I'm usually very good about keeping up with cleaning brake dust off my wheels, but due to the long below freezing stint we have had here in Cleveland, I haven't been able to fully clean/scrub my wheels. I have been only able to power rinse the car.

I have now begun to notice the brown/rust discoloration on the spokes and I know from past experience that these markings don't just wash off. These markings are the kind that occur when people don't wash their wheels for a very long time and they stain the wheels.

I need some advise on any type of cleaning product that won't damage the fininsh. Someone out there has to know of something that works because ALL MINI's get bad brake dust form normal use. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

 

Moved to the detailing forum

 

prima wheelsheild

 

I use the Kleen wheel dust cover. Works great. I have white s-lites which get dirty after a day of driving. Now I only have to clean once every week or two. No problem with overheating or warping.

Walton

 

Have any pics of your rims with these installed?

 

IMO, wheel dust covers are VERY mickey mouse, especially on sports cars, with nice factory wheels, and even more so with any aftermarket setup. It's far better to use something like wheel shield and be diligent.

TJM

 

YAH THIS WEATHER SUCKS
NICE TO SEE A FELLOW CLEVELANDER

 

I got a random brake duct cleaner/protector from wal-mart. It didn't do any good at protecting things but it did a very good of loosening things up after last winter, spray some let it break it down srcub and hose. Had to take the wheels off and spend and hour to get it all but it got it off, and made thigns much easier than just soap and water.

And Ceramic in the forn this year, a tand have I'll get with the mit from last year before I toss it after things warm up.

 

I use Griot's wheel cleaner - and when I'm out of that, I've had great success with Simple Green. Use it full strength, and I use a soft wheel brush. Hang on - spring is coming!

 

|Might want to try using Mintex Brake Pads.Q

 

I like OctaneGuy's idea expressed in another thread - Meguiar's Wheel Brightener. Cheap and works great.

 

I was hoping you were going to link to his thread to get his thoughts

I have some of there cheepo red box, very little dust. A friend of mine was jelous when my wheels were still silver after 200 miles of twisties and his were gray.

Simple Green is good, I also used a Magic Eraser on my s-lites. I also used clay bar after the eraser.

 

Spurvis, I've got some black specs on my wheels too. I have wheels with the common silver painted finish. I wash weekly but I feel that I wasn't diligent enough with getting every single solitary spec of brake dust off my wheels each week so some specks have been there a long time. My wheels look good as long as you don't get really close.

In my quest for spec removal, I started mild & went more aggressive in my cleaning attempts. In another thread someone suggested trying the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Many people screamed NOOOOOO but I tried it anyway. The Mr. Clean did no damage to my wheels & it did remove more marks than any other cleaner I had tried but it still did not get all the specs. I spoke with Heather of Detailers Paradise & I can't remember her exact words but basically she said that after the specs have been on the finish for a certain amount of time they etch themselves in the finish & are not going to come off (hopefully Heather will chime in & post her response more accurately).

To me none of the wheel cleaners are going to get the specs that have been on my wheels for a long time so I will not waste any more money trying them. I have one more product, P21s Finish Restorer, that I am going to try & if it doesn't work I will resign myself to either live with the specs or get new wheels, start over, & be more diligent in my cleaning

 

There is always sand paper and spray paint.

 

 

How many miles do you have on the car? We have a 2006 with 5600 miles and the dust has pretty much gone away. We have white wheels (16-inch) and I've ran the car in 4 autocross events (heavy braking), so that might have done something. dunno....

 

Here are OctaneGuy's Comments

 

I have to agree that the dust does go down a bit after a few thousand miles. I was cleaning my wheels probably every 2-3 days (shut up) at the beginning but now I can get away with once a week or so.

Someone else recommended GreenStuf (sp?) pads awhile back, or ceramic. I'm not to that point yet but will probably try them when I get there.

In the meantime, I have used both Prima WheelShield and Epic and have found (oddly) that I prefer the Epic on my wheels. I don't know if I did something wrong (I didn't clay first, that's probably the problem), but the Epic does a better job of repelling the brake dust for me. Once I get out of this rainy crap I'll be able to clay down and start over and we'll see how it goes after that. Then I just QD them every once in awhile when the dust starts to bother me.

 

Not normally a good idea at all. Might interfere with cooling



Try rejex. Use rejex on the wheels and the dust has a much harder time actually sticking to the wheels

 

I am using WheelWax now. It works really well @ preventing future permanent specs

 

Just wanted to chime in. You've gotten some great advice!

But mostly, I just wanted to say - I have been sitting in a corner in the fetal position rocking back and forth, dribbling pea soup, repeating, "Spring is coming, spring is coming, spring is coming."

NE OHIO WINTERS SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thank you to all who have replied with advise. I never thought about the Magic Eraser?! I have 3 of them under my kitchen sink and do use them around the house. I never thought I could use them on the wheels.

I will try the eraser with some Simple Green and I think it will do the trick. I will also wax them once again and hope for the best. And to "WannaMini", I'm with you on the NE Ohio winters, they can suck. Its not even the snow and cold, but the road salt that I fear is getting into every nook/cranny of my MINI. Rust warranty or not, I just worry. Can't wait for 60 degree days!!!! Cheers!

 

A couple of comments...

You're correct in your suggestion about the potential "staining" of the wheels when they are left too long with brake dust on them. Although not technically "staining" but rather etching, these marks can be permanent or very difficult to fully correct.

What causes the permanent & semi-permanent etching?

Either brake dust itself or harsh wheel cleaners (or both). Brake dust is highly corrosive, which is why it should be cleaned off regularly. Any non-pH-neutral wheel cleaner is also corrosive and has the potential to do the same thing to the wheels as the brake dust.

Most generic wheel cleaners are acidic, which is why they seem to work so well. Acid-based wheel cleaners are very dangerous on your wheels. If you use acids, you must make sure you rinse very thoroughly and, most importantly, in the recommended time limit. Often, the time limit can be as short as 30 or 60 seconds. Leave the wheel cleaner on longer than that, and you'll likely cause damage to your wheels. The damage often looks like spotty discoloration. As a rule, if a wheel cleaner does not specifically say that it is either pH-neutral or alkaline, then it is acid-based. They do not usually state the acidity when it's the case.

Some wheel cleaners, including general cleaners like Simple Green, are alkaline. While these are not as harsh on wheels as acid wheel cleaners, they should be used with caution or they can cause the same damage and etching as an acid. With basic (alkaline) wheel cleaners, be sure to use the correct dilultion, if applicable (ie, Simple Green), and still rinse very thoroughly. As a general rule, do not leave on each wheel for more than 1 minute. Most wheel cleaner labels will indicate how long to leave it on; however, some do not say at all. In these cases, use the 1 minute as a fairly safe guideline. Personally, I never use anything but a pH-neutral wheel cleaner on my wheels, with very, very rare exceptions.

There are a few wheel cleaners which are pH-neutral. These wheel cleaners, while not quite as effective at cleaning as the acidic or alkaline wheel cleaners, are 100% safe on wheels and will not cause etching, spotting or other damage.

**To cope with the relative lack in effectiveness, most people wax their wheels with a synthetic wax or a wheel-specific wax (ie, Wheel Shield). With this protective layer on the wheels, the harsh wheel cleaners are never necessary and even the pH-neutral cleaners are often not necessary (just soap and water or a QD spray).


Now back to your spotting/discoloration problem! At this point, it is highly unlikely that a wheel cleaner of any kind will remove the discoloration (and it could just cause more damage if too harsh). I would recommend two courses of action: 1) clay and 2) use a paintwork cleanser. Remember, your wheels are clear-coated, so often you can troubleshoot them like your body paint. Both clay and paintwork cleansers are completely safe to use and may reduce some of the discoloration. You may be able to eliminate some of it too! Examples of paintwork cleansers are Four Star Ultimate Paint Cleanser, P21S Paintwork Cleanser, Zymol HD Cleanse, Klasse All-In-One, etc. (all of these are non-abrasive).

If you still have discoloration after trying both of the above, P21S Finish Restorer can be used as a last resort. This is an abrasive and has to be worked into the wheel quite alot- be ready for some elbow grease.

As I mentioned in the beginning of my long post, there are cases when the spotting cannot be removed without the help of a wheel repair specialist (which is usually very costly). However, the good news is that you can often reduce it to the point where it is much less noticable.

In summary,

• Always wash off brake dust regularly to avoid etching
• Wax your wheels with a synthetic wax for extra protection & ease of cleaning
• Do not use acid wheel cleaners and be very cautious with alkaline wheel cleaners
• Clay and Paint Cleansers are the safe and most effective way to remove discoloration and/or spotting caused by etching and corrosion

Hope that helps!

-Heather

 

I have BBS RGFs which have a lot of surfaces to clean. I have the Griot's boar's hair brush that Kenchan linked earlier in this thread, and it works very well, especially combined with lower-dust brake pads and occasional waxing of the wheels. I switched from factory pads to Hawk ceramics a few thousand miles ago and the dust went waaaaaay down. When weather is nice and the car is garaged, the wheels still get a bit dirtier than the rest of the car, so a spray of quick detailer and wipedown keeps things looking good and prevents buildup of the dust and other grime on the rims. Ordered some wheel detailer made by Meguiars specifically for that job, but it hasn't arrived yet.

 

do pads like this allow for braking equal to original brake pads?