Wheel cleaners

[Troponin]

This new car has been giving me a terrible headache with the brake dust. I have never owned a car that produced this much, even when I am driving conservatively. Scrubbing these things once a week is just getting to be too much.

The only solution I can come up with is to use a wheel cleaner. It would also be nice if there was a product I could use that also helped prevent the dust from caking on their permanently. In the corners of the spokes, it is really bad and even the dealership didn't get them clean when the car was new.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[nxhappy]

"
Eliminating Brake Dust
There's no way to eliminate brake dust entirely because all friction linings are designed to wear. If the pads did not wear, they would soon chew up the rotors, and pads are a lot cheaper to replace than rotors.

Relatively soft nonasbestos organic (NAO) friction materials typically wear more than harder semi-metallic compounds. It's hard to generalize about the wear characteristics of ceramic-based compounds because there are so many. Wear varies depending on the formula the friction supplier chooses for a particular application. Different vehicles require different coefficients of friction, so formulas are often "application engineered" to deliver the best combination of stopping power, wear resistance, pedal feel and noise control. Most premium-quality ceramic-based linings as well as the latest generation of low-copper and copper-free brake pads will usually provide longer life, less wear and less dust than many OEM pads or NAO pads.

So, the next time you see ugly brake dust sticking to your wheels, you should think about replacing your brake pads with low-dusting ceramic-based, or next generation low-copper or copper-free pads."

 

[nxhappy]

to answer your question: I don't think any product will help your issue.

 

[Troponin]

to answer your question: I don't think any product will help your issue.

So none of the wheel cleaners work?

 

[nxhappy]

IMO not really. It's gonna clean it. But won't prevent anything lol.

 

[Troponin]

IMO not really. It's gonna clean it. But won't prevent anything lol.

I understand that. When I am ready for new brakes, or close to it, I'll look in to a different pad. For now, I Just want something to make cleaning them easier and faster and wondered if wheel cleaners actually worked on really dirty wheels.

 

[04MysticCobra]

So none of the wheel cleaners work?

Most cleaners will work to a point. If you get caked on brake dust then use a sealant on the wheels. From when my vehicles are new I always put a fresh coat of sealant on my wheels. I use Four Star UPP on the paint and just put it on the wheels when I detail. I never have brake dust problems on my wheels. Also when you do the first brake job do not use the factory pads. It sounds like they are dust happy. I use Wagner Thermo quiets for all my brake jobs and they are low dust.

 

[nxhappy]

maybe: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Wheel-T...&qid=1488929913&sr=1-2&keywords=wheel+cleaner

and then sealant
https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guy...1488930084&sr=1-1&keywords=wheel+sealant&th=1

 

[NastyGT500]

Yes. Wheel cleaners work. They will help break down the brake dust and clean your wheels much better than not using one. I like Adams, McKee's, Sonax, etc.

Now, for something that will assist you in the cleaning process: You can use a sealant, that will help and the easier of the routes I will suggest. A sealant will only last so long though. (CarPro Hydro 2 is a super easy to use and very good option)

My other recommendation is to use a ceramic/nano/glass coating on the wheels/rims and this will last a much longer time than a sealant, although it could be more of a PIA to install...(any wheel coating will do the trick)

Hope this helps you!

(and I would seriously consider changing your pads sooner than later to help keep you from going insane, it will be worth the money!)

 

[MarcSpaz]

I use Grease Lightning to clean the wheels and calipers, and then I was them really well. Usually I can go 5 or 6 washes with a quick dab of the rag and rinse.

Get some EBC yellows or Hawk 5.0s. Harder that the stock pads, which will help the wheels stay cleaner, but you won't need to replace your rotors every 10k miles.

 

[02Toner]

I just bought a gallon of Meguiars D143 non-acid wheel cleaner and like it, I dilute it 1:1 with distilled water. My gloss black wheels on my truck are a pain to keep clean since its my daily, so with this I can just spray on, let sit for a minute and powerwash off when I routinely spray the truck off.

 

[black92]

It could be me, but I applied two coats of Blackfire Crystal Seal on my wheels and they seem to clean up much easier now. This is going through a car wash, not using my power washer (been too cold). Going to get it spiffed up again in a few weeks and recoat the wheels again.