Best way to clean wheels?

[kushh]

Is it possible to wash your wheels without getting the oxidation on your rotors which immediately gets all over your clean wheels the moment you apply your brakes.

[ntg44]

I just got a new set of wheels, and wanted to test out a few things. Here's what I got it down to.

1. Ceramic coat your wheels. It absolutely helps with washing and is much less effort once you do. Once coated, you can even wash your wheels with a soapy mitt dedicated to wheels only and rinse the wheels off by just wiping with a wet rag, followed by a dry rag. It's a little more time consuming, but combined with ceramic coating your rotors won't get wet and rusty.

2. Follow up with a quick detail spray & wipe on the wheels. For me it definitely helps to have an extra slippery layer on top. Now I can go about 3-4 weeks before the wheels get dirty enough to piss me off and clean them again. The ceramic coating makes it so easy.

[pokerface]

leaf blower to blow off as much water as possible. drive around the block, come back and wipe/blow off any remaining drips.

if you have coated your wheels that also helps.

[hC1001]

Originally Posted by kushh

Is it possible to wash your wheels without getting the oxidation on your rotors which immediately gets all over your clean wheels the moment you apply your brakes.

Hydes serum rust stopper

[kushh]

Originally Posted by ntg44

I just got a new set of wheels, and wanted to test out a few things. Here's what I got it down to.

1. Ceramic coat your wheels. It absolutely helps with washing and is much less effort once you do. Once coated, you can even wash your wheels with a soapy mitt dedicated to wheels only and rinse the wheels off by just wiping with a wet rag, followed by a dry rag. It's a little more time consuming, but combined with ceramic coating your rotors won't get wet and rusty.

2. Follow up with a quick detail spray & wipe on the wheels. For me it definitely helps to have an extra slippery layer on top. Now I can go about 3-4 weeks before the wheels get dirty enough to piss me off and clean them again. The ceramic coating makes it so easy.

Unfortunately ceramic coating my wheels isn't an option right now. But nice to know for the future!

[kushh]

Originally Posted by hC1001

Hydes serum rust stopper

Thanks!

[M 4 FUN]

i Always wash my wheels the last thing i do to avoid surface rust. I wash them, drive and brake, then dry them off with airpressure.

[Jbrown7403]

Couldn’t agree more about ceramic coated wheels! I feel like it cuts road and brake residue by 70%.

I recently started to jack up each corner w/o removing, clean each 666 wheel including the barrel, lower and move to the next corner. Goes pretty quick and much easier to get the whole barrel. The front wheels rotate which also makes cleaning easier! Also prevents wear and tear on my 53 yr old back and knees

[yjypm]

CCB retrofit... jk
I double the leaf blower solution, blow water off of the brakes as much as possible before you wipe down the wheels.

[papasmurf_m3]

Get your wheels ceramic coated. I'm so glad I did my 666M. I have heard it's a huge PITA to clean. Just blast brake dust and dirt off with a pressure washer and your golden.

[rjd598]

Does no one read? Hahahha Wtf does ceramic coating your rims have to do with rust on your ROTORS.

Hyde's is a great option and apparently P&S Brake Buster has similar characteristics, but I haven't tried it out myself to confirm. It's a really annoying part of detailing because you really can't avoid it.

[Andrae26]

Originally Posted by rjd598

Does no one read? Hahahha Wtf does ceramic coating your rims have to do with rust on your ROTORS.

Hyde's is a great option and apparently P&S Brake Buster has similar characteristics, but I haven't tried it out myself to confirm. It's a really annoying part of detailing because you really can't avoid it.

Trust me and try the P&S brake buster. It works. I have no rust on my rotors when I use it and it's a great tire cleaner as well.

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by Andrae26

Trust me and try the P&S brake buster. It works. I have no rust on my rotors when I use it and it's a great tire cleaner as well.

I have a gallon waiting to be used. Huge fan of being able to hit the tires with the same product, but a rust inhibitor is just cherry on top. Can’t wait to give the famous bead maker a shot too.

[nioh_lbbm2]

Originally Posted by Andrae26

Trust me and try the P&S brake buster. It works. I have no rust on my rotors when I use it and it's a great tire cleaner as well.

Just looked it up and they mention it has corrosion inhibited in it which explains why your rotors aren't rusting when you use it.

I'm gonna have to pick some up now. Up until now I've had no problem keeping wheels clean with just standard car shampoo (I use Adams) since my wheels are coated but the rotors always kill the joy the next day.

[louielouie]

+1 for Brake Buster. Also get to cut down on 1 spray bottle not having to use a diluted APC on tires. It doesn't completely prevent the rust but there's a noticeable difference between with and without.

[jlspeed29]

I never actually paid much attention to "rusty rotors"

does not apply to my current car (CCBs) but for every other car i've had and even our current other car which i wash frequently, ive never noticed rust to be of any concern....

[bsmf8x]

I'm gonna ceramic coat my wheels myself via gtechniq wheel armor.

Will using an iron remover and wheel denominator suffice?

Just doing the faces of my 437m wheel.

If anyone has a better option for wheel ceramic coating I'd appreciate it.

[IVM3]

I usually just drive the car down the road and brake a lot gently when I'm done washing the car, but before drying it. I haven't noticed rust from the rotors end up on the wheel using this method.

[BzsBimmer]

Originally Posted by murdrdf82

I'm gonna ceramic coat my wheels myself via gtechniq wheel armor.

Will using an iron remover and wheel denominator suffice?

Just doing the faces of my 437m wheel.

If anyone has a better option for wheel ceramic coating I'd appreciate it.

Starting to get ot here but I used Geyon Rim. Easy to apply and remove.

[BzsBimmer]

Originally Posted by louielouie

+1 for Brake Buster. Also get to cut down on 1 spray bottle not having to use a diluted APC on tires. It doesn't completely prevent the rust but there's a noticeable difference between with and without.

I’m down to my last bottle of Sonax so I’ll give this a try.

[ellipsis212]

For those of you wondering whether this is really an issue I can confirm that it is. After a few sets of darker wheels I never noticed it but now that my wheels are bright silver it's insane how much brown/orange slop there is after washing. I've tried all the usual methods of washing last, drying rotors, etc. and it does nothing and I end up having to get a dedicated towel in there and wipe the barrels down every time. It sucks.

Gonna try out one of the recommended rust reducers in this thread and report back.

[ellipsis212]

^^^^ so yeah!

Got the gallon jug of brake buster and mixed it 1:8 in a foam cannon. Hit the whole wheel area at the beginning of my wash and then moved on with the rest of the car.

After blower drying I simply reversed a few yards with brakes on and then pulled back into my garage. This is where things typically go wrong with the rotor rust, but today nothing at all 😎

I'm going to go ahead and claim that this is the solution to 98% of this problem. Get some!