How to clean this off the inner rim?

T

toml

New member
When I bought my new Accord in January, I didn't know about this site, and it would have never occurred to me to polish and seal the inner rims of the wheels. I'm not even sure if I could have even if I'd known as I don't have a garage and January in Boston is pretty darn cold for waxing. Anyway, enough of my excuses ...



I've got some sort of crud on the inner rims that I can't seem to get off. I'm not sure if it's brake dust or what as it seems to be pretty consistent between front and rear rims. As the car is front-wheel drive, I'd expect the problem to be worse on the front rims, but it's not the case. Looking at it from different angles, it appears either black or a reddish-brown color. At another angle, it looks like small scratches.



I've tried the following with a Megs wheel spoke brush, and nothing made a dent in it: regular car wash (QEW), 4 * wheel cleaner, and A2Z. I tried clay ... nothing. I tried AIO with a foam pad, and while it left some black on the pad, there was no appreciable difference.



From what I earlier posted (and from what I've read), the inner rims are not clearcoated. They are ridged.



Any idea what this is and how to clean? I've included the best pictures I have below.



Inner_Rim_1_Optimized.jpg


Inner_Rim_2_Optimized.jpg
 
in my experience, i have had cars come to where the inner rim had not been touched for a LONG time. As a result, it seems the brake dust literally melted through the wheel paint and ate down to the metal. On these wheels my a2z and p2s gel dont even touch it, making me believe its permanent. and from my experiences they looked just like the inner rim of your first pick. So either we are both doing something wrong or this is a way to get it off, but i cant help u any more than what u tried, if that didnt work i dont know what will
 
take them off, use some 2000grit or higher sandpaper and gently sand the areas. that should remove the embedded brake dust. use your wheel cleaner and scrub it down. finish if off with your wheel sealant. since the inner wheel isn't finished, you just want to protect it.
 
tensors22288 said:
in my experience, i have had cars come to where the inner rim had not been touched for a LONG time. As a result, it seems the brake dust literally melted through the wheel paint and ate down to the metal. On these wheels my a2z and p2s gel dont even touch it, making me believe its permanent. and from my experiences they looked just like the inner rim of your first pick.
Click to expand...



We're only talking 5 months ... but who knows, maybe that's a LONG time for Honda rims.



FujiFast said:
take them off, use some 2000grit or higher sandpaper and gently sand the areas. that should remove the embedded brake dust. use your wheel cleaner and scrub it down.
Click to expand...



FujiFast, if the A2Z didn't get whatever this is with brush agitation, why would sanding work? Have you actually done this?
 
toml said:
FujiFast, if the A2Z didn't get whatever this is with brush agitation, why would sanding work? Have you actually done this?
Click to expand...

i don't know what a2z so i can't comment there, but yes i've done this before with my old acura integra gs-r and honda prelude type-sh. my guess as to why the light sanding would work is because, in my case, it was brake dust that embedded and oxidized in the pits left by the unfinished alloy. hence, the only way of removing the dust was removing the material. plus, the sanding i did smoothed out the inner wheel and allowed for easier maintenance.
 
How many of you guys actually clean and seal the INSIDES of your wheels? I'm pretty sure GSRStilez does, I'm assuming Accumulator cleans them too, but I don't know of anyone else for sure. I don't bother, cant reach all the way, and way too lazy to jack up the car and take off all 4 wheels to clean them.
 
I did it this spring for the V's first birthday - I'll probably do it once a year, depending on how bad it is when I see it next year.



Jacked the V up, removed all 5 wheels, & gave them all a wash with PB's S & R Wheel cleaner, then cleaned with AIO & sealed w/ PB's Wheel Sealant. I also treated the inside of the tires with PB's B 'n B while they were off the vehicle.



So far the "outside" is holding up beautifully & it's been 6 months :)
 
mrecktid said:
How many of you guys actually clean and seal the INSIDES of your wheels? I'm pretty sure GSRStilez does, I'm assuming Accumulator cleans them too, but I don't know of anyone else for sure. I don't bother, cant reach all the way, and way too lazy to jack up the car and take off all 4 wheels to clean them.
Click to expand...

I do it. Once or twice a year I'll take them off, give them a good clean and seal them. It means that the rest of the time I clean them using a Meg's wheel spoke brush and non-caustic wheel cleaner brings them up as new.



Ben
 
mrecktid said:
How many of you guys actually clean and seal the INSIDES of your wheels? I'm pretty sure GSRStilez does, I'm assuming Accumulator cleans them too, but I don't know of anyone else for sure. I don't bother, cant reach all the way, and way too lazy to jack up the car and take off all 4 wheels to clean them.
Click to expand...



There are tons of Autopians that do it. Prior to getting my RSX, I hadn't had a car that you could see the inside of the wheels for about 15 years, so I haven't done it...but when it's time to rotate I certainly will...maybe before. I find it a little ironic that many of the alloy wheel styles of the 70's, 80's, and early 90's were of a more dense spoke design or other kind of flat face which didn't allow you to easily see the inside of the wheel, or the rotors/calipers, so we didn't have to worry about painting/cleaning/polishing those parts (other than OCD reasons).
 
papi_jay said:
just get some of the agressive red meguiars clay from their ebay store . it SHOULD work it all off
Click to expand...

i think the inner wheel in his case is too rough for clay to work. it will just shred. in my experience with honda wheels, they're pretty rough in there.
 
mrecktid said:
How many of you guys actually clean and seal the INSIDES of your wheels? I'm pretty sure GSRStilez does, I'm assuming Accumulator cleans them too..
Click to expand...



Heh heh, you bet I do 'em ;) I try to keep the inside about the same as the outer areas. Operative word being "try" :o :D



Many wheels aren't finished the same on the back as they are on the "parts you see". With a rougher texture and (often) no clear, keeping them nice is a pain, let alone *getting* them clean.



The front-wheel-drive isn't really a factor, it's the way the front brakes do most of the work that really makes the front's a pain. The reddish-brown stuff is partly ferrous contamination from the brake rotors, mixed with pad compound and other [stuff].



Gotta take them off and work on a workbench/platform, etc.



I'd get the aggressive clay and some strong all-purpose cleaner (I use EFHI). Maybe a *soft* Scotch-Brite pad too, the kind made for nonstick cookwear. You can also use a Dremel with the plastic bristle brushs (I would *not* try the brass ones) but note that the brushes wear out sorta fast. At some point you can use paint cleaners/compounds/etc. with terry. I've never had to wetsand but I can see it being the way to go (but only if the backs are not finished with any sort of paint/etc.).



To really do it right I suppose you oughta spray them with clear when you get them cleaned up, but I've never bothered.



Once they're as clean as you'd like, I use AIO/SG*6. If cleaned with strong carwash solution at every wash this lasts me until it's time to put on the snows but I'll consider redoing them if I rotate or otherwise have a reason to pull them off.



Plan on spending a *lot* of time and effort on this. Last time I did wheels that I hadn't kept nice since new it took me a good three-four hours per wheel just for the cleaning up. Needless to say I spread the work over a few days. If you put in the time it's pretty amazing how nicely they'll clean up.
 
Inside and out, my wheels are sealed with Mothers Clear Coat Wheel Polish topped with Collinite IW. I also always dress both sides of the tires :o :D. I don't dismount the the wheels as I am uneasy about that nor do I have the most ideal equipment,but I do manage to twist and bend reaching with foam paint brushes to dress them.
 
You know, I DID clean the insides of my wheels on the car that you can't see the inside from the outside...I didn't polish/seal them...but once when I was taking them to get new tires on I did a thorough cleaning on the inside. And Bill, I wish I had your dedication for dressing the inside of the tire...I have done it (I think) when rotating, but not something I do regularly....although I do think of that poor inner sidewall without any protection...
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone! You've at least given me some suggestions on how to attack this problem. :)
 
I had to do this on my 92 5.0 when first bought it... the inside of the rims had NEVER been cleaned it seemed. I'm not sure about the finish on your rim... but on the stang i made quick-er work of the whole deal by using some fine steel wool... the rims had those grooves in them as well but just metal behind the crud... no paint or finish. After i was done i smoothed it out with a little sandpaper/water to make cleaning in the future simpler. I sealed the rims and never had any problems after that. I also used a degreaser with the steel wool... rinse thoroughly.
 
I addressed this exact problem on my CR-V today, and clay/paint cleaner did nothing to remove the little black spots. I like the idea of steel wool and a degreaser though. Might have to try that one of these days. The spots on the inner rims on mine were so tiny that only an Autopian would actually notice they were there, and after pulling them off and "cleaning" them today they looked much nicer than before.
 
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