Brake Dust vs Elbow Grease
[ March 18th, 2009 ] By: Mark Ozimek Posted in » Tips and Tricks
I was about to put my summer tires back on the Volvo today, but when I pulled the wheels out of the closet, I realized how dirty they are. I used the rain as an excuse to spend some time getting off some of the grime that had built up over the last 11 years and 150,000 miles!
Last fall, when I put the snow tires on, I tried to scrub down the inside of the wheel, and got a bunch of stuff off, but it still looked horrible:
So I made a quick run to a Pepboys down the road and picked up some Meguiar’s Hot Rim cleaning spray. It says to just spray on and rinse off. That’s a blatant lie. I effectively destroyed a sponge scrubbing all the crap off the surface. The spray really did help break down the baked on brake dust, and after rinsing everything off, that wheel now looks like this:
Much better! Not bad for about 10 minutes worth of scrubbing… hahaha. However, not perfect because quite a few of those black spots aren’t dirt, but damage to the surface of the wheel.
So why do this? Well, obviously it look nicer now. More practically, cleaning stuff off the surface prevents oxidation from occuring, and if there is too much dirt and grime, the balance of the wheel can be thrown off, requiring the wheel to be rebalanced to reduce vibration at high speeds.
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:56 am
Good post - worth mentioning again, is that the metal of your wheels WILL be pitted and corroded by the brake dust.
Not so much of a worry for winter wheels (if used) where they’re exposed to all sorts of sodium nastiness, but for those that have pricey wheens on their ride, keep ‘em clean - not just to look nice but to protect your investment.
A few other notes:
1) 3M green pad WILL remove any protective coatings on metal - while it scours away all sorts of grime, it will quickly scrub off any protective clear coats on rims or permanently de-gloss/scuff them.
2) Many rims come with a clear coat that will be attacked by harsh chemical cleaners (engine degreasers, resin removers, etc.) not made specifically for rims.
3) Many car detailers put wax on their rims to add a protective (sacrificial) layer to the metal and any coatings on the metal (chrome, powdercoat, enamel, etc.)
4) Some household cleaners will cause rapid oxidization of exposed ferrous metals.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Excellent points there Dustin, thanks :)
It certainly is easier to keep things clean than to clean something dirty. That way you can avoid using harsh chemicals or abrasive scrubbing materials, and keep your rims in excellent condition.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I hate cleaning brake dust. Espically when it’s been caked on for a while. There rim cleaner manufacturers need to make a new solution for this situation instead of doing a bogus claim of spray on and wash off cleaner.
June 12th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Spray on wash off is something that makes me laugh. If its chemically strong enough to not require and elbow grease it very well could be damaging all sorts of things.