Wheels ~ the extra step....

[gb387]

Well it was time to rotate my tires so after seeing someone else on this site give their wheels a good cleaning I did the same. Mike suggested using clay on the wheels sometime ago so I thought I would give it a try as well.

I used an old Chenille sponge and Black Magic wheel brush to clean the wheels and....

Here is what I used:
1. Wash with NXT Car Wash
2. Clay with Meguiars Clay and Last Touch
3. Wash with NXT Car Wash
4. Clean with Deep Crystal System Paint Cleaner
5. Polish withDeep Crystal System Polish
6. Wax with NXT Tech Wax (2 coats)
7. Tire Dressing used Gold Class High Gloss Endurance

Here is a before of the backside of the wheel:


Here is a during of the backside of the wheel:


Here is a after of the front side of the wheel:


Here is the clay after (the wash water looked the same):


After it was all said and done I had 2 1/2 hours into the project and it was a lot of work! I had never waxed the inside of the wheels so everything was stuck on good! The next time I hope it will take less time and be easier to remove the grime with a coat of wax. They are not perfect on the inside but they are MUCH better than before the process.

I also cleaned the wheel wells and washed some of the salt/sand from the winter out from the underside and suspension.

The rest of the truck is next, but I am still waiting on my order from Meguiars. I called and turns out it was damaged in shipping and they are sending the package again, I hope it makes it by this weekend!

[Mike Phillips]

Nice work gb387,

Full on cleaning of your wheels like this is a lot of hard, dirty work, but the bonus is that in the future they will be easier and faster to clean.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

The wheels look great!!! I would further suggest that you use Meguiar's Wheel Brightner. It would help to keep the back of the wheels clean!

Cheers!

Tim

[gb387]

Originally posted by 2hotford
Hey,

The wheels look great!!! I would further suggest that you use Meguiar's Wheel Brightner. It would help to keep the back of the wheels clean!

Cheers!

Tim

Wheel Brightner.... never used it. Anything could have helped, might have to give it a try!

I would rather detail my truck 10 times over cleaning my wheels in the same way. I never really kept up on them and it made for some hard work. Now that I have wax on them it really should make things easier.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

I am not 'wheel' friendly! Sorry could not resist! LOL!!

The Wheel Brightener is awesome stuff! It is amazing how well and easy it keeps the wheels clean!!

Tim

[Boss_429]

gb387,

Very nice work indeed! Those wheels look great.

When you have the wheels off, it's a great time to "really" detail the wheel wells and everything in there!

Tim,

Wheel Brightener............ tell us more!

[Tim Lingor]

Originally posted by Boss_429


Tim,

Wheel Brightener............ tell us more!

LOL!! Yeah yeah... I know..LOL! I get a little excited over some products sometimes!


Tim

[Rick]

Ughh, don't remind me I'm way overdue for a full wheel and tire cleaning. When your wheels look like this:



It's easy to foreget about the back sides of them. Here's what I've found works well though. I take my grunt clay bar chunk (this is clay that I've moved down the totum pole to lesser jobs) and use an old wash mit in some regular car wash soap, then after one wash and rinse put some more soap on the back side of the wheel and use it as lube for the clay. It's grunt clay anyways so you won't miss it. Then always wax the back sides because it makes future cleaning so much easier.

[gb387]

Well just a quick up date... Did this back on or about March 24th.

I have been really paying close attention to my wheels after doing this it was allot of work and I want it to last.

I appears the NXT is holding up very well, the water beads up very nice even on the inside of the wheel. Brake dust and grime still wipes off with ease, a little Gold Class Shampoo and wash mitt works well then the Wheel Spoke Brush for the inside of the wheel.

I don't put many miles on (100-150 miles a week at most!) so that helps as well.

[rosenberry]

wheel brightner is awesome just gotta watch what you use it on . use it on the wrong rim and it will cause you to get white streaks on the rim and thats no fun trying to get off

[kboxer]

I have been using APC cut mild and it does awesome. I use indutrial strength being I buy from the distributor. It is mild enough for wheels but when I ran out of white wall cleaner it was strong enough to clean white walls and white letters. I have yet to find a rim it wont tackle. I dont use the wheel acid anymore. Learned my lesson leaving it on a clearcoat.

[inthedetails]

Wheel Brightener is Da' Bomb!

It easily removes **** that many other products won't touch.

wheel brightner is awesome just gotta watch what you use it on . use it on the wrong rim and it will cause you to get white streaks on the rim and thats no fun trying to get off

I was suprised by this statement Rosenberry, as I thought it was all wheel safe. I have had no issues whatsoever, so far....

fingers crossed

[rosenberry]

im not to sure what type of coating the rims on the 66 wagon i did are but i know it streaked the you know what out of them

[Whelan]

Re: Wheels ~ the extra step....

I've always found a bristle brush and some simple green work great, non-toxic cleaner degreaser that is perfect. Spray it on, let it sit, brush it off, and spray again. Then a healthy coat of wax and the wheels go right back on the car!