Neglected Alloy Wheels

[techboydino]

Our Rovers have painted and clearcoated wheels, much like the painted surfaces on the car. Thus, you want to treat them just as you'd treat paint to avoid damage.

Oven cleaner will damage your wheels. Rubbing compound may be too harsh.

I would use the p21s gel stuff... it works great. It's also not readily available at retail stores. So I have also used wheel cleaners with great success --buy a good brand like meguiars or whatever, and if the wheel dust is really baked on, a very soft toothbrush helps. Get a wheel cleaner for painted or "factory" wheels. Don't spray wheel cleaner on hot wheels, and dont let it dry on the wheels. Ever. Also dont inhale the spray, that stuff stinks and is probably very bad for your lungs. I know alot of wheel cleaners say they're totally safe, but dont believe it, they'll mar, cloud or strip the paint's clearcoat from the wheels if left on to dry or for too long.

The claims that you just spray it on and hose it off are not generally true... and if so, you risk damage to your wheels.

I clean my wheels every week and about every six months wax them with just normal car wax or if I have it, something called WHEEL WAX that is wax made especially for wheels. Clay barring your wheels or polishing them with polish the same way you'd polish paint on your truck pre-waxing works great too for removing embedded grime/discolorations.

But one of the facts is that if your wheels have been damaged/pitted by brake dust, they've been damaged already so the best you can do is clean them, protect or seal them, and keep the dust off.

Also, wheels just look better when waxed. Shinier, more reflective. Its something I have never done before I got my LR3, but I wish I did.

I agree with you. But I am no stranger to automotive paint and I can tell you all cleaners are harsh. Most waxes remove micro layers of paint. I found most people, including myself dont always take the time to keep wheels clean. Some people put armor all on wheels to keep the dust from setting, I dont like that idea but its all opinions. I tried everything on my wheels and the oven cleaner was the best by far for the bad stuff. Try the natural less harsh if your having issues cleaning them. Just my opinion, more than 5 ways to skin a cat.

 

[JackMac]

I ordered the P21S gel earlier this week and plan to give it a try.

The rims on my other vehicles are well maintained and are nearly flawless, however the rims on the LR3 have not been as well maintained, and have some baked on brake dust.

I used oven cleaner once on an old BMW many years ago. It took off most of the caked on brake dust (looked like the prior owner never touched them) but it also took off all of the shine and some of the paint with it. Be careful with oven cleaner - it works, but use a gentle one and use it sparingly.

 

[bscmich]

Thanks for all of the input. The last few posts sum it up pretty well. I've read alot of threads on this on the Audi, BMW, etc. detailing forums. The bottom line is keep those alloys clean from the beginning. I've always followed this on my new vehicles and the wheels look great for years and years. On a pre-owned it's a bit of a crap shoot. I got a great LR3 but the prior owner probably wasn't as fussy as many of us enthusiasts might be. I was looking at the oven cleaner can and it certainly contains some harsh chemicals. I would expect that to compromise the clearcoat. Having said that, my conclsuion is that there really isn't any "spray on / spray off" option here. Anything that involves sum rubbing is going to have an impact on the finish. As pointed out, it's basically a painted finish. On the other hand, my expectations are not for a "show car" finish, this a Land Rover after all and it's made to be dirty. Fortunately, the alloys have a rather sparkley compostion so even if they dull slightly in the slots, they still look very good. I tested one slot tonight by applying a paste coating of Bar Keepers Friend for about 2 minutes. I then used a small soft bristle brush and gentle removed the paste and rinsed without alot of scrubbing. It's going to take a few applications but the scratching and dulling is minimal and the results are good. When I'm all done I plan on using a safe coated alloy polish and keeping them clean (after I get them dirty off road!).

 

[shedward]

S100 is the motorcycle equivalent of P21S - check it out at Harley Davidson dealerships - that's where I get mine - it's the only wheel cleaner I use - I even dilute it 50% with distilled water and it works really well. For the brake dust that's "fused" in - I use Meguiar's #6 Cleaner Wax - it works well on this problem.

 

[GSMblue]

Sorry for digging up an old thread... Bear with me.

Over the weekend I spent 5.5hours cleaning the outside of my LR3. It is the first time in the 2 years I have had the vehicles I really attacked the wheels. I have the 19" 6 spokes.

The wheels were in horrible condition, lots of break dust and bits of metal fused to the paint as well as some strange streaks and spotting.

I tried the P21, spray on, agitate with a brush, leave for 15 mins, spray a little more, agitate again repeat for about 1hour.

This got a lot of the brake dust specks off but did not tackle the streaks and spots. So I got creative.

I hosed downed and dried the wheels and they hit them with a claybar. This is after all a clear coat finish. So for 1.5 hours I meticulously cleaned my wheels. The clay bar pretty much fell apart and ended up int eh trash, but I think they are about 80% of where I want them to be. I finished the paint with some wax and will attack again at the weekend.

If you wheels are in dire shape, then using a multi pronged attached such as P21s and then clay bar may work as well for you as it did for me. If there is interest I can put before and after pics up.

 

[GSMblue]

Heavily cropped images showing the before and after. Not great looking pics, sorry.

The first image is actually after the LR3 had been through a wash man car wash, so the top layer of grime is missing.

Worth noting, images may not be the same wheel, but they all looked really similar before and after, so this is representative of what i was dealing with.

 

[mbw]

Clay is a good way to go, but you shouldn't use them on paint after they have been on wheels. Same rule as if you drop the clay on the ground. Don't use clay that has been dropped and had small deposits of rock or whatever in it.