A Quick Wheel Cleaning Tip....

I

imported_Luster1

New member
IF...you're in a hurry....and



IF...your wheels are just dusty and not really very dirty



you can use a California Mini-Duster to get behind the spokes....



Works great and you can do each wheel in about a minute!



(Obviously works best with spoke wheels)



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I'll keep this in mind for when I get those 5-spokes I've always wanted...



I have PITA "turbine" style wheels now. :(
 
Luster,



Maybe you can help me with my current problem.



My current brake pads dust like crazy and the dust sticks to the clearcoat on the wheels. My wheels never see rain, they have a couple coats of Zaino and are QD cleaned after each drive but it's still a PITA to remove the brake dust. A Mini duster wouldn't touch the dust, only serious elbow grease. Any other tips to make it easier?



I'm planning on purchasing non OEM low dust performance pads when these wear out but in the meantime I'm pulling my hair out after every drive. :mad: :angry
 
MBZ 500E said:
They have a couple coats of Zaino and are QD cleaned after each drive but it's still a PITA to remove the brake dust. A Mini duster wouldn't touch the dust, only serious elbow grease. Any other tips to make it easier?



Click to expand...



No doubt, wheels are the highest maintenance problem.



I'm guessing that waxing your wheels will make the brake-dust cleanup a little easier.



Wax is a little slicker than Zaino and it might just be enough to resist the dust from sticking.......



Sure be worth a try.



I guess I'm very lucky. My pads hardly dust. It wipes off very easily.
 
Bill,



I'll give wax a try although I'm concerned with durability due to the heat generated by the brakes. I just read a review for the Mothers Clear Coat Wheel Polish which sounds interesting. I think I will give that a try as well in hopes that it provides easier cleanup.



Let me know if you think of anything else.



Once my new pads/rotors are on I'll invest in a mini duster, great way to clean rear portion of the wheel for shows!
 
MBZ- have you tried the P21S wheel gel and let it sit for 30 minutes? Every wheel I've tried takes very well to this stuff.
 
Good question, but I've never set foot in a harley shop. If you're looking for a place to buy it David sells it. I think the reason why this stuff works so well is since it's not acidic and it's a gel it can safely sit on wheels. Here's some proof of it's powers...my dad has a set of BBS wheels that hadn't been cleaned in 2.5 years except for the auto car washes, which as you know don't really do crap. So I sprayed on a liberal amount of P21S gel on it and after 30 minutes all I had to do was gently swipe each spoke 3 or 4 times with my viking wheel brush before the brake dust dislodged and rinsed right off. He's also got really dusty pads, I think it's a german thing.



Sweet car by the way, I really wish my dad would have picked one up when he had the $$ but sadly he opted for the 4 matic. I just love the fenders!
 
B3Golde,



Thanks for the information. Do you know if the P21 also provides protection or is it just designed to clean. Either way I'll investigate this further.



Thanks for the compliment on the car. What kind of 4 Matic did he get? Love the older MBZ's, built like tanks and you know they'll go forever if they're cared for.
 
P21S is just a cleaner, infact it might even take off sealents or waxes. I don't know since my wheels have never been protected :( . I think it's worth the 15 bucks a bottle since I got super dusty pads (ferodo DS2000's).



The 4 matic that we have is a '91 300E. I can't get enough of the clunk from shutting the door. Infact I have to pull on the door quite hard to get it to shut if the window isn't open. Feels like a vault :) . My mom drives it daily and it's now got 185,000 miles on it. The only problem with the car is it starts rough for a few seconds. Sadly we had to put our '82 300 SD turbo diesel to rest a few years ago after 215,000 miles :( . Once it got to the point where I had to pin the throttle down for 3 minutes before driving it and it having a hard time making it up hills it looked like it was going to be big $$ to fix.
 
Both the P21S wheel cleaners ("regular strength" and gel) will remove protection. So will Griot's wheel cleaner. The stronger the cleaner, the more it will strip whatever's on the wheel, from dirt to pad dust to wax. If you dilute the Griot's/regular P21S, as I do, it MIGHT still clean well enough for frequent use and it will be easier (but not totally without stripping-effect) on your Z/wax.
 
Luster, thanks for the tip! I have the same style of rims as you (Katana VR7) on my Civic, except mine are hyperblack (another name for silver). Looks like I've found another excuse to head on down to the Carnauba Store this weekend!



MBZ, I have the same problem on my BMW. I've tried coating them with polymers and it seemed to help a little, but not much. To me, it wasn't worth the effort required in applying the polymer in the first place. Also, I have multi-spoked "turbine" style rims that 4DSC mentioned in his post....so cleaning my rims almost takes me as much time as washing the rest of the car. I'm DEFINITELY getting dustless pads after my OEM pads wear out.
 
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