Can't Clean Extremely Neglected Wheels

joburnet · 08-22-05, 08:28

I'm currently working on a car with very neglected wheels and the brake dust simply will not come off with wheel cleaner and scrubbing. I have tried clay and it works, but very very slowly and it would take several hours to complete the process on all four wheels. The tricky part is that this customer is a car dealer and needs those wheels clean.

I've heard of trying laquer thinner or wheel acid but that runs the risk of damaging the wheels. I've told him that we can't clean the wheels to his satisfaction without damaging the wheels but he is not happy with that answer. Any suggestions on what to do?

JDookie · 08-22-05, 08:31

In a recent post, I read that #0000 steel wool works very well on wheels, when used with a regular wheel cleaner or APC. Here's the post I am referring to:

http://autopia.org/forum/showthread....ighlight=miata

joburnet · 08-22-05, 08:33

The wheels are actually worse then those. Also, I can't be expecting my employees to spend 1.5 hours on the wheels alone.

Terran · 08-22-05, 08:44

#0000 steel wool won't screw up a clearcoated wheel?

It seems like if they're that bad the customer should be willing to take them as they are or pay you for that 1.5 hours.

Asonyexec · 08-22-05, 08:47

wouldnt wheel acid speed up the process?

SilverLine · 08-22-05, 09:17

You may want to try a diluted wheel acid mixture such as Wheel Brite from Jax Wax. What type of wheels are they? The information on the acid should tell you what types of wheels it can be used on.

Try priming the wheels with water, then use a wheel acid diluted 5-1 with water. Spray mixture on and let dwell for 20-30 seconds, then powerwash off. Repeat if necessary. Finally neutralize the acid by spraying the wheels with APC, let dwell for about 20 sec. then pw off. Hope this helps.

Matt

AlexRuiz · 08-22-05, 10:00

Poorboys spray and rinse
Then polish using a mothers powerball. The powerball is excellent for those hard to reach tedious parts.

TRUCKERBAER · 08-22-05, 12:21

could this be a case of the clear coat finish coming off of the rims.

magictouch24 · 08-22-05, 12:46

Typically I use a dilluted mixture of wheel acid and either #0000 steel wool or a green scour pad on really dirty wheels. I think the thing you have to accept is that some people let their cars go for so long that the wheels will never be the same again since it is likely that brake dust has actually baked onto the wheels. I usually just tell my customers in cases like this that they let it go for too long and I can't easily remove the baked on dust, so they should stay on top of the situation to prevent it from happening again.

I especially wouldn't be spending 1.5 hours on the wheels if it is a dealer. At least in my case, wholesale brings in about half as much as retail and they get what they pay for - but I tell them that up front. All of my dealers know that when I do their cars at this point in my business it is a hassle to fit them in and I need to make my time, so they don't complain about stuff like destroyed wheels not coming out 100% perfect as long as we all make out in the end.

Scottwax · 08-22-05, 12:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRUCKERBAER

could this be a case of the clear coat finish coming off of the rims.

Agreed. Is the car an Infiniti or Nissan? The early to mid 90's were notorious for wheel clear coat failure. The dealer may have no choice but to pay for the wheels to be stripped and refinished. Runs about $100 per wheel, double that if chrome.

joburnet · 08-22-05, 04:02

used wheel cleaner and a green scour pad and they came decently clean. It definatly scratched the wheel but it looks better then caked on brake dust.

magictouch24 · 08-22-05, 07:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottwax

Agreed. Is the car an Infiniti or Nissan? The early to mid 90's were notorious for wheel clear coat failure. The dealer may have no choice but to pay for the wheels to be stripped and refinished. Runs about $100 per wheel, double that if chrome.

This is definitely true, my I30 has shown symptoms of this problem.