Well, it's getting that time of year again to give our vettes a good spring cleaning for the season. I wanted to know if anyone here removes each wheel to clean the inside of the wheel and the wheel well as one of the things they do for cleaning. Is the proper way of doing it by using the jacking puck and jack one corner of the car at a time and removing the wheel, cleaning it and putting it back on? It may sound like a stupid question but I want to be sure that I do it right.

 

That's one of my spring projects, I'm going to lift the rear and remove both rear wheels, clean, replace, then do the same for the front. I'll jack it up from the rear crossmember using these instuctions
Proper jacking of C5
After a good cleaning I'll put a couple coats of Rejex on them, it worked really well keeping brake dust and dirt from sticking to the wheels.

 

I took all four wheels off this winter and cleaned them and the wheel wells then coated the wheels with Rejex At the same time I painted the calipers, changed the pads and put on new D/S rotors

 

I did all 4 rims on mine...look great...except I have access to a lift, so I can't help you on jacking it right. Looks like another member already got you a link for that.

 

Thanks for the comments. Where can I get Rejex?

 

I got new wheels and tires, so I:
1) Waxed wheels
2) Painted calipers (blue) and rotor caps (silver)

Cleaning and waxing wheel wells is a little over the top for me, sorry.

To paint calipers, I did all four at same time (needed 4 coats). I painted rotors later and did both sides, two wheels at a time (two coats).

 

Here's the link, A Forum sponsor
http://www.x-autoproducts.com/

 

these wheels wells are 6 years old and have 63,000 miles on them.

 

Okay, I'll bite . . . what do you do (and how often) to keep your wheel wells looking like this ?

BTW, this goes to show that retired people have way too much time on their hands.

 

You have to remember, even though I drive the car and it isn't a garage queen, I do not take the C5 if its raining.. I do get caught in rain occasionally.. I do this process
once a year... it only takes about two hours... I usually do it like I did last week when we had 70 degree temps here..
I remove my winter wheels.. and put on the CCW's

here is a picture of a day I got caught in some wet conditions with some mud and snow and salt...



the product I use is called NO Touch, its designed to clean a shine tires without having to scrub them or wash them...



goes on as a foam which clings to all the surfaces, and emulsifies the salt, mud and road grime.



After the foam does its thing, (about ten minutes) I wipe down the inner wheel well. It leaves a silicone shield which helps keep road grim from sticking to the inner wheel well. And the obvious shine that would be found from the silicone.



you can actually spray the no touch on with the wheels on the car, but you can not do a thorough wipe down with them on.. you can also touch up your wheel wells if you drive into a corn field etc...
This is easy to do...My rotor maintenance is very labor intensive again done once a year...

 

One of my pet peeves ( 40 years ) has always been clean wheel wells... so many times I see people post pictures of their new wheels and tires. And all I can see is their dirty wheel wells.. People often point to my wheels wells and rotors as proof my car is brand new.. and they argue the point.. especially when I say its 6 years old and has over 60,000 miles on it..

 

I take off the wheels...usually one at a time. Jack up with jacking pucks, remove, clean, and replace.
I think this year, I'll try jacking up at the crossmembers, and be able to remove both front or both back at once, saving time.

I like ET's wheel wells too...I use simple green, but if I can find the "No Touch," I think I'll try it.

 

I clean the wheel wells and the insides of the wheels at every washing. I usually take the wheels off about twice a year for a really thorough cleaning, but it could be more often depending on whether I have a car show to enter or not. I usually use a floor jack and hike up the entire front or rear of the car at one time to remove and replace the wheels. Just a time saver for me.

 

Looks like you've had great results with that product. I too have around 60k miles but the previous owners did not clean the wheel wells and they are pretty grimey. Based on your experience with this cleaner would it be worth it for me to try some after all this time?

 

Thank you everyone for your great replies. I can learn so much from this forum and that's why I go here first to ask questions. I don't think I feel comfortable jacking up the whole back/front from the cross members. I've read some posts and seen pictures on how it's done but I'm worried I'm going to place the jack in the wrong place, especially in the front. I like to be very careful when it comes to working on my Corvette. I think I will just us the jacking pucks and do one wheel at a time even though it may take longer.

 

ET - Thanks for posting your process. That No Touch stuff looks great. I presume I can pick it up at any ato parts spot?

Looks great

 

That's one of my spring projects, I'm going to lift the rear and remove both rear wheels, clean, replace, then do the same for the front. I'll jack it up from the rear crossmember using these instuctions
Proper jacking of C5

also took the time to paint the calipers. pics to follow

 

Thanks for the great tip on the "No Touch" wheel well cleaner, ET! Nice pics, too!

 

This wheel well cleaning is a very easy thing to do... it is only an investment of a few hours..there is little actual physical cleaning work involved. jacking the car and remooving the wheels.
You will be surprised that even at 60K your uncared for wheels wells can come back. Be sure that you know the towels that you use to wipe down the wheels wells will be trash... the attention to the wipe down is critical as to the end result..
The No touch is sold at Pepboys, autozone and advanced auto parts..probablt at almost any auto parts store. Also the No touch will not dry out the wheels wells and leave them brittle...
I have many many tips on detailing just like this... Some are very ****...
I guess the car speaks for itself.

 

I'll have to give that a try, I've always used Formula 303 on just about anything that was plastic on the car.