Getting rims clean

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grendal_fly

New member
Doing my spring detail on my trucK I noticed that my front rims had a lot of black specks on them towards the inner rim on the outside surface. I figure it was road tar or break dust attached to the SG I put on them. So after washing them a couple of times with a rim cleaner and tar remover I got out some old clay and went at them. The clay would not remove the spots. So then I tried some mild polish and still no luck.



Any suggestions?
 
I let the cleaner sit twice for 5 minutes and agitated it as well. I spent about 5 minutes on a 2 inch section with the clay and wasn't getting anywhere. I am using the Sonus fine detail clay. Should I get a more agressive clay?
 
grendal_fly said:
I let the cleaner sit twice for 5 minutes and agitated it as well. I spent about 5 minutes on a 2 inch section with the clay and wasn't getting anywhere. I am using the Sonus fine detail clay. Should I get a more agressive clay?
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Got the same problem, would love to hear what others have to say about this.
 
VWdriver said:
Got the same problem, would love to hear what others have to say about this.
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Then you will be glad I posted. Go to your local AutoZone or similar and get Stoners Tarminator. Best stuff I have ever used. Spray on, let it sit for about 15-30 seconds wipe off. Make sure you follow it up with your carwashing solution to make sure you get all the tarminator off and apply your LSP to the rims if you can. Trust me on this one it makes light work of nasty black spots on rims!



http://www.tarminator.com/
 
racingbeat said:
P21S gel wheel cleaner. Let it sit for 10 minutes. I've yet to have tar or oil that has beaten P21
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Although another good solution the tarminator can be bought almost anywhere and you avoid the shipping charges.
 
racingbeat said:
P21S gel wheel cleaner. Let it sit for 10 minutes. I've yet to have tar or oil that has beaten P21
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I have used the P21S gel and I let it sit for hours and it didn't do anything. I'm not sure if my problem is like others because my spots are like a milimeter thick! A brush is the only safe way to go about fixing this right? I am going to pick up a can of tarminator though. :)
 
VWdriver said:
I have used the P21S gel and I let it sit for hours and it didn't do anything. I'm not sure if my problem is like others because my spots are like a milimeter thick! A brush is the only safe way to go about fixing this right? I am going to pick up a can of tarminator though. :)
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The P21S is a very effective surfactant based wheel cleaner that has a neutral pH. You need to agitate it with some kind of brush in order to get neglected wheels clean. It is not a spray-on rinse-off type of cleaner like Megs Wheel Brightener. The Megs WB is a strongly acidic cleaner and may be more suited to wheels with built up dust. Be cautious using any strongly acidic/basic wheel cleaners.



The Sonus green clay is a very mild clay. You need to step up to a more abrasive type or even try some overspray clay. Claying while the wheel cleaner dwells may also help dislodge buildup; however, it will destroy the clay farily quickly if you are using an aggressive wheel cleaner.
 
This topic has been brought up on the vwvortex a couple of times and people seem to have started using oven cleaner to get the toughest spots out.



I dont know if I could bring myself to do that and what effect it will have on the wheel finish.



Did anybody here try it?
 
You should try an acidic wheel cleaner. If you follow the directions properly, they're safe to use - though you may need to do several applications.
 
I have the same problem on my polished wheels its almost like black dust specs etched into the wheel or something..... none of my polishes or cleaners are removing them.
 
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