Cleaning wheels and tires -- my amateur process

[akimel]

I think I have my tire and wheel cleaning process down pretty good now, and I thought I'd share it with you and see what you think.

1) Hose off wheel well, tire, and wheel.

2) Spray the wheel well with Megs' All Purpose Cleaner Plus.

3) Spray the tire with Eimann Fabrik Tire Cleaner.

4) Brush the wheel well with a cheap brush I purchased from AutoZone.

5) Brush the tire with Megs' Versa-Angle Tire Brush.

6) Hose off.

7) Spray the rim barrel with Megs' All Purpose Cleaner Plus.

8) Apply car shampoo to the wheel face with Montana Original Boar’s Hair 20" Wheel Brush. I prefer NXT Car Wash as my wheel shampoo. It seems to remove grime and brake dust better than other shampoo products I have used so far. Maybe that's just my imagination, though. In any case, I usually do not need to use a special wheel cleaner.

9) Brush the rim barrel with Megs' Spoke Wheel Brush, dipping the brush into the shampoo solution as needed.

10) Brush the wheel face and lug nuts with Swissvax Wheel Brush, dipping the brush into the shampoo solution as needed.

11) Hose off.

Repeat with each tire.

Cheers,
Al

[SHYNEMAN123]

Looks great !
Very nice adding links to products used, That is a big help.

Thanks

[akimel]

Oops. I forgot a step in the process. Step #4 should be: Brush the wheel wells with a cheap brush purchased from AutoZone.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey Al,

Thanks for the excellent write-up and suggestions!

For tire cleaning, the best product I have ever used, I hate to say this, was Eagle One Tire Cleaner. It is now discontinued, but it worked awesome! I still have a few bottles left as I bought a few cases of it when it became hard to get; so now I use it only when really needed.

Meguiar's Safe D-Greaser, and Meguiar's Ctiri-Gel Cleaner were/are another favorite for cleaning tires. Sadly, both of these are discontinued as well.

Tim

[3Fitty]

Originally Posted by akimel

I welcome your suggestions.

Cheers,
Al

Well done Al. A very comprehensive job, although I do think you are missing a "beer drinking step". Maybe it is just assumed, but I think for the sake of the noobs, you should have included it expressly.

[J. A. Michaels]

Great process, thanks for sharing, Al.

[Tuck91]

My process varies depending on the condition of the wheel, tire and wheelwell. Aggressive chemicals such as Wheel Brightener and Super Degreaser may be needed as well as various brushes. Sometimes I will use a pressure washer as well, and sometimes all I need is soap amd water.

So it depends.

[JLMex]

Originally Posted by akimel

Oops. I forgot a step in the process. Step #4 should be: Brush the wheel wells with a cheap brush purchased from AutoZone.

Really great process!! I always have problems cleaning my wheels (one of my main problems is finding good brushes in local stores), specially the wheel wells... what type of "cheap brush" did you use? Is it like a tire brush, or a softer one ?

Also, the APC+ you used, was it diluted? And what ratio? 4:1 or something?

Thanks for sharing!

[akimel]

Originally Posted by JLMex

Really great process!! I always have problems cleaning my wheels (one of my main problems is finding good brushes in local stores), specially the wheel wells... what type of "cheap brush" did you use? Is it like a tire brush, or a softer one ?

The cheapee brush I use on my S2K wheel wells looks like this:



There's not a lot of space between the tire and the fender, but the brush I have slides right through the narrow space and works okay. It's not optimal but I haven't found anything yet that works better. And it only cost me two bucks. It reminds me of a brush one might use in a toilet.

Also, the APC+ you used, was it diluted? And what ratio? 4:1 or something?

I use a 7:1 or 8:1 ratio. As I recall, Tim Lingor suggested this ratio as a good all-around cleaner.

[cnfowler]

Originally Posted by Tim Lingor

...For tire cleaning, the best product I have ever used, I hate to say this, was Eagle One Tire Cleaner...

I agree. I loved that stuff. It was the ONLY wheel and tire cleaner I would use until it was discontinued.

Colin