Cleaning the inside of the wheel?

KS_Detailing

KS_Detailing

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When I would detail everyday drivers cars, we would sometimes clean the inside hub of the wheel if possible. But most the times it was very difficult. Either the spokes didn't allow us to get out hands or brush in or the brake rotors/ calipers were big and would cut our hands up. Either way it was almost impossible to clean the entire inside of the wheel. If it were a garage queen like an Aston Martin or Porsche which had large 5 spokes, the brake dust cleaned off right away. Without taking off the wheel are you guys cleaning the inside of the wheels? I would think the only way to really clean the inside would be to take the wheels off which I'm not going to do. Or am I missing a different technique to cleaning?
 
04Golf said:
Without taking off the wheel are you guys cleaning the inside of the wheels?
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I rarely get that AR about the wheels if the car is a daily driver and the reason why is because the next time it rains everything is going to get all dirty and wet again with road film.

A good practice is to use a brush like the Daytona Speedmaster and clean the wheel as best as you can each time you clean your wheels and then move on. With a brush like this you can clean all the "visible" areas of the wheel and that's by definition, the only parts you and other people are going to see anyway.


Daytona Speed Master Wheel Brush




04Golf said:
I would think the only way to really clean the inside would be to take the wheels off which I'm not going to do.

Or am I missing a different technique to cleaning?
Click to expand...

The way to really do a GREAT job of cleaning the backs of your car's wheels and tires is to remove them like I did here,

How to Clean & Coat the INSIDE of your car's wheels



Detailers_Wheel_Coating_006.jpg



Detailers_Wheel_Coating_044.jpg





That's also a lot of work and you have to know how to re-torque your wheels down without warping your brake rotors and maintaining a safe vehicle. You also need the right floor jack and safety jacks to be avoid risk to yourself or others.


Besides removing the wheels and tires you can try lift the car as though you were going to remove them using a floor jack and some safety stands and then you can rotate them and get around to the back side a lot easier. Kind of like you see here in my article on cleaning fenderwells.

How to clean fender wells the lazy way!



A reliable hydraulic floor jack and at least two quality jack stands for safety reasons...

How_To_Clean_Fenderwells_003.jpg



Lift the car
Choose either the front or rear of the car to start with and lift the car as high as the body will go without raising the tires off the ground and then place the jack stands at approved points where they are able to support the weight of the car and then carefully lower the jack so that the weight of the car is predominantly on the jackstands.

Jacked-Up.jpg



Theoretically, once you have the car lifted and supported on safety jacks you can crawl under the car and now you can better reach the back of the wheels and tires.




:)
 
Don't know why, but I'm anal about wheel wells and rotor hats. I use several tools to get every square inch: Wheel Woolies, both Daytona Brushes, Boars Hair Wheel Brush, and WW "Paint" Brush. It makes a difference on sport cars with open wheels.

You can do it, you just need to spend the time and get the right tools.
 
Anyone have issues with the Daytona scratching clear coated wheels?
I'm kind of torn between woolies and the Daytona.
Thoughts?
 
Rick72 said:
Anyone have issues with the Daytona scratching clear coated wheels?
I'm kind of torn between woolies and the Daytona.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

No issues... I use both EZ Detail Brush (same as Daytona) and wheel woolies. Both are great products that I could not live without.
 
zmcgovern45 said:
No issues... I use both EZ Detail Brush (same as Daytona) and wheel woolies. Both are great products that I could not live without.
Click to expand...

I have both as well and let me say that if they are bad start with the brushes. I have learned that a well maintained wheel and the wheel woolies go great together and even some that are some what bad but if the wheel wells are caked with road grime, brake dust, tar, and whatever else may find its way in there then your much better off starting with the brushes.

You will need a good wheel cleaner and iron x as well to really help get the nasty stuff off.
 
Another Daytona fan here too. I do pull my wheels every so often and clean them.

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Used the wheel woollies today for the 1st time. A major game changer ! Love them !
 
after a long day of detailing my DD (2008 grand caravan), i couldn't believe this tread...for the first time, i took off each individual wheel today and cleaned the inside of them, and completely got the inside wheel wells. I thought it was crazy...then i see this thread...makes me feel 'normal'...hahahahaha
 
Not sure how practical it is for a business to pull wheels and thoroughly clean the backs and the wheel wells. This could possibly be an add-on service. When I rotate the tires on my personal vehicles I clean and seal the wheels and also detail the wheel wells.
 
Yep, Daytona brushes (both sizes) along with the Woolie trio are a MUST once you've tried them. :props: Add to that either the boars hair lug nut brush or the T-handle foam lug nut cleaner (my favorite) along with your typical tire brush, a pair of wheel well brushes (long and short handle) and that's about it.

I always start with the wheels (driveway dry so I can sit down) a spray bottle of Megs APC+ @ 4:1, another of Megs NON-Acid wheel cleaner, maybe one of Megs regular wheel cleaner, a dedicated 5 gallon wheel bucket (with it's own grit guard) and about 10~12 minutes per wheel to get the job done.

Do NOT FORGET THE EYE PROTECTION when dealing with Daytona Brushes! :eek:

As much as I love using them, I literally hate how bad they splatter. Hate it, hate it, hate it!

But yeah.... I use no less than 5 brushes on any wheel (wheel well) I touch. Did the wife's Denali wheels Sunday with 2 Daytona's, 1 Woolie, 1 Tire brush and 1 long handle brush. My G wheels use 2 Daytona's, 2 Woolies, 1 Tire brush, 1 T-Handle lug nut cleaner, 1 long handle brush. And I've used 8 or more on some wheels! :rolleyes:

OTOH, I love it when a customer looks at their wheels and asks me if I took them off the car to clean them. (Not because they are dirty, but because they're so clean.) :D Then asks me how I managed to get them off without the mag locks, like I have a master key. For REAL... I've had them ask me if I have a set of master mag lock keys! :laughing:
 
I use a Daytona brush for regular washes and pull my wheels every few months for a more thorough cleaning and sealing. Sonax Full Effect wheel cleaner and then Poor Boys Wheel Sealant. The brush hasn't harmed my wheels.

I like the magic eraser idea!



Anti chrome
 
Love the wheel woolies and Daytona brush, makes life of detailing much nicer:)
 
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