Cost effective Tire and Wheel treatments?

[Chris Nemlich]

I have been doing a good amount of cars lately and I seem to always run out of tire and wheel products. I have been using Hot Rims/Cool Care All Wheel Cleaner at $5.99 a bottle and a variety of tire products including NEW NXT Generation Insane Shine Tire Spray and Gold Class Endurance . Endurance may be fairly cost effective but it takes more time to apply.

I am considering just using Hyper-Dressing on the tires as I have a gallon of this.

Any other suggestions?

Chris

[travisdecpn]

I have switched to using wash soap on the wheels with an old mitt. If that doesn't clean them, I switch to APC and the wheel and tire brushes. The APC works great on both tires and wheels and is very economical, especially since it has a bunch of other interior/exterior uses. I like All Season Dressing, I get about a month out of it easily in dry weather. I use an Eagle One applicator to apply a nice even coat and it dries quickly. Hyper Dressing is a good choice too, but I really like the durability of ASD.

[chrisx]

I would think Hyper Dressing would be a good choice as you could dilute 4:1 for a satin finish on the tyres and mouldings and 1:1 or 2:1 for high shine.

[Bama]

Originally posted by travisdecpn
I have switched to using wash soap on the wheels with an old mitt. If that doesn't clean them, I switch to APC and the wheel and tire brushes. The APC works great on both tires and wheels and is very economical, especially since it has a bunch of other interior/exterior uses. I like All Season Dressing, I get about a month out of it easily in dry weather. I use an Eagle One applicator to apply a nice even coat and it dries quickly. Hyper Dressing is a good choice too, but I really like the durability of ASD.

I agree on the the soap and water method with an old mit. I don't like to use a wheel cleaner unless necessary. I like to keep my rims polished and waxed, which makes removal of brake dust very easy. Wheel cleaner strips the polish and wax off the wheels. However, I do have a set of honeycomb rims that require a wheel cleaner every now and then. I like to use the less agressive method available.

As far as tire dressings, the Endurance gel is economical but time consuming. The aerosol type dressings work well but are not economical in my opinion. Hotshine in the trigger pump works well and is pretty economical imo. I haven't used ASD in a while, and I haven't tried the hyper dressing.

[RDVT4ME]

I'll third the soap and a wash mit (or a wheel brush). That does a good job of removing most problems. I also use APC on the tires.

I have a friend who also has a vette like mine and he uses a fairly harsh wheel cleaner .....now his brake calipers are discolored....mine are not.

[Bama]

Originally posted by RDVT4ME
I'll third the soap and a wash mit (or a wheel brush). That does a good job of removing most problems. I also use APC on the tires.

I have a friend who also has a vette like mine and he uses a fairly harsh wheel cleaner .....now his brake calipers are discolored....mine are not.

Bob, you are right. I have noticed that some wheel cleaners, especially acids, will discolor the rotors, calipers, and pads, which really ***** if you have some special "show type" calipers.