Wheel well protecting / prepping for winter

A

Astouffer512

Member
How does everyone (I`m assuming people do) prep and protect wheel wells for the winter months? Especially people in the mid-Atlantic/ north east. Are there any spray type coating products worthwhile? I`ve been looking at something like Gyeon wet-coat....or am I looking at the wrong type of product?

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If they really need something special I`ll clean them up and LSP (solvent if there`s a lot of tar, otherwise just clay, then some AIO, then regular LSP on the areas painted body-color) but I could just stick with the usual cleanings and SprayWaxing (which I have done and found pretty sufficient).

As long as I keep cleaning and SprayWaxing them at every wash there`s no need for anything really involved, even with Ohio winters.

IMO the big thing is to not let salt/etc. stay in place all that long, which it doesn`t since the wells/etc. get done every time I wash.
 
Not sure if we are talking the same thing or not? I`m wondering about the wheel well up side the car above the tires.

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Let me know what you do for fabric-type wheel well liners on some vehicles, like GM trucks.

I am tempted to use canvas fabric waterproofing silicone or a 3M Scotchgard Fabric protectant or a something that ATVs use on their wheel wells to keep the mud from sticking.
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Lonnie said:
Let me know what you do for fabric-type wheel well liners on some vehicles, like GM trucks.

I am tempted to use canvas fabric waterproofing silicone or a 3M Scotchgard Fabric protectant or a something that ATVs use on their wheel wells to keep the mud from sticking.
Check out slickproductsusa.com (Sorry, no direct link due to forum rules! Right Moderators?)
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I`ve always used 303 fabric protectant on those myself.
 
Well, plastic won`t be susceptible to corrosion. Not really anything to protect that I can think of. People use spray-on products like Fluid Film for the winter months, don`t know that is going to help in this scenario.
 
I coated the plastic in my Challenger and the VW golf with Modesta plastic coating. Just hose it off and done. I’m sure auto geek has a consumer plastic coating. As far as fabric, I use rag top .
 
I coat the plastic type and use a fabric coating on the fabric ones. Keeps them cleaner longer and assists in cleanup during maintenance.
 
Astouffer512 said:
Not sure if we are talking the same thing or not? I`m wondering about the wheel well up side the car above the tires.
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I`m pretty sure we`re talking about the same thing. Our Audis and the Crown Vic have both painted metal and plastic in the wheelwells.

IMO there`s no point in using either a Dressing (too short-lived, potential for retaining dust/dirt) or a Trim Sealant (too much abuse from stuff the tires throw up). The SprayWaxing seems just right; looks fine from wash-to-wash, sheds dirt better than a Dressing, easy-peasy to do when drying them.

Mike lambert said:
I coated the plastic in my Challenger and the VW golf with Modesta plastic coating. Just hose it off and done. I’m sure auto geek has a consumer plastic coating.
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Ah, interesting! How does it hold up to gravel/etc. getting thrown up in the Winter? How do you think a Coating work would on worn plastic (we`re not talking cars that`re just a decade old here ;) )?

I somehow think I`d *not* appreciate any benefits from "doing them better" with a Coating/Sealant, but I do want to keep an open mind. What might I be missing?!?

Those surfaces just take *so* much abuse from stuff getting thrown up from the road, and mine are just so worn on most of our vehicles...one unexpected benefit of the SprayWaxes I`ve tried is that they work OK on surfaces that`re in really nasty condition. I bet the Coating/Sealant approach would work great on something pampered like the S8, but since I`m drying those surfaces anyhow a SprayWax as a Drying Aid doesn`t really take anything extra, and I can even use the same towel that I`m already using for the Undercarriage/etc. since it`ll already have the SprayWax on it.
 
I really couldn`t live with the fabric ones, I`d literally pass on a vehicle over them...I mean, how do you keep those nice after thousands of miles, let alone in bad weather? I see them looking ratty on Loaners/etc. that are basically still new! Tar, salt, abrasion...let alone lane-line paint (heh heh, I know we Autopians never drive through it, but still..), after just a dozen years or so I`d expect that material to be in awful shape.
 
I’ve coated all kinds of trucks and jeeps, there is no problem with coating plastic liners. It improves the looks and lasts much longer.
 
Bill D said:
So what specific spray waxes are we talking about?
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For me, OCW and M156/UQW. Both are fine for the wells/etc. and I`m using them on things like exterior trim anyhow (using OCW on the whole A8 as it`s just *so* quick and easy).

I`ve gotten in the habit of using the UQW on the wells/undercarriages/etc. as it really does help them stay cleaner and clean up better. Sorta surprised me how much better, compared to the leave-stuff-behind QDs I`d been using previously (and which I still need to use up somehow).
 
Mike lambert said:
I’ve coated all kinds of trucks and jeeps, there is no problem with coating plastic liners. It improves the looks and lasts much longer.
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Huh, I would`ve bet anything that roughly-abraded/gouged surfaces would be problematic with a coating, that`s really surprising. I would`ve thought such an approach would only work on something in decent condition, guess I was extrapolating from how coatings are on paint.

One of the specific things I like about the SprayWaxes is that they work fine of deeply scratched/gouged areas and, uhm..."even out" the areas that are severely abraded (to the point of looking completely different from the still-OK areas) so that the whole thing looks more uniform, instead of "worn-to-gray areas on somethings that`s mostly black".

How clean do the surfaces to be coated have to be? Some areas of these liners are not coming clean after so many years of daily use (and goodness knows I`ve tried). What about the severely abraded areas? Any issues there?

I`m not saying I`m ready to try a coating...not convinced that the additional time/etc. would be worth it since the SprayWaxing doesn`t really take *any* time at all since I`m already drying and there`s never any prep needed beyond the usual washing, but I am intrigued.

(Heh heh, I oughta know better than to consider this as I can`t justify coating wheels despite having the product on the shelf, but I`m intrigued anyhow.)
 
I will consider spray waxing my wells next time they need it. I suppose I will spread the wax with my bath sponge on a long handle then buff the wells with a MF draped over it.
 
Bill D- If I weren`t raising the vehicle up with a floorjack (hint hint), I`d probably just spritz some on the MF and wipe the wells down, instead of saturating the sponge and applying it like a "real LSP" before buffing it (again, like a real LSP). It doesn`t take all that much and the "one pass" approach might be as good as the more involved/?proper? two-step method, at least after you`ve done it a few times and let the product build up in there. I *am* assuming you`d have already washed/rinsed them out, so I`d basically just dry them, but with a little SprayWax on the towel. Not that I`m encouraging anybody to half-[bake] it or anything. (Actually, sure I am ;) )

As clean as you keep yours, I bet that the most minimal effort in this regard will be sufficient.
 
I can always throw the car on my lift and really get every surface of the wells real good probably without needing my sponge on a handle.

Thanks very much for the feedback. Now I’m looking forward to doing this soon! :-)
 
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