Baked on brake dust
 

Well, during the one day of decent weather this weekend, I decided to clean off the summer wheels since I kinda neglected to clean them when I threw on my winter tires/wheels.

Anyways, I noticed that the inside of the wheels were coated with black brake dust which didn't wash off very easily. I tried using some OTC wheel cleaner (It was the Armor All wheel cleaner product) that I let sit on the wheels for about 2-3 minutes before giving it a scrub with a wheel cleaner brush. I followed up with a sponge and some car wash detergent and then a rinse down.

That seemed to get rid of about 80% of the dust. What's left on seems to be pretty much baked on pretty good.

Anyways, I wanted to see if anyone had some suggestions on how to get the more stubborn dust off. I've read that Meguiars Wheel Brightener works pretty good on cases like this, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. (I've checked Lordco, Napa and the auto section of Walmart and Canadian Tire). Online sources seem to sell them in gallon jugs which is a little much.

Anyone know of any good alternatives (or I guess even a gallon jug if that's the only option) that will do a good job of cleaning the baked on brake dust?

(btw, these are just the regular factory painted alloy wheels - nothing fancy chromed stuff here)

you can try pulling the wheels off and claying it, thats a safe alternative. Or you can try and use some acidic wheel cleaner. Talk to Ken if you go with this route:
http://autowerkesexclusive.com/produ...ner/index.html

Brendan

Thanks for the info Brendan!
The wheels are already off (still sportin the winter tires for now). I'll have to see if I still have some old clay left behind that I can try. I tried scratching some of it off with my fingernail to see if it would come off and it barely made a dent. If the clay doesn't work, I'll hit up Ken for some of the wheel cleaner you suggested.

yeah let me know how it goes...if you want though pick up some Zep Citrus Degreaser from Home Depot. Dilute it 3 parts water to 1 part solution and you have a good wheel cleaner. It's only like $10 a gallon, great on tires as well. Just don't let that stuff dry and your good to go. Good luck with it.

Brendan

You can always try re washing it again and again with apc. It also depends on how long the baked on brake dust has been there. I have Megs Wheel Brightener and it's some crazy stuff but still can't remove everything on some wheels I bought used.

If the wheels are off the car, give me a call and you can come by the shop and use some stuff I have. I won't sell you any, but you're more than welcome to use it at my shop.

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i'm not doubting any of Ken's products because he stands by them, but I've never heard of any product that fixes curbage...i'm gunna feel like an idiot if you were joking about that:(

ugh...no product will fix curbage dude, unless you take it to a rim repair shop

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Thanks Ken! I may just do that if the clay and/or APC doesn't help.

.

I've seen sos pads from your local grocery store, work pretty good.

Will a Mr. Clean magic eraser pad work?

Just a random thought that came to my head reading this thread.

^i highly doubt it.

Well, using a little APC, and then claybar after removed about 75% of the dust so that's probably good enough for now. Most of the remaining dust is lodged on the back side of the spokes and within the textured grooves on the wheels which were a little hard to get out. Since the area isn't really visible, I'm leaving it as is.

Thanks for all the help guys!

true true...dont do it