techniques for deep cleaning inner wheel barrels

builthatch

builthatch

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what do you guys use to remove built up tar, wheel weight adhesive residue, etc?

on newer cars, an initial detail and seal, and regular upkeep with an ez detail/daytona brush does the trick, but what about cars that haven't seen any inner barrel upkeep? take the wheels off, and use what?

let p21s gel dwell for a long time and use a magic eraser? soak with tarminator? goo gone!?

in for advice and opinions.
 
Megs Wheel Brightener and a stiff spoke brush. That will remove most of the nasty stuff, then to finish you can use a rubbing compound on a terry applicator to abrade the rest of the stuff off. After finishing, lay down a coat of wheel sealant to keep it clean longer.
 
builthatch said:
what do you guys use to remove built up tar, wheel weight adhesive residue, etc?

on newer cars, an initial detail and seal, and regular upkeep with an ez detail/daytona brush does the trick, but what about cars that haven't seen any inner barrel upkeep? take the wheels off, and use what?

let p21s gel dwell for a long time and use a magic eraser? soak with tarminator? goo gone!?

in for advice and opinions.
Click to expand...
Pulling the wheels will be better and easier to clean.
 
Rsurfer said:
Pulling the wheels will be better and easier to clean.
Click to expand...

builthatch said:
take the wheels off, and use what?
Click to expand...

come on mayne, haha :xyxthumbs:



so jon, something acidic, eh? i'm somewhat leary of using anything like that now. on totally factory painted wheels, i'm not that worried, but you just never know if there has been a wheel repair, or of course if the wheel is aftermarket.

do you think sonax or p21s but allowed time to dwell and then agitated would do the same job but just take a little longer?

when i get a new vehicle (personally) or do an exotic for someone, i pull the wheels, let it sit with power clean (misting if necessary to keep it from drying), wash it, dry, hit it by hand with poli-seal, buff then seal. after that point it's so easy to clean from the outside. but new wheels are a whole different ball game from these old pieces.
 
I usually do a good blast with a pressure washer, followed by a soapy water and Meguiars WB 4:1 agitation.

Then a good heavy rinse.

If your going for close to 100%, then Tarminator helps on any tar that needs to be eliminated after the wash.
 
ARO works good for me, let it sit and then brush with the Daytona.
 
Daytona Brush weekly .... Klasse AIO two-three times annually.
 
killrwheels@autogeek said:
Daytona Brush weekly .... Klasse AIO two-three times annually.
Click to expand...

that's a nice maintenance program that is similar to what i do but i'm talking about when the wheels haven't been maintained much if at all and need to be reconditioned inside.

thanks guys, i appreciate the feedback and techniques.
 
For badly neglected wheels, I remove them and use my best and safest wheel cleaner and a brush.
 
I have the Daytona Brush, but I want something with stiffer bristles for really dirty tires. Any suggestions?

Btw I read that you should apply apc/wheel cleaner when the wheel is dry then let it dwell, then rise off with a hose, then soak with a cleaner and agitate
 
bump this

everyone recommends daytona and cleaner etc. etc etc...BUT...what about the neglected wheels...

im thinking steel wool 0000, a ton of elbow grease, I think most wheel cleaners have similar cleaning properties, but need to really scrub to get results.
 
I pulled all 4 wheels on my wifes 08 Volvo S60 last fall. The wheel barrels had never been cleaned and were absolutely black.

I used P21 gel on the wheels, I let it dwell for maybe 30 min. per wheel and took them to the curb to brush and rinse off the residue. It removed at least 90% of the black.

I applied a second coat, 30 min dwell, brushed and rinsed, 98% clean. Some of what was left was tar so I used some Acry-Solv solvent to remove then I clayed the wheels to get off the last remaining spots.

I would have liked to have tried the Sonax cleaner to see if it would have done a better job.

The wheels looked great when I was done but it was a lot of work and very time consuming. I will not let her wheels go like that again.
 
weavers said:
I have the Daytona Brush, but I want something with stiffer bristles for really dirty tires. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

autogeek_2144_15317712

Wheel brushes for spoke wheels, deep set spoke wheel brush, large wheel brush, wheel brushes

Works much better for "stubborn" grime than the Daytona Brush. I have both and love them. I usually don't have to use them on my car as I clean the barrels weekly with a Daytona but for other neglected ones it's fantastic.

weavers said:
Btw I read that you should apply apc/wheel cleaner when the wheel is dry then let it dwell, then rise off with a hose, then soak with a cleaner and agitate
Click to expand...

Ideally, yes. This gives you the highest concentration of APC/wheel cleaner on the surface of the wheel because it is not diluted by the water sitting on the wheel after a spray down.

Also, the APC/wheel cleaner will then be in direct contact with that nasty grime which will make it even more effective :props:
 
Pretty new to all this, so take it with a grain of salt as there's probably other products/better methods than what I've been doing, but I figured I might as well try and contribute back for all the help and info others have posted.

The brakes on my bmw dust like crazy and even only a week after cleaning they can get pretty dirty. Been trying a bunch of products to see what will work best/easiest for me.

I've tried P21S gel and let it sit for an hour before agitating and like pfix, only got out like 90% of the grime. Works pretty well, but won't even affect the really baked on stuff.

This past weekend I tried Poorboy's spray and rinse wheel cleaner. Its an interesting product, but not entirely sure how safe it is. I figured it was something like Meg's wheel brightener, and its like the name implies, spray it on and rinse off. Gets out a lot more with a lot less effort and time involved than P21S. Still found that there were areas of baked on dust that wouldn't come off though.

What I've settled on for now is Sonax. Compared to the other two products I've tried, Sonax has gotten more of the baked in stuff off than either one. Only need to do slight agitation with the lug nut brush or daytona and maybe some additional spraying. I know its expensive, but for me the amount of effort required, the time it saves, and how much cleaner the wheels get more than makes up for it. The only downside is the smell...absolutely horrible :nomore:.

But I probably won't let myself run out of it for quite awhile. Hope that helps.
 
Lost, try putting wax or sealant on your wheels. Also since your wheels get so dirty and your spending all of this money, think about replacing the brake pads. Get Do some research and find ones that don't dust as much. I've heard carbon ceramic doesn't dust to much, but cost a bundle. If it saves time it might be worth it.
 
haha, I used WD-40, but that was on my bronco II. I'd never do it on a newer vehicle though...
 
Sonax is one of the best options for brake dust. It can also double as a paint decontamination chemical that gets rid of metal particles in your paint -- I know firsthand that it works on iron particles.

If time is your number one concern, Sonax Full Effect wheel cleaner is the only one for you :)
 
I sealed them this past weekend. It was a matter of getting them clean first. As mentioned I didn't know a whole lot about detailing and the wheels got pretty dirty over time. There were parts of the wheels that had stuff that just would not come off and didn't think it would be a good idea or worth it to put sealant on top of it.

I'm already looking into ceramics though as a friend had recommended it awhile ago, but its a project for another day. Just posting what cleaners have worked for me.
 
Couldn't help noticing how a few people recommended using acid (MWB) and even steel wool to remove tar and adhesive from a wheel? I'm not sure how this could work as neither option is designed to correct these issues? Not saying it won't work(well I kinda am), but isn't it more effective/safe to just use a solvent?
 
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