Inside rim cleaning? Worth it?

MrHandWash

MrHandWash

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I am looking into aside from just buffing the rims, offering an interior rim cleaning option. I am not sure if this is too risky, and I haven't seen anything in regards to pricing, because it's not a comon practice.

Just buy a heavy duty jack, toss a towel under it to avoid any dings, take off tire. Clean inside rim/polish it, hand brush wheel wells, clean/polish caliper (if not flaking) put tire back on.

I know this would be a VERY tedious task, I've seen it done, but being a mobile detailer, would it be worth it? input please
 
Save yourself the time of taking the time off and get the daytona speed master...it can bend the get the entire caliper, and is long enough to get all around the wheel wells...check out mikes demonstration of it.
 
I think whether or not it is "worth it" will depend on what your time is worth to you. Most inner-wheels haven't even been touched, so there could be a bit of time in just the cleaning alone. That's not taking into consideration jacking up the car, removing the wheels and then putting them back on.

Also, you should probably invest in a torque wrench if you don't have one. You definitely don't want to under or over tighten someone's wheels when putting them back on.

Mark
 
I'm not a pro detailer but I don't think it would sell. Stick with some spray wheel cleaner and the Daytona wheel brush. I think, on your high end work it should be standard, just a perk.
 
There are a wide variety of way to raise a car and not all can be lifted the same way. Many have specific lift points and some use a spacer or "puck" to engage and lift without damaging anything...

You'll also need a torque wrench, torque spec's, non-marring sockets in both inch and metric.

Do your homework and you should be fine....
 
snowking724 said:
I'm not a pro detailer but I don't think it would sell. Stick with some spray wheel cleaner and the Daytona wheel brush. I think, on your high end work it should be standard, just a perk.
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Agreed...and if the wheels are heavily soiled use megs wheel brightener...it will melt all that old gunk away. just wear safety gloves
 
Yeah, I'd rather not get into having to buy a torque gun, wrench, large jack, etc...

I guess I'd have to test the product out on one of my cars and see the end results just to determine whether or not it'd be worth it.

I'm trying to add as many services as possible to ensure I could pull more clientel in. Actually from my current line up I'm already offering more than anyone else. I'm wanting to start out part time weekends here and there until I'm flooded with referrals and then switch over to full time.
 
IME there are very few people willing to pay for wheel removal, cleaning, polishing, and deep cleaning of suspension parts. Some will however; and most these people will want it done along with full paint correction, interior restoration and engine detailing.

I have done the full wheel removal detail only a handful of times in 5 years of business and each was for show preparation where no expense is too large for the customer and they want concours level detailing. DD customers seem to want only the basics and look only at the face of the rim.
 
Trust me...a great wheel cleaner and the daytona speed brush...it takes only a couple of minutes and ur done...Have customers requested that you clean deep inside the rims?
 
I had a similar question a few months back and a couple of products were recommended: Good selection of brushes (Daytona being on of them, wire wheel brushes), Stoner's "Tarminator", & Sonax "Wheel Cleaner Full Effect". Worked for me-
 
Where I'm working at now, it's not comon. Sometimes though on exotics people have requested it. Sometimes it's just an average Joe with chrome rims requesting this. I'd include it on my larger packages, just maybe throw it in as an option as well. I figured it couldn't hurt since 9/10 cars never get it done.

Just trying to economize where I can should the opportunity arise.
 
artofdetailing said:
Trust me...a great wheel cleaner and the daytona speed brush...it takes only a couple of minutes and ur done...Have customers requested that you clean deep inside the rims?
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That doesnt always work. I get tons of cars in that even WB wont touch. Plus when you are using such a soft and deliacate brush like the ez/daytona it wont remove that much.

If you've ever deep cleaned unfinished inner rims then you dont know how much of it hassle it really is. Finished inner rims are cake work.
 
I use a tough wire wheel brush first to get the bulk of the mess obviously...the daytona comes in handy to get all the places you cannot reach with regular brushes because it can bend but i see what you're saying
 
slightly off-topic: so this daytona brush replaced the older blue "e-z detail brush"? what's the difference aside from the color? i'm hoping they improved the tension in the center line of the brush?
 
builthatch said:
slightly off-topic: so this daytona brush replaced the older blue "e-z detail brush"? what's the difference aside from the color? i'm hoping they improved the tension in the center line of the brush?
Click to expand...

The original ez is market for the motorcycle industry and the daytona is for the automotive. The only real difference is color and the daytona is slightly softer and denser. They say the stem material is different but I remember a while back somebody did a test between the two weight, measurements, flexibility..etc and found they were identical besides the bristles.
 
I have done it once. It was on a Porsche. I took the wheels off and cleaned and sealed the intire rim. It took an extra 45 minutes to an hour total. I got all of the tar and rubber off of the inside of the rim. While I had the rim off I cleaned and sealed the red calipers. This is what the customer wanted and it really finished the car off nicely.
 
This is not a put down by my .02cents. and something all should think about. I wrench on cars at the shop I work at full time, and detail on the side. One thing I do know is there are 100's of different torque specs per year, make and model. Also we run into alot of cars having damage done to the lugnuts and/or the studs. and you will not know it tell the the lugnuts come off. And if one customer is not truly say a person really looking for a detail lets say "scammer" you could end up with a high end claim saying a wheel fell off. and by most tire places, Discount Tire, Walmart, Tire Barn, etc. a 50 mile re-torque is always recommended to ensure the lugnuts are tight, and the rim has seated to the hub. I hope no one takes this the wrong way. Because Im rocking steelies on my car right now, but when I get rims here soon, I will take them off when I do a deep detail on it. I just wanted to share a look into how much this means you need to do.
 
In my opinion, there is too much risk for the detailer to consider this.

My Porsche currently has a small ding in the rear quarter panel right on the door shut line. The local Paintless Dent Removal guy told me that he can fix the ding, but the wheel has to come off. And, I would have to take it off and accept the liability for potential damages because his insurance won't cover it.

Just something to think about...
 
Excellent points made regarding proper torque values, potential damage, etc. One other thing needs considering. Many cars require recalibrating of the Tire Pressure Monitoring System if a wheel is removed. My thoughts on this, unless your customer specifically requests such "deep cleaning" of the wheels and is willing to pay for this additional work, don't ask for trouble.
 
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