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I am using Hawk DTC's but even those have been a pain to clean off if the dust gets wet. The only thing I've found is it's easier to remove if I wax the wheels ahead of time (but that only applies if you're removing the dust immediately).
been using carbotechs. Haven't really cleaned my wheels for a few years (Other than a bit of rain maybe), until this past weekend. Had no issues removing the dust. This is with a mix of XP10 and XP8 compounds.
Consider Cobalt pads as well. They have a good reputation.
Cobalts are definately not as friendly dust wize to wheels as Carbotech.
I just never got the planates to align properly to get a consistant transfer layer or any kind or consistant modulation wenever I tried Carbotech. the brake torque to pedal pressure seemed like it was a moving target in every corner. got really tired of the inconsistancy and brake judder from uneven transfer layer developing.
Cobalts XR's are stiff, compleatly linear modulation, absolutly consistant friction charicteristics across a super wide range of temps, require no bedding whatsoever even if you put them on used rotors that used other pad compounds, never had brake judder issues develop. try to wash off the dust before it gets wet.
I've had amazing, life-changing, miraculous results with "Evaporust". It's a product that's meant to have a rusty part immersed in it, causing the rust to chemically react to the agent and just...go away. I don't know where it goes...Michigan? Wisconsin? The stuff works, and I've even brushed it on with pretty good results.
Normally scrubbing is not needed, so any damage to your wheels would be limited to that which has already been done. Here's a link at Harbor Freight:
I should have made a "before and after" sequence, but here is my pedal assembly bracket after I left it overnight in Evaporust. The stuff is only good for about a year and my bottle is older than that, so I had to use a little steel wool.
This bracket was completely covered in surface rust. The rust has a chemical reaction with the Evaporust which is stronger than the bond to metal, so it simply releases and changes molecular structure. Beware as I've left zinc-plated bolts in solution overnight, and the rust AND zinc plating are gone in the morning.
Even so, it's supposed to be bio-degradable as well so Mother Gaia will smile on your car restoration efforts.
The funny thing is, I never noticed anything with the wheels until I accidentally used MAG wheel cleaner when washing the car, not sure how that would interoperate into this.
Don't get me wrong, the heavy duty stuff is amazing. Just need to a wheel cleaning season of repeatedly spray/agitate(maybe more elbow grease)/rinse.
I think I've done this thing 3-4 times and that emptied the bottle/broke sprayer on my last 2 wheels so I had rub it on.
so I cleaned my wheels and new tires this past weekend.
I used the remaining Sonax I had and some new Griots HD. I also had to clean up the remnants of what might have been a torn CV boot. Basically the inside barrel of one wheel had a 1/8 to 1/4 inch grease layer on it.
No wheel cleaner removes that ****.
But GOOF OFF or GOO GONE does! I made a huge mess first. Oops.
The wheels aren't perfect so they only got a 90% job. The tires were brand new so I scrubbed the bejeezus out of them and applied some Tuf Shine.
Here is the result:
Tuf Shine is the awesome sauce of tire coatings. They are totally dry in the picture. You could sit on them in your wife's wedding dress and remain married. They will keep that appearance for many months. Simply clean and recoat after that.
The initial cleaning is the pain though. It takes 3-4 hard scrubbings with a stiff brush and the Tuf Shine cleaner. Even on brand new tires.
Does anyone have any updates on what they found to work well?
I bought these advantis used and really want to try to clean them up. I'm not opposed to rattle canning them once they're cleaned if the paint is affected in any way, though I'd like to avoid it if possible. I'd rather take care of it before putting them on the car.
I sprayed some random wheel cleaner on them and scrubbed with a rough side of a kitchen sponge, but no dice. I may try dish soap next, but I doubt that's going to do anything!
Both have been spray on, rinse off awesomesauce for me and my Carbotech then Hawk DTC, now G-Loc pads. Those are all CarbonKevlar based and pretty easy-going as far as wheel finishes are concerned.