Suggestions Requested For Really Bad Brake Dust Residue

[Accumulator]

With the price of refinished rims being (generally) so reasonable, I`d still look into the cost of a new set. And I`d ask about how they were refinished.

Some replacements are pricey, but others are surprisingly cheap. How many hours of your time is whatever-$ worth?

 

[techdude99]

The Brown Royal arrived today. I did a quick clean with the wheels by spraying it on dry, letting it sit for 5 minutes, agitating with a Magic Eraser, and rinsing off with the pressure washer gentle nozzle. This is the result on the toughest wheel.

I`m happy with the initial result. Another application may be necessary and then I`ll need to decide on a good wax or sealer.

The Flash Brown Royal didn`t have any noxious fumes, which was nice.

I`ll try the barrels when I have time (hopefully by next weekend) to remove the wheels.

 

[Bill D]

That’s looking not half bad. I was impressed with Brown Royal after seeing a video of it tackle the barrel of a very dirty wheel. Hopefully you will see the same result. Keep us posted.

 

[MattPersman]

Told you it was worth trying... Looks like it got most of it on the first pass ! Nice work

Probably the best wheel cleaner I have seen


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Setec Astronomy]

With the price of refinished rims being (generally) so reasonable, I`d still look into the cost of a new set. And I`d ask about how they were refinished. Some replacements are pricey, but others are surprisingly cheap. How many hours of your time is whatever-$ worth?

Yeah, I dunno...I cracked a wheel in a pothole, and let my tire guy get me a replacement...it was terrible, I had to have it refinished when I got the rest of them done. None of the 3 sets I`ve had done was I really happy with...and those were all done for me, personally delivered and picked up, as opposed to trade in refinish for a nameless future online customer.

The Brown Royal arrived today. I did a quick clean with the wheels by spraying it on dry, letting it sit for 5 minutes, agitating with a Magic Eraser, and rinsing off with the pressure washer gentle nozzle. This is the result on the toughest wheel. I`m happy with the initial result. Another application may be necessary and then I`ll need to decide on a good wax or sealer. The Flash Brown Royal didn`t have any noxious fumes, which was nice.

Came out pretty good, hopefully good enough for you. I had wheels similar to that, but I couldn`t live with the barrels being unfinished, of course I never used Brown Royal on them...

 

[Accumulator]

Setec Astronomy- It can indeed be a crapshoot, especially when dealing with an unfamiliar source. I`ve sent back plenty of wheels but always got the vendor to eat the return shipping.

The last ones I got were from a site called something like Wheels Tires and More do-com and they were OK.

On vehicles that matter I always hope I can get NOS ones, and usually do, but I couldn`t do that for the `93 Audi`s BBS`s. They came out OK...the second time around. Well, the four I use in nice weather are OK by my standards, the others are OK for winter.

Kinda surprised you took the unacceptable wheel from the tire place; I gather there was a degree of urgency.

And I couldn`t stand the barrels being unfinished either, nor the backsides of the spokes. Besides how it`d look they`d be harder to clean.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Kinda surprised you took the unacceptable wheel from the tire place; I gather there was a degree of urgency.

It was a GM high-polish clear wheel. The rest of the wheels weren`t that great at the time, this one looked about the same on the back, better on the front, but after a while I realized they hadn`t stripped it and had just painted over the factory paint, when the clear started peeling and there was more clear under it.

 

[wristymanchego]

This is a 2004 TSX with OEM Aluminum wheels. The caked on reside from the OEM & Hawk DTC-30 metallic pads over the last few years (it was a dual purpose DD & HPDE car) looks bad. FYI- It`s a Southern car with one Pittsburgh winter.

After searching the forum, I took the wheels off and performed a thorough cleaning with Meguiars Ultimate soap, let them dry, and went three rounds with Sonax and a microfiber sponge. The surface is looking a lot better but the barrels are awful.

Are the surfaces too far gone to clean without stripping and refinishing?

If not, I`d appreciate recommendations on nursing them back to health (as much as possible) without destroying the finish.

Unfortunately, I put the wheels back on before taking pics, but you should be able to see the problem areas.

Thanks!

BH auto wheel or korrosol, worth the import, or your best fallout remover. Clean well then finish with a diluted acid based cleaner to brighten the alloy.

Be aware that although you can clean the wheels, the clear has pitted which means there is no ‘protection’ on that portion of the wheel and it will get dirty again rather quickly.

At this point you can either settle for sub par cleanliness or continue to use an acid based cleaner, knowing that you’ll have to clean more often and eventually refurbish the wheels as the acid accelerates the pitting.