Cleaning Wheels
 

Apologies for the cross post, but the wheel and tire thread has been a bit dead lately outside of the RS4 thread.

In reference to this thread: https://www.miataturbo.net/wheels-ti...t-77612/page2/

I was wondering if any of the posters in that thread or anyone else had comments on what they found to work well. Here's my post from that thread.

And no Aidan, I don't want to use aircraft stripper!
:rofl:

here in Iceland we have a product that just directly translates as wheel acid (I have no idea what the english word is . you dilute it with water and it cleans off the most stubborn dirt.


No wheel cleaner I had tried had managed to even touch this dirt after winter
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c59bbd2fd6.jpg


And after 3-4minutes of scrubbing

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2e6724df43.jpg

Sorry I don't have the proper word for it but it might steer you in the right direction. It also just smells really caustic, it stings your nose if you smell it.

I thought I read about somebody using oven cleaner one time, but I think that's pretty potent stuff. I haven't tried it. Relevant to my interests cause I want to clean up my stock wheels and rattle can them. Thought about trying this but I imagine it will destroy any existing finish.

This stuff works wonders on every wheel I have tried it on. Try not to breath it...

The basic Meguiars wheel spray that is at every automotive store has always been great for me. It cleans off the tires too. I bring the wheel into my house, put it over my sink, spray that stuff on and let it soak. Then I use my sink sprayer and a rag and everything basically wipes clean.

Second/thirding the Meguiar's wheel spray. Make sure its the deadly acid stuff. But be careful, it can ruin paint. I'd test it out on the back of the wheel first.

Alright, I ordered the stuff recommended on the other thread (surf city code red). I'll try the Meguiars spray if that doesn't work.

At this point, I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the pad material has somehow bonded (electroplated?) itself onto the aluminum. I sprayed stuff on the wheels the other day and I see small patches of rust. I'm pretty certain that the finish of the wheels is fubared and can't really be salvaged at this point. I'm okay with the idea of spraying Krylon Rust Tough Enamel on it. I've had decent luck with the stuff. We'll see how it plays out.

Try to use the weakest product that will still get the results you want. Unless you dont care about the finish, since you are thinking about repainting.

There are many concentrated wheel products, and most will damage parts of the surface material if not diluted.

Also, depending on how long that brake dust has been on the rims, and the conditions, but there might be permanent damage.

Sounds like you may just need to strip the paint, prep and paint properly.

Yeah. It didn't really budge. I took a metal ruler to a part of it to try to scrape it off and when it came off it was pretty jankety underneath it. The wheels/tires were still a good deal even if I have to use some elbow grease and spray paint. I'm not going to put them on for a bit, so this can wait. I might try a few things to clean them if the weather is decent just to see what works so I can knock it out when I have time for it.

Powder coating guys usually have the equipment to soda/walnut blast, which won't fubar the surface like sandblasting does. They could probably clean up those wheels down to bare metal for fairly cheap.

Remove tires from wheel. Send all other inhabitants of your apartment away. Put wheel (face down) in dishwasher with regular dishwasher detergent. Run dishwasher on the most severe cycle it offers. Repeat for all wheels. Then run dishwasher empty with regular dishwasher detergent.
Use plastic silverware and paper plates in future, so you don't have to contaminate your partswasher with food.

How did your wife react when she found out that you did that!? Or does she not know yet!

Once you've gotten them clean, use some of this so it's not as hard next time:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bbd61c5b57.jpg

Got it.

The previous owner tracked the car and put 'er away 'wet' so to speak. I'll pay more attention to the things, but I think I'll be fine with the rattle can life. Should be pretty easy to touch up in the future if there's need to do so.

I wonder if Iron-X would touch any of that stuff.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3d94bc9b6e.png


This stuff has the same basic features as IRON-X... it converts iron into red ooze. Make sure it's the Heavy Duty and not their other stuff. It's available at amazon and other places.

Also get a big ol pokey wheel brush Like this:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...69cfb5ccc7.png


Spray the stuff on, wait a minute or two, agitate with the brush (oh you just ruined your favorite white tshirt. oops!), rinse off, DONE.

I sprayed two rounds of the surf city stuff while scrubbing it and it helped a bit, but there's a TON of stuff caked on. I feel like I'm going to use the entire bottle doing this and still not get rid of all of it haha.

I just picked up a set of used C3M in flat black off Craigslist the other day. They looked exactly like the OP wheels. They had what seemed like baked on brake dust. I searched for how to remove baked on brake dust and wasnt optomistic from what i was reading. The stuff on the rims was so tough I couldnt scratch it off with my finger nail and even tried some sandpaper in a hidden spot with no luck. I actually thought I would need to respray them. I had a bottle of Purple Power degreaser on my shelf so I figured I would give it a shot. I soaked them down and let them sit for a few minutes and aggitated with a stiff plastic brisltle brush. After about three rounds of soak and aggitation I hit them with my power washer and the Holy *€%* the stuff came right off. I didnt take a picture but stuff came off completely

I do have purple power, but no power washer. I think I'll try that and a hose next when it gets warm out again.