Wheels off detail: step by step

RangerDetails said:
Great step by step.

One question. Where did you get your Meguiars APC and super degreaser?
I cant find any on Eshine.
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I bought them off Autogeek/Autopia and drove down to upstate New York to pick them up.

My next order I could pick some up for you and even deliver it to you. Ive been wanting to go to Ottawa with my wife to have Red Lobster or something we dont have in Montreal...
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
Wonderful step by step explanation of your wheel cleaning and protecting process. Does your wife know you stole the detailing seat out of your house? Lol. Im still sitting on a bucket with a padded lid. One day Im going to treat myself to one of those fancy padded spinning stools with the space for supplies.
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Thank you :)

You know I totally forgot I have one of those stools (a square padded one with wheels and a tray below the seat). I just grabbed whatever was in sight and got to work. The megs bottles are too tall to fit under the mechanics stool, but its great for holding lug nuts and sockets.

I guess Im pretty lucky, my wife doesnt mind as long as I put everything away. I even had a few living room lamps outside to provide lighting while I finished the front two wheel wells. The one thing she really hates is that I keep my wheels/tires inside the house while their not on the car (theres always a set inside). She was also going crazy with all the tires I had in the back yard (two extra sets). I recently sold my 4 OEM run flats for $600 and felt it was a good deal for tires that were starting to dry rot in the backyard but she was pissed because they cost $900 each new (I hate run flats the ride is terrible so is the traction).

Some I win some I lose, but Im always happy detailing!
 
Accumulator said:
4u2nvinmtl-= Great write-up, and (no surprise) nice work keeping up your SRT in the places that can easily get overlooked.

One tweak if I may- I wedge a wheel-chock in front of a wheel at the opposite end of the vehicle to prevent (hopefully minimal) rolling when I jack it up.

EDIT: another tweak if you dont mind the expense- a speed-wrench is a lot quicker and easier than a regular ratchet. An impact would be even moreso, but eh...not on my vehicles, thank you.

How to treat the matte/satin/flat black bits in areas like this could be a whole article in itself!


Same here, along with the undercarriage. And the fuel-filler pocket. And the backside of the wiper arms. And..
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Thanks for the compliment it means a lot Ill try not to let it go to my head, lol.

Youre totally right I forgot to chock my wheels before lifting! I always double check my wheels are chock before going under but I guess thats how it slipped my mind (I wasnt going underneath).

I find the lug nuts come off quickly enough. I typically spin the socket with my hand once the lug is broken loose and the tire is off the ground. The most time-consuming part was waiting for Iron-X, APC, and Degreasers to dwell and carrying the bloody wheels up and down stairs inside my home (my wife didnt want me to roll them on the carpet, I guess thats the cost of storing them inside).

Yes, I dont know if 476s was the best choice for the "matte/satin/flat black bits" but after seeing how well it held up over the winter and reading that it doesnt stain trim I figured Id give it a try (better than a dressing). I should have used the CarPro Dlux Ive had sitting unopened on the shelf but Im still not fully comfortable applying a coating and Id probably want the surface even cleaner than I managed to achieve for a good bond. It was also right on the border of being too cold to apply a coating at 49-50f ambient temperatures and falling.
 
4u2nvinmtl said:
I bought them off Autogeek/Autopia and drove down to upstate New York to pick them up.

My next order I could pick some up for you and even deliver it to you. Ive been wanting to go to Ottawa with my wife to have Red Lobster or something we dont have in Montreal...
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Wow that would be very generous of you. I would pay you for your troubles of course. But you just made me realize that Im not too far from the USA myself so I guess it would not be that bad for me to do a little trip once in a while to pick up some stuff across the border. Where do you get your stuff delivered in upstate New York?
 
thanks for the writeup--what rotors are those on the front? I dont believe cross drilled were stock on the brembos
 
RangerDetails said:
Wow that would be very generous of you. I would pay you for your troubles of course. But you just made me realize that Im not too far from the USA myself so I guess it would not be that bad for me to do a little trip once in a while to pick up some stuff across the border. Where do you get your stuff delivered in upstate New York?
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Took this to PM.

To the Autopia Admins, I have no intent to sell products just help a fellow detailer. I hope rules/lines werent crossed.
 
512detail said:
thanks for the writeup--what rotors are those on the front? I dont believe cross drilled were stock on the brembos
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They are aftermarket rotors a got from R1 Concepts (SRT8 forums have great discounts with R1). I changed them a few weeks after buying my Jeep SRT8. I couldnt take the factory setup, sounded like a freight train coming to a stop. The dealership was useless and just kept greasing the shims behind the pads in the calipers and using a lot of brake cleaner.

I also changed out the Brembo pads for StopTech Street Performance pads (not as much initial bite but less fade under crazy load/speed). If I slam on the breaks I can lock up all 4 wheels at highway speeds but only on my winter tires, on the summer Nitto NT05 tires, the tires out grip the breaks (I prefer it that way so when theres an emergency it stops on a dime without any tire slip / ABS). Before with the Brembo pads the initial bite (in an emergency situation) was too harsh and caused the tires to lose traction until the ABS kicks in (longer stopping distance despite more aggressive breaking).

I put it to the test using the built in "Evic" and did multiple stops from 100MPH to 0MPH to validate my findings. IMHO my test isnt very accurate as the tires grip changes with the road conditions, temp, ect. (same for the Pads and Rotors) but it just felt better and smoother when breaking (IMHO, YMMV) with the R1 rotors and Stoptech pads (Brembo pads and rotors responsive but not smooth or quite).

Also upgraded the brake fluid to higher temp fluid, Ill I need is braided stainless brake lines (for now).
 
Great work with a great write-up.

I have a few other things I need to do once I pull them off though. ^_^
 
4u2nvinmtl said:
.. Ill I need is braided stainless brake lines (for now).
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Big fan of those, even have them on my old Tahoe!

.. I dont know if 476s was the best choice for the "matte/satin/flat black bits" but after seeing how well it held up over the winter and reading that it doesnt stain trim I figured Id give it a try (better than a dressing).
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Well, it wouldnt have been my choice but different black trim is different and YMMV *really* applies.

And yeah, I only use a dressing-approach when the finish is *REALLY* compromised, only use it on certain Tahoe bits these days. (When I have to use an Exterior Trim Dressing I use Autoglym Bumper Care, which is a thick gel quite unlike the typical dressing.)

Oh, and not surprised that you generally chock the wheels :D Did want to mention it though just in case somebody uses this thread as a DIY manual.
 
4u2nvinmtl said:
They are aftermarket rotors a got from R1 Concepts (SRT8 forums have great discounts with R1). I changed them a few weeks after buying my Jeep SRT8. I couldnt take the factory setup, sounded like a freight train coming to a stop. The dealership was useless and just kept greasing the shims behind the pads in the calipers and using a lot of brake cleaner. [shortened quote]
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I have 74k on my STOCK bembo slotted rotors. only my 2nd set of pads..replaced them at 45k front and 60k rear (went with Hawk HPS pads)- I had more noise from the brakes when they were low miles than I do now. its weird.. my car is auto so I downshift as opposed to breaking in most cases. I figure Id rather nickel and dime gas than drop 1k brakes sooner than I need to.
oh also had the fronts shaved at the 45k mark (not sure if I was supposed to but I did).

this lack of wear seems quite odd to me as I drive my car very aggressively
 
But to your OP...I definitely need to follow these steps for my wheel off detail on my SRT- hopefully I can get to that this summer
 
2 Week Update:

Wheels and wheel wells are looking great!
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Can you guess the dressing? Photo taken after doing more than 30 passes at the 1/4-mile drag strip (today) and driving 100miles+ round trip
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