Brake dust baked into wheel finish

Dave Medvic

Dave Medvic

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Looking for suggestions, I use Wolfgang Uber Wheel cleaner and follow it with a 1/10 mixture of APC on the tougher jobs. Had a customer today that had brake dust,dirt,etc. in his rims, I had to go to 0000 Steel wool with a strong soap for lubricant , but still wound up lightly scratching the surface in spots. Anyone have something short of an acid based product that they use?Feed back please
 
I use Sonax all the time on wheels like this and works great. Can you post pictures of the rims? I'm not a fan of any kind of acid ever.
 
I don't have pics, it would look like the common problem you see on wheels that don't get any true maintenance.Kind of a " burnt" look in the corners of each spoke around the rim. I'd be willing to give Sonax a try if it's good on the problem work.
 
My old Lincoln had nice rims, but the corners of each spoke had a little brown spot. Removed the brake dust, but the stain always remained. Looked like rust to me, but aluminum doesn't rust. I could never get it out. :(
 
Does clay on wheels help for stubborn brake dust?
 
The only time acid should be used is when there is an oil leak or a last case resort.

IronX Paste will dissolve all baked on brake dust.
 
Dave Medvic said:
Thanks, I'll take a look at IronX paste.
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IronX paste smells worse than death, (ammonium bisulphate) but it does a great job. Sometimes you have to do 2-3 treatments for really stubborn stuff but it's the best for not scratching
 
Are cases like this why you guys that do this for hire get insurance? Since you scratched the wheels in the process, what if the owner insisted you pay to get his wheels refinished? How would you guys handle a case like that? Would your insurance cover that?
 
I think, if the wheels were that bad, the owner world not notice little scratches left from cleaning. Shows that it's been left for a while. If they ##### and moan I'd write it off.

Sent from my Dell Streak using AG Online
 
I had this happen with an 04 M3 19' wheels, never been washed in the wells. I used Sonax, Maguire's wheel cleaner, all purpose cleaner without much help.
 
SR99 said:
Are cases like this why you guys that do this for hire get insurance? Since you scratched the wheels in the process, what if the owner insisted you pay to get his wheels refinished? How would you guys handle a case like that? Would your insurance cover that?
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Well I have never ran into that situation. Rims specifically have a CC on them, so you can always polish them out, or repair them with touch up paint (any paint shop can mix you up a match). If a guy wanted an entire new rim over a scratch; something that is so easy to repair, its obvious he is trying to swindle you. For example, I had a client who wanted his 6 year old clear bra polished out like the paint. I know from first hand, these things only last 2 years... bringing a polisher to it would make it worse, meaning I would have to replace it if I made it worse (only if he wanted to). I didn't think he was trying to swindle me or anything, so I kindly explained to him the problem, put 5 coats of blacklight on it, and he was delighted.

For insurance purposes, I have a big SLR camera and before I even touch the car, I fully document every inch. This is important because it gives you solid proof you didn't break anything. Now in the event something breaks, I can only say man up and take responsibility. Be honest with the owner and make sure he is satisfied. Once you try and hide something or claim you didn't do it when you did is when you loose respect and reputation.


GenesisCoupe said:
I had this happen with an 04 M3 19' wheels, never been washed in the wells. I used Sonax, Maguire's wheel cleaner, all purpose cleaner without much help.
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If push comes to shove, PB Spray and Rinse wheel cleaner can do a decent job. Be careful because there is acid in it and if left on too long, you WILL see smoke.
 
Andr3wilson said:
Rims specifically have a CC on them, so you can always polish them out, or repair them with touch up paint (any paint shop can mix you up a match).
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True enough, but 4-aught steel wool is roughly equivalent to 400-600 grit sand paper, so the OP might need to run a progression of higher grits to get it to where a polish can affect them.

Taking photos upfront seems like a great practice.
 
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