm some pain. :) Should I try to hit it with something like Tarminator? Is that better than Wheel Brightener? Any others I should consider? I've never encountered wheels this bad.



Thanks for any help!
 
Dane Guy said:
Should I try to hit it with something like Tarminator? Is that better than Wheel Brightener? Any others I should consider? I've never encountered wheels this bad.



Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...



Got pics?



What I've done with Tarminator for SEVERE tar is:



Spray, soak for 2 minutes wipe.

Repeat

Repeat

Repeat



You just can't get it all on the first pass.



Tar is a very tough opponent! :cry:
 
Get a credit card, preferrably your wife's, and gently scrape the bits off with the edge.

A plastic razor blade will work if the wife is out shopping.

-John C.
 
JohnZ3MC said:
Get a credit card, preferrably your wife's, and gently scrape the bits off with the edge.

A plastic razor blade will work if the wife is out shopping.

-John C.
Click to expand...



Sheesh, and here I am bending back my thumbnail while my plastic razorblade sits in the toolbox drawer :doh . Thanks for reminding me!
 
JohnZ3MC said:
Get a credit card, preferrably your wife's, and gently scrape the bits off with the edge.

A plastic razor blade will work if the wife is out shopping.

-John C.
Click to expand...



HAHAHAHA! :p



I'm not sure it will work but I will definitely give it a try. This stuff is really on there!
 
Setec, glad to help.



Dane Guy. If the sticky bits are raised, even a little bit, the credit card/plastic razor blade will work. Maybe spritz with a little QD/ONR as a friction reducer / lube while scraping gently, gently, gently.



-John C.
 
Thanks. I'll see if I can put some pics up tonight.

I probably won't be able to work on them again until the weekend though. I hate waiting!



EDIT. I may not be able to get in between the spokes that way. . . .



These are the type of wheels:



 
It's probably (from your discription) brake slag... When to much brake dust builds up it will actaully weld itself to the wheel (pending on material of rim) when it heats up. It's evident in severally neglected wheels and scraping it off is really the only way to do it. There's not a product out there powerful enough to tackle slag that won't just eat through the rim.
 
Ok, here's a couple pics.



Before:







Here's after Wheel Brightener, Tar remover and an hour of serious scraping (wooden spoon in towel).







My arm still hurts! I'll try to scrape the other two wheels off with a credit card this weekend. Will a good tar remover help at all?



Thanks!
 
PedroDaGr8 said:
Wha Hydrofluoric acid???? Is this a joke or is it commonly used?
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The most effective wheel cleaners are HF or ABF (a similar compound) based. I personally don't use them nor advocate their use, but they are the most effective on brake dust.
 
Yep, as far as brake dust is concerned WB kicks a$$. I won't use it regularly but it's good to have just in case.



The stuff is dangerous. I had to turn away several times because breathing the fumes made me cough.
 
Just thinking out loud here....if that's slag, as Jakerooni suggested, then it's baked on due to high heat. I wonder if steam would soften it up enough for easy removal. My Shark steamer had an attachment that would give pinpoint steam that removed baked on crud from the burner rings on my stove.
 
I use wheel acid daily and in my entire detailing career, I've never damaged a wheel. Brake dust or slag never gives me a hard time. One of the products my supplier sells is called "Wire Wheel" and it's simply incredible. I'm surprised more of you don't use wheel acid.
 
Rhino said:
I use wheel acid daily and in my entire detailing career, I've never damaged a wheel. Brake dust or slag never gives me a hard time. One of the products my supplier sells is called "Wire Wheel" and it's simply incredible. I'm surprised more of you don't use wheel acid.
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Because true top level detailing at a professional level always hold true to using the least aggresive methods first. 100% of hack shops use nothing but wheel acid like you mention. Very very few true professional detail shops use harmful acid like this. I agree to keep some on hand for those issues where it's absoultly nessecary. 9 times out of 10 though the harmful acid really isn't even nessecary to get the wheels nice and bright and perfectly clean. (that and you put the acid on unprotected rims like polished aluminum your going to really screw up the rims)
 
Jeez, we won't even touch HF in the lab. It's just TOO nasty. Nothing like having something that eats the bones from under your skin (many fluorine chemists are missing fingers or hands because of HF). Nasty nasty stuff. I'd love to know the concentration you guys are using.
 
Rhino said:
I use wheel acid daily and in my entire detailing career, I've never damaged a wheel. Brake dust or slag never gives me a hard time. One of the products my supplier sells is called "Wire Wheel" and it's simply incredible. I'm surprised more of you don't use wheel acid.
Click to expand...



PedroDaGr8 said:
Jeez, we won't even touch HF in the lab. It's just TOO nasty. Nothing like having something that eats the bones from under your skin (many fluorine chemists are missing fingers or hands because of HF). Nasty nasty stuff. I'd love to know the concentration you guys are using.
Click to expand...



Well, there you go. You guys can make up your own minds. :nixweiss
 
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