Claying Rims

[1anonly]

This past weekend I detailed my wife's car. The car was in need of some big time TLC. Since the car was in bad shape I did a Dawn wash, clay, SHR, FMP, Revive, and Buttery Wax. Paint looks awesome, however the rims still have the baked on dust. I tried to clay rims with another brand's bar and it didn't do much. I didn't want the use my Adam's bar because I wanted to use up the "crap bar" I had. So, anyone ever use an Adam's clay bar on rims to remove really bad brake dust?

[IMADreamer]

yeah I use my Adam's bar on my rims. Clay bar is clay bar at this point in time as there is only one "grit" clay bar available in the US so they are all the same but the color.

[1anonly]

Jason, I don't think that's true. I know that all of the clay is made by the same people, but I believe it comes in three grades (Fine, medium, and body shop) The M@#$ers is a fine grade and Adam's is a medium grade. That's what I was told.

[IMADreamer]

I was under the impression the average joe couldn't get ahold of the other grits. I'm probably wrong. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. lol

 

I still use my Adam's bar on my rims though. I broke off a piece of it that I use only for rims, I figure brake dust probably shouldn't be any where near paint. It works well. Good luck.

[Sooners]

You're correct. Not sure what grade Adam's clay is but there are a few different grades available.

 

You didn't specify the finish of the wheels. Painted, chrome, etc? The finish can affect your approach.

 

Have you tried some of Adam's Green Wheel Cleaner on them? I had some stubborn brake dust that wouldn't come off even with clay. Some GWC and toothbrush took care of it.

 

If the brake dust is bad enough that the finish is pitted, probably your only hope would be to have them refinished. Got any pics?

[GTO Guy]

caqn you feel the stuff as bumps on your wheels or does it feel more like pits?

[Chris@Adams]

 

Adam's Fine Grade Clay Bar is incredibly safe, and effective at removing surface contamination. Even new vehicles need Clay! Our new Blue Bar is the finest and safest detailing clay for your vehicle’s finish. It removes surface contamination safely and easily without skid or swirl marks. Each Clay Jar contains one (1) 6.4 oz Clay Bar.

 

The key to brake dust on wheels, don't let it set on wheels and bake, keep washed off.

[Kingsford]

Mean Green.... Works great. Dont let it sit on the rims too long though, but it will eat right through that stuff.

 

http://www.meangreencleaner.net/Home.html

 

Logo on the bottle looks like that. I buy mine at the Dollar Store.

 

I buy it just for baked on brake dust.

[1anonly]

I'll see if I can get some pictures of it tonight. The dust has been on there for a while. Mind you, this is my wife's car and it doesn't get a lot of attention. I used another brand wheel cleaner and it didn't touch the bad parts. I do have an Adam's bar, but like I said I used another brand I had lying around. Has anyone ever compaired Adam's green wheel cleaner to say SimpleGreen or that Armor brand wheel cleaner?

[Ian6]

you can get a more aggressive clay at a paint and body supply store, you really should be able to get the brake dust off with a wheel cleaner or another cleaner though, did you agitate the wheel while the cleaner was working? I was able to easily remove 3 year old brake dust with m's all wheel cleaner... I was just trying to use the last I had of it please dont kick me lol

[1anonly]

Ian, I did not agitate the product. I'll give it a shot. Here a couple of pictures of them. They are not as bad as they used to be.

 

 

[Sooners]

I would definitely hit them with some wheel cleaner and agitate them. I would spray on some APC or GWC and take a toothbrush to them.

[Guest Jay.]

I recently cleaned the disgusting rims on my moms intrepid lol, she never takes it through car washes even. (for some reason she scared of them, me to but for a different reason swirls ). Anyways the only time my moms 2001 ever got washed was maybe 5 years ago when i used to borrow it to take out my girlfriend haha.

 

This summer i decided to give it a nice detail for her, remove some scratches and some little touch ups. Hell can i tell you how bad her rims were, there hub caps and i notice that brake dust bakes on hub caps much faster. Anyways i really soaped them up with dawn good twice. (i have always used dish soaps for my wheels, cuts the old tire shine great). Then i washed them down, applied some APC and let it sit, scrubbed with a tooth brush and then with a wheel cleaner (wasn't using adams at the time yet) and scrubed that too. by this time, they were 95% there, then i sprayed them down with wheel cleaner again with no tooth brush scrub and let it sit, wash away and they were as good as i was ever going to get them without paint.

 

Hope my overly long story helps you out

[fortplainman]

i wonder if clay would work on my rims. im not sure if it has a clear coat on the black or not but i know they are all scratched up. i was gona try some swirl remover thats around and some buttery wax with a powercone after i clean them with an adams wash and some APC on the tires/GWC on the wheels.