WICKEDFRC

Went to a car show this weekend and realized two things:

1. Those who invest quality time in detailing their wheels, stand out.

2. Those who just wiped off the surface of their wheels and dry it with no other attention, stand out.

For those that are meticulous with their wheels, what is it that you do to keep your wheels in top condition?

Do many of you clean by hand? Use a polishing cone or ball? Do you remove the wheels and clean the barrels out every so many miles? Do you protect them with some sort of polish?

Would appreciate your feedback.....especially from those who have matte or satin black wheels. The factory satin black cup wheels are a PITA to clean as it is.....looking for ways to make things easier and keep the factory new look longer.


Thanks.

0Surf City Garage

Comes down to the type of wheels and the car itself honestly. Corvettes have some dusty factory break pads (as do any performance cars now a days) so theres more work involved in keeping them clean.

Prevention is the best medicine - cleaning regularly to keep brake dust and grime from building up make a ton of difference.

All you really need for those 'in between' cleanings in soap and water. I use our Balanced Wash most of the time since its pH neutral and you don't really need dedicated or harsh wheel cleaners for light cleaning.

I'm always sure to get the inside hoop of the wheel with every cleaning using a set of Detailing Woolies. The medium stick fits most the spots on a Vette. Just dunk into a bucket of soapy water and scrub the inside of the wheels. Doesn't matter how clean the face is, if the backs are dirty it shows. For the face I use our 9" Boars Hair Brush

Also a huge help to keep a coating of some protection on there. Acrylic-Shield is my go to, but I know lots of guys here like Rejex which is another great option.

A couple times a year I give any wheel a thorough cleaning:

1. Knock out the heavy baked on brake dust with Active Wheel Cleaner
2. Rinse well, dry, then polish - depending on the finish that choice of product varies.
3. Last, apply a fresh coat of sealant to keep them protected.

WICKEDFRC

Thanks SCG!!

Great links and video tutorials. That Active Wheel Cleaner looks like the same stuff that just eats away grime at the do-it-yourself spray car wash. I like the Acrylic-Shield protection as well, especially since it is "wax on, wax off" type application. I am afraid I would screw up that Optimum Gloss stuff.

Thanks for the input!!

0Surf City Garage

Not a problem. Any other questions feel free to ask!

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

Wheels are indeed an important part of any car and show off how well a car is cleaned. First, never clean wheels when they are hot.

1. Clean with a safe and effective wheel cleaner (P21S, DP)
2. Use an assortment of brushes and remember the barrels, lugs and calipers
3. Use a coating, nothing short of it will last anywhere near as long
4. Clean wheels weekly .... even using soap/water or a rinseless wash you can use a spray sealant to add gloss as optional


**polishing wheels is very beneficial to uncoated wheels, most painted wheels are harder to polish effectively due to all the small areas**

need4speedmotors

warm water and soap.

some elbow grease and were good.

Boomer111

I clean my wheels and car before every drive. California duster then quick detailer then a wipe with Sonus Sprite to fortify my Klasse sealant.

Wheels and barrels get the same treatment.

One reason I usually only take it out a every 7-10 days.

If the car isn't detailed I will nor be happy driving it.

On trips I bring my cleaning supplies and will clean on arrival etc as needed usually every day due to outside parking.

Wife thinks I am nuts but it gives me something to fret over rather than her!

If you want the car to be a looker gotta keep it up 100% of the time.

Now I have had 35 years experience keeping up an 18 wheeler that saw quarries and off road duty, leaking bunkers and wet haul roads can make a mess of a pristine rig in just a few seconds. The C6 is a cakewalk comparatively speaking, feel lucky!!

Scuba Ghost

For my chromies I use Never-Dull followed by a little RejeX.

rprice

Me too! I clean her after every drive / trip etc. I can't stand it if one bug is on the car. The brake dust gets on the wheels the first time you use the brakes. There is no other way except elbow grease!

Koufax

Yellow cars show dead bugs, that's for sure. I clean mine every day, wheels too.

Koufax

Wheel barrel of chrome wheels

However, my car was 10 years old when I bought it. It looked like the wheel barrels had never been cleaned - they were all black. I have wiped them clean, treated them with some nasty chrome cleaner, wiped them daily and I still have these marks that I presume are brake dust that has adhered to the chrome. You can feel them and the big pieces can be broken off with a fingernail. Are these beyond redemption? What would you do?

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

It looks like etching or the beginning of pitting. You cannot remove it without having them re-chromed. You can make sure it doesn't get worse. Clean well, coat not seal, and keep them up as you have been with normal weekly cleaning. Chrome is quite durable but long term exposure to brake dust is sure to damage any wheel type.

Koufax

It re-chroming an economic choice when a set of new OEM wheels is $800?

Can you elaborate on "coat, don't seal"? Looking at the Autogeek website on "How to clean and polish chrome wheels", I see a paragraph on wheel polishing and another on waxing. Are you saying to stay away from one of those steps?

the face of my wheels is pristine, so I suppose I could do anything mentioned on that web page to them.

RottenII

My C7 wheels are the chrome version. Just the face is chromed. The barrels have a grey type paint on them. I just coated they yesterday with DP wheel coating. Hopefully it will add to the protection from the brake dust. I also wipe the face down after I'm done driving it.

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

You are correct that sometimes replacement is cheaper than restoration.

As to the "coat versus seal" is more about products. A sealant is a synthetic wax (Zaino, Wolfgang, Duragloss) and more durable than a 'nuba based wax. A coating is the newest and longest lasting product offered for protection of paint, metals and trim. A ceramic based coating like G-technic Wheel Armour will outlast even the best sealant by a year ! --So coat and spend less time reapplying sealants.

12zo

I had a nice set of CCW's, anodized, that got ruined by a body shop. They used a chemical that etched them to clean my car before pickup.
Ouch. That cost the shop a lot.

After that, I had the good luck of meeting the owner of P21S.
I was very leery of all the wheel cleaners before I met him. I had only used soap and a wheel brush, with great success but was looking for a cleaner that was safe.

He showed me what a balanced wheel cleaner can do.
Now, I use only P21S wheel cleaner on all my vehicles.
I wash the wheels a lot, probably more than I wash the car.

When they are really dirty, like after a track day, I spray them with P21S, and then wash.

A good, deep brush, a mitt and pre-soak with a safe cleaner will keep most wheels looking nice. You have to wash your wheels a lot. They live in a very tough environment.

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

P21S is one of the safest wheel cleaners on all wheel types. I have used it successfully on my Iforged uncoated wheels since new. Cleaning wheels when cool and with a safe cleaner and safe brush is indeed best advice to prep before any product to protect.

z06clif

I had the same problem with my C5. The way I solved it was to pull the wheels and go over the inside barrels wit a fine sand paper . it left the inside barrels scuffed but clean . maintained them after with soap and water and wheels woolies.

Clif

Koufax

So I brought my car to a tire store to have them put Hankooks on the car and to my great surprise they insisted that my wheels are NOT chrome -- they are polished aluminum, and they said that the marring could be buffed out. Does the fact that the wheels are aluminum change the picture? They suggested using a drill with some sort of buffing implement, but I didn't follow them on that. They recommended using Wenol, which I had never heard of. Suggestions? Feedback?

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

the only difference is the type of polishes used ... metal polishes on uncoated wheels and paint polishes on clear-coated wheels.