Is it smart to put tire dressing in wheelwells?

Frugle said:
.. on my camry, the tires are so close to the wheel well that I can't fit a brush back there..
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I keep two floorjacks in the wash bay just so I can raise the body up a little for added access in spots like that.
 
For a long time I was using vinyl dressings or Griot's Undercarriage spray on my wheel wells. However, those two types of product looked good for only a short time and if it rained it was gone even faster.



Well, after reading countless posts from Sean (G35stilez) where he used CD2 Engine Detailer in the wheel wells I finally decided to give it a try. I hadn't tried it before because CD2 is hard to find and runs $8 per can when I get it locally. Anyway, I gave it a go and I'm very happy I did. CD2 does not wash away and looks GREAT. It's been raining for days here and my wheel wells still look black and clean.
 
Scottwax said:
I use Armor All. It actually helps make clean-up easier because dirt won't stick as well to it as it will the plastic inner liners. Really helpful on vehicles like the Hummer H2, which seems to have acres of visible fenderwell.
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Thanks Scott - I have some old AA on the shelf I was determined not to use - this will use it up w/o wasting and i can eval how it works there. (Pretty sure I wouldn't $pray 303 in there!
 
hooked said:
The areas I'm talking about don't look like they're painted. It looks more like the popcorn that's sprayed on ceilings. Maybe it's for soundproofing?
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I think your talking about the undercoating that is applied to the belly of some cars to stop rust. Typically black with a texture to it?
 
I use Meg's hyper-dressing cut 4:1. Makes them not blinding, but definitely black. 2:1 on tires, 4:1 in the wells. Looks good on a clean frame too.
 
Mikeyc said:
For a long time I was using vinyl dressings or Griot's Undercarriage spray on my wheel wells. However, those two types of product looked good for only a short time and if it rained it was gone even faster.



Well, after reading countless posts from Sean (G35stilez) where he used CD2 Engine Detailer in the wheel wells I finally decided to give it a try. I hadn't tried it before because CD2 is hard to find and runs $8 per can when I get it locally. Anyway, I gave it a go and I'm very happy I did. CD2 does not wash away and looks GREAT. It's been raining for days here and my wheel wells still look black and clean.
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have to agree. the Griot's Undercarriage doesn't last long enough.



+1 for CD2 Engine Detailer
 
Yesterday, I decided to wipe down my wheelwells with my hard to use Turtle Wax Tire Shine (or whatever it's called). It's hard to use on tires because it slings everywhere and it's hard to put on a thin layer. The durability is certainly nothing to brag about either. But I found that for the wheelwells, it did a great job. I cut up one of those foam packaging things, sprayed some tire shine on it, and wiped onto the plastic areas of the wheelwell. It worked great, easy to spread, immediate difference. It hasn't been driven yet because I want the tire shine to dry off a bit to prevent too much dust attraction.



I tried to do the rough-textured area but it didn't really work. It started cutting up my foam applicator, so I just left that area out. It's hard to see, anyways.
 
I Clean Them Then Spray 3m Rubbercoating On Them,this Stuff Will Last Check Wal Mart Its About $8 A Can They Also Have Some For About $4 A Can.tire Shine Will Just Make Dirt And Dust Stick To Them.
 
Griot's Engine Cleaner does a good job of cleaning wheel wells. I think the better you get them clean, the less it matters what dressing you choose.
 
Frugle said:
on my camry, the tires are so close to the wheel well that I can't fit a brush back there, so all I'm doing is rubbing an old MF towel which really doesn't do anything.
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I have very limited space as well, but found that this brush from Chemical Guys works great for me...



Induro Brush
 
I recently started using AA tire foam on them. Even though its "extreme shine" tire foam, its still tire foam, so it leaves a very nice, new looking, flat (ever so slightly shiny on the more plastic parts, but that's what it looked like new anyway) thing. I spray it then wipe it down with a cotton terry cloth I reserve exclusively for wiping down tires and wheel wells after applying dressing of any kind.



Unfortunately, I had a heavy rainstorm here last week, and my car was exposed to several hours to that. Although I don't think I completely lost it, it did certainly reduce. Effectively, it was gone.



I also applied some to the outside of my plastic mudguards, but I only wiped that on and did not spray and allow to "set" before wiping off (otherwise I'd have a terrible mess on my paint, more than I have now :o). The dressing there was totally gone when I washed the car yesterday.



Works well enough as long as it doesn't rain, I suppose, but I don't think there really is a dressing that will last through a heavy rainstorm. Not a big deal, I guess, since it can just be reapplied weekly (if rainy). After the first time of dressing my wheel wells though, I'm a convert. I can never go back... they look so nice! :)
 
paul34 said:
Works well enough as long as it doesn't rain, I suppose, but I don't think there really is a dressing that will last through a heavy rainstorm.
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My Meguiars Endurance Tire Gel seems to do pretty well even when it rains the whole night (no heavy thunderstorms or anything lately). Maybe you should give it a try to use on the tires. You can leave the AA tire foam for use in the wheelwells. Cheap and effective! :) The tires on the MPV were dressed 3-4 weeks ago. The dressing visibility is significantly reduced, but definitely can be seen in comparison to regular tires without dressing.
 
^^ Yea, this is my second try. I did the same thing as last time (justin's method), but this time I tried a few things different:



1) Applied foam on a dry tire

2) Kind of involuntarily (ran out of time yesterday), the wiped down foam stayed on there overnight

3) Applied Endurance gel today!



Not sure what I did, but the tires look significantly wetter than usual! I don't think I "slathered" them in gel, but they certainly have that look :) I wiped them down throughly to ensure no sling.



So I guess we'll see in the coming weeks! :)
 
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