Cleaning Rims question

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BMW645

New member
How critical is it to clean 'behind' the rim? I read the proper way to clean your tires is to remove them from the car, and clean them. However, this isn't practical with my everyday car. Yet, the rims on my everyday car are such that it's almost impossible to stick my big hands between the spokes of the wheels, to clean the 'inside'.



I need some suggestions here. And, perhaps, I can just get away with cleaning the 'outside' of my tire? Thanks.
 
Try to clean a couple of times/year. I don't think that many of us are cleaning the rear side of the wheel on a weekly basis.



You could also consider a low dusting/dustless pad and relieve 90% of the mess :xyxthumbs
 
I take my wheels off twice a year to clean/protect the backsides and the inward-facing sidewall of the tires. The wheels look a lot better when they're clean on the inside too.
 
I clean the inside of my wheels at every wash with a Meguiar's Spoke Brush and some car shampoo. Twice a year I will remove them and clay, polish, and seal x 3-5. I think wheels look 100x better when cleaned thru and thru.
 
BMW645 said:
How critical is it to clean 'behind' the rim? I read the proper way to clean your tires is to remove them from the car, and clean them. However, this isn't practical with my everyday car. Yet, the rims on my everyday car are such that it's almost impossible to stick my big hands between the spokes of the wheels, to clean the 'inside'.
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The Meguiar's wheel spoke brush (Walmart, Pep Boys) is a nice tool to clean between the spokes of the wheel. It's not the same as taking the tire off and cleaning the inside of the rim, but it works.
 
GSRstilez said:
I clean the inside of my wheels at every wash with a Meguiar's Spoke Brush and some car shampoo. Twice a year I will remove them and clay, polish, and seal x 3-5. I think wheels look 100x better when cleaned thru and thru.
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Same here except I use an acid free wheel cleaner (Sonax R2000 or P21S) instead of wash shampoo. Once the insides are sealed it makes cleaning them so much easier, and also makes it lot easier when the time comes to remove them and give the the full works!



I also take the opportunity to give my wheel wells a good clean when I take the rims off as well.



Ben
 
Ideally, I like to pull the wheels off twice a year. Once in the spring and once in the fall. It is not that easy to keep it up on a daily driven car. I have big spokes on my rim, so it allows me to get my brush back there and get some of the grim out, but not all during a weekly wash.
 
I just hit the insides with an acid every coupla weeks. They're not polished, so it doesn't affect anything. I guess you could use a Meg's spoke brush and soap too, I just find that acid gets the little spots that the brush won't reach.
 
Depends if they're polished or not.



I was at the used car lot this weekend and saw a Caddy Escalade on 20"+ polished wheels, and they had started corroding from the inside out. Looked like junk. $5k (at least) down the drain.



Has anybody used any sort of sealant (I'm thinking like a laquer or shellac) on the inside of painted wheels? Seems like it might be a decent way to go.
 
guy1138 said:
Has anybody used any sort of sealant (I'm thinking like a laquer or shellac) on the inside of painted wheels? Seems like it might be a decent way to go.
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My summer wheels are painted on the inside. AIO + WGx2 has worked terrific so far.
 
There are all sorts of things you can use to clean the inside of the rim and even the back sides of the spokes. Unless you have BBS-style wheels or ones like I have on the 9C1 you should be able to clean them up OK if you take the time and put together a selection of cleaning tools.



Besides the thing in the Griot's link, you can use the large foam swabs that places like that sell or even wrap a MF around a wooden stick like they use to stir paint. TOL sells a brush similar to the Meguiar's one called something like EZ Motorcycle Detailing Brush that works well, but I don't use it on the good cars (not soft enough for me). Move the vehicle forward/back a little to expose the areas where the caliper might limit access. Wrap a MF around the spokes if your hands are too big to reach behind to their back sides.



I use AIO/UPP or KSG (KSG X 4-6 on daily drivers) regardless of how the insides are finished (or not) and just clean with a slightly stronger than normal shampoo mix in a spray bottle. Lasts at least six months, usually longer- often until I switch to the snows. I quit using wheel cleaners because they were too hard on the protection and I didn't want to pull the wheels to redo it all the time.



When I rotated the wheels on the S8 this weekend the back sides were almost perfectly clean. Made me think that all the time I spend cleaning them at each wash was worth it.
 
Accumulator said:
When I rotated the wheels on the S8 this weekend the back sides were almost perfectly clean. Made me think that all the time I spend cleaning them at each wash was worth it.
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It's definitely worth it to clean them regularly. It makes for a very quick cleanup at the end of the season. :up
 
If you have and "open" spoke design, you can clean the inner rims every time you wash, by just reaching through with your wash mitt.



If your wheel design is more closed (small holes), do it twice a year when you rotate your tires.



This will also give you an opportunity to clean the wheelwells, springs, shocks, frame, rotors, calipers, etc.



Dress or wax everything and it will be much easier to clean next time.



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Same as most, I use a variety of brushes to get inside, and pull them off twice a year to really get them cleaned well and seal them.
 
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