Wheel well cleaning...

C

clarks2ndwind

New member
I'm new to detailing and have been bitten. Fun stuff! Been enjoying reading the posts and trying to learn what I can. I'm not sure how to correctly clean the wheel well and getting that lovely black background I see on finished care/trucks. Procedures/brush/product selections are appreciated. Thanks for your help.
 
For the plastic wheel wells, I rinse them down with a little simple green and brush.. When they dry I spray tire foam all over them and rub it in with a towel to make sure I have the whole thing covered... Looks really good!
 
clarks2ndwind said:
I'm new to detailing and have been bitten. Fun stuff! Been enjoying reading the posts and trying to learn what I can. I'm not sure how to correctly clean the wheel well and getting that lovely black background I see on finished care/trucks. Procedures/brush/product selections are appreciated. Thanks for your help.
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The best way is with a pressure washer but not completely necessary...get some good APC...for wells Simple Green, 409 or the likes of that...if they are real bad I use this 100%...as they get cleaner then a 4 to1 can do....

For brushes I use a long handle brush and a good quality toilet brush...wet the well with water and get out as much dirt as possible with the pressure of the hose...then spray in a liberal amount of APC and let sit there for a few minutes, the dwell time helps the product to break down the grease and road grime...

With a bucket of soapy water...either car soap or dish soap (I know I'm going to catch heck for that last one) use the brushes to break up the dirt, the toilet brush is nice you can get under and behind the shocks...rinse and let dry...then go back and see if you missed anything...the wells can be tricky, they can look great wet, once they dry you can see spots you missed...if necessary be prepared to use a hand brush and to get at certain areas...for my personal cars this is rare as I clean my regularly..to get that black look again some here like to paint, I find a good water based dressing to be adequate..PB B-n-B is one that would work well
 
Thanks for tips so far... Sad to say I live on a little dead end dirt road, so this is something I'll need to master for at least weekly cleaning. Luckily, they keep our road rather nice, so not a LOT of dust or mud.. and only 1/4 mile to our home (however our car does not go out in heavy rain/mud...) Will be back on tonight to read more!
 
if that is the case then I would get a pressure washer...you can get a electric one for about 100 to 125 that will keep them looking great and take thrid of the time...in your case I would be doing that
 
clarks2ndwind said:
Thanks for tips so far... Sad to say I live on a little dead end dirt road, so this is something I'll need to master for at least weekly cleaning. Luckily, they keep our road rather nice, so not a LOT of dust or mud.. and only 1/4 mile to our home (however our car does not go out in heavy rain/mud...) Will be back on tonight to read more!
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if that's the case, just clean them well with an APC or power washer and just leave them alone...some people will paint their wheel wells with either a matte or semi-gloss to give a nice look :cool:
 
BigJohnAZ said:
Be careful with Simple Green and aluminum surfaces.
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Careful is an understatement with SG...that stuff will stain polished, and clear coated aluminum like you have never seen...you can polish it out most of the time but its really not worth it.

When I use it I make sure that I have a lot of water on any area that I use it on...
 
Beemerboy said:
if that is the case then I would get a pressure washer...you can get a electric one for about 100 to 125 that will keep them looking great and take thrid of the time...in your case I would be doing that
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Poorboy said:
if that's the case, just clean them well with an APC or power washer and just leave them alone...some people will paint their wheel wells with either a matte or semi-gloss to give a nice look :cool:
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This is what I was thinking. A small electric pressure washer would do the job just fine. Be careful using Poorboy's APC though, it melts cleaning brushes like an acid and dulls the paint really bad. :lmfao

Just kidding of course. Poorboy's APC is perfect for safely cleaing wheel wells. (Sorry Steve, I couldn't resist.)
 
I like using Amazing Roll Off to clean the wheel wells and then I spray No Touch Tire Shine on the wells. I don't use the No Touch on the tires, just the wells.
 
Sounds like a winner! We already have a power washer Big sucker with a gas engine)my husband uses for our portch, is that the kind you are talking about? (If that is too much we have a well maintained car wash just down the road I can use just for the wheel wells.) I just will use my 409 VERY CAREFULLY and already have several meguires brushes a friend of mine got at his salvage store and I purchased. So I'll use them and if they dont work, swipe the toilet ones! Thanks a bunch! Going to post another questions to the forum for cleaning the engine.... Sure is a lot to this!!!
 
Beemerboy said:
With a bucket of soapy water...either car soap or dish soap (I know I'm going to catch heck for that last one)
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Personally, I don't see anything wrong with using dishsoap for wheel wells, but a spray-on APC is a lot easier.

If you're cleaning them for the first time, I'd suggest removing the wheels so you can do a thorough cleaning of the wheel well, exposed suspension parts and let's not forget the back of the wheel & tire.
 
Dear Lord! My husband I know would just DIE if he came home and wheels were off the car! Maybe I'll do it just for fun to see his reaction..... Get my dad to help. I have been wanting to get in behind those wheels!!! Good idea.... Rather, maybe I'll get him to do it and I'll clean the wheels. A little project we can do together!
 
I don't think living on a dirt road would be worth removing your wheels ...that would be very OCD :wow:
 
Poorboy said:
true, but I thought this thread is about wheel wells ;)
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blk45 said:
It is, but while your at it......:D
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Yeah, and the inside of the rim/tire is part of the wheel well...kinda-sorta by proximity anyway :D

BTW, just tell me you could pull your tires to clean the wells and then put those dirty, nasty wheels in your nice clean wells without cleaning them first :lmfao
 
clarks2ndwind said:
Sounds like a winner! We already have a power washer Big sucker with a gas engine)my husband uses for our portch, is that the kind you are talking about? (If that is too much we have a well maintained car wash just down the road I can use just for the wheel wells.) I just will use my 409 VERY CAREFULLY and already have several meguires brushes a friend of mine got at his salvage store and I purchased. So I'll use them and if they dont work, swipe the toilet ones! Thanks a bunch! Going to post another questions to the forum for cleaning the engine.... Sure is a lot to this!!!
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Just use the lowest setting on the PW....as Steve said I would not dress the wells, since you are going threw dirt the dust will stick to the wells making it look even worse.....get the wells as clean as possible then PW as needed
 
Mikeystang said:
For the plastic wheel wells, I rinse them down with a little simple green and brush.. When they dry I spray tire foam all over them and rub it in with a towel to make sure I have the whole thing covered... Looks really good!
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I do that and rinse with some high pressure, but to dress I use armor all mixed 1:1 and spray them down and they always look great. The diluted mixture makes it so less "trash" will stick inside them too.
 
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