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So...I just washed my wheels today, for the first time. 225 miles on the clock. I noticed a thick, pale gray dust on my wheels, that had never been totally cleaned.
They look much better now, actually shiny! These are the gray Spectra wheels.
What is the best, i.e., easiest, way to do a deep clean on these? This is an old photo, look close to see the gray brake dust.
I've had good results with the Wolfgang Tire & Wheel Cleaner. I spary the wheels with it and then I brush them with three different size brushes that fit in all the nooks and crannies and then spary them with my foam cannon as I do the rest of the car and, fnally, hit them with the pressure washer to clean all the residue off. I have ceramic coated the wheels as well which helps a lot and, honestly, you can do a decent job cleaning them after that with just spraying them off with a garden hose. It helps to drive the car a little bit afterwards to be sure the pads are dried out before letting it sit.
I cleaned my Tridents as per normal.
I then wiped them down with 50/50 mixture of water and alcohol.
I then applied Avalon King ceramic coating. One bottle did two sets of rims plus the calipers.
I find them much easier to clean after I coated them.
I picked on of these up. But since if ceramic coated the wheels, I haven't needed to use it. The hard part of wheel cleaning is getting in there past the spokes.. That's the why of this brush.
Most of the time I use a spray on wash and wax product, (Chemical Guys), I spray it on a microfiber cloth, and wipe down all the exterior surfaces. It takes almost as long to clean the wheels as it does to wash and dry the car. I use the brush once in a blue moon with regular car wash water. .. I also have Griots wheel cleaner, but I haven't used it on the C8 yet.
I picked on of these up. But since if ceramic coated the wheels, I haven't needed to use it. The hard part of wheel cleaning is getting in there past the spokes.. That's the why of this brush.
Most of the time I use a spray on wash and wax product, (Chemical Guys), I spray it on a microfiber cloth, and wipe down all the exterior surfaces. It takes almost as long to clean the wheels as it does to wash and dry the car. I use the brush once in a blue moon with regular car wash water. .. I also have Griots wheel cleaner, but I haven't used it on the C8 yet.
I do not have Z51, so dust is minimal. I have the same wheels, too. I wash as normal. When dry, I coat and wipe with Meguiars Ceramic Detail Spray. Usually once a year and if I am really motivated I remove the wheels and wax and then detail spray.
I like the idea of ceramic coating them, but have not done that…yet.
I have a Z51 and here is how I clean my ceramic coated wheels, if I get lots brake dust I rinse with my power washer then I use Brake Buster from P&S will not hurt my HRE FF11S and I have microfiber brush to do barrels and microfiber towels to do rest. I will not downgrade my pads as I will track this C8 and learned this lesson on my C6. If I was just a cruiser then I would get ceramic pads. My 2C
Probably the best thing is get Carbotech 1521 or Powerstop Z26 brake pads…
Unless you're tracking the car...... neither of those are good for the track. I'm not swapping pads back and forth so I guess I'm stuck with dust as there are no pads that are good on a track and don't dust .
OP doesn't have a Z51 from the looks of it. My C8 has virtually no dust and I have polished BBS wheels now that show little if any dust between washes. The stock brake pads work just fine.
For tools, I use a microfiber duster, similar to the one pictured below, which can be purchased on amazon. I also use microfiber cloths to get the wheel edges and behind the spokes, and detailing swabs from Griots to get in around the lug nuts. I use Griots detailing liquid either best-of-show or speed shine to moisten all tools. I tried to use some spray on rinse off products, but the dust still requires agitation (I dont have ceramic coated wheels), and the result is it takes more time than if I just start with the detailing.
For a high quality low dust performance street brake pad take a look at the Carbotech 1521 brake pad 100% non-corrosive dust will not harm your wheels, paint or rotors. Carbotech brake pads are 100% made in the USA and contain NRS Technology Here is a link to explain further what NRS technology is exactly: http://www.nrsbrakes.com
The Carbotech Bobcat 1521™ is our high performance street compound that is our most successful compound. The Bobcat compound is known for its awesome release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. Like our AX™ & XP™ line of compounds, Bobcat 1521™ is a Ceramic based friction material offering minimal rotor damage and non-corrosive dust. Bobcat 1521™ offers outstanding performance, even when cold, low dusting and low noise with an excellent initial bite. This compound’s virtually perfect linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Bobcat 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 900°F. Bobcat 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle, police cruiser. The Bobcat 1521™ compound has been found to last two-three times longer than OE pads you can purchase at a dealership or national retailer. That’s one of the beauties of Carbotech Ceramic brake compounds. Bobcat 1521™ is NOT recommended for any track use. __________________ Adam Adelstein Amp’D Autosport.com Internet's largest retailer of Carbotech Performance Brake Pads. PH:216-780-8825. Email: sales@ampdautosport.com Web Site & Direct ordering http://ampdautosport.com/ All major CC and Pay Pal accepted. Check out Promo code:z28
I cleaned - just yesterday - the grime of decades of brake grime and tar and.... from my 34-year-old Ferrari wheels... no fuss..... took wheels off for deep clean -- spray on, wait a few minutes, wash off.... did require me to do it twice, but decades in spray and wash? Winner! Winner!
Opticoat pro on the wheels. Nothing sticks.clean with a squirt of water.
There's an entire thread on this forum specific to this topic where a dozen plus people would completely disagree with that statement. It was pretty much 100% unanimous that people in that thread would not pay for ceramic on wheels again. I'm having ceramic done with opticoat next week and opted out of paying $400 more for wheels because of that thread. Hell, I can buy another set of new takeoff wheels for $400
I used Griots 3 in one ceramic wax on the wheels. Easy, cheap, effective, but also The Last Coat works maybe even better, also Easy Cheap Effective. No need to pay hundreds of $$$.
OP, do you have a wingless Z51? We've seen almost no dust on our non-Z51 C8.
On the C7 Z51, I replaced the heavy dusting Brembo pads with Carbotech 1521s, which dust much less. However, the OEM pads on on the non-Z51 C8 dust even less than the Carbotechs.
Wheel Cleaning
getting some pads that are low dust will really help you keep the wheels clean. Doing a ceramic coating makes it easier too.
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