Fellow Crossfire owners. I have given our newest child her first bath and would like any good ideas on how you are cleaning the inside of the rims. I figure a bottle brush of some sort but if anyone has a tried and true method, could you post it? Thanks alot.

 

I went to a local car show last monday night, and before I went I wanted the brake dust cleaned off the wheels. After washing and drying the wheels, I was surprised to see how much dust was left behind the spokes. So my next step was to remove the wheels from the car. I found that by removing the wheels I was able to very easily clean the dust from all the nooks and crannys with just a strong solution of soap and water. I know this is a little extreme for getting the dust off but I feel it was worth it. I will do it this way in the future as well. Probably every third or fourth washing.

By the way, I used a 17mm socket on my impact wrench to take the lug studs off, and torqued them to 81 foot pounds as recomended by Chryslers service dept. The wrench provided in the trunk would take way to long.

 

Good lord--that is what I call a heavy duty detail :shock: Hats off to you--I thought I was **** about my detail job, but you have officially taking over the top spot :lol:

 

I guess maybe I have gone overboard. I have done the same thing to our 3 PT Cruisers as well. But one of the reasons is when the last Dream Cruiser we bought was undercoated, they got some of the undercoating on the chrome wheels. I figured if they had done such a poor job of spraying it on, they would have done an equally poor job of cleaning it off the wheels. So I did it myself.

If you let the brake dust stay on for any length of time, it starts to bake itself on, and is much harder to get off.

I find it can be a very relaxing job, and it also gives me a chance to check the wear on the brake pads as well as tire pressure.

I found that when I took the wheels off the Crossfire, that they are one of the few parts that were not made in Germany, the were mfg in Poland.

 

This is a good time to get your wife with a sponge to get her tiny hands in there and do it. It's got Mercedes brakes so get used to it. The pads and rotors are very soft and make your wheels black within 20 miles of driving. Keep this in mind: next time you need pads, get PBR Deluxe Pads. They stop just as well but create virtually no brake dust.

 

I'm not even going to touch this quote--ouch :shock: Blaze you must have a very nice wife.

 

I have used a product called Blech White, its a white wall tire cleaner, spray it on the wheels, spray it on the inside of the rims, it virtually dissolves the brake dust. I have used it extensively and it has never damaged any wheels or discolored them.

 

I use Bleach White on my Harley white wall tires, and I believe it specifically says NOT to get the fluid on the rim (as it can damage it)...when I get back to town I will check on that. Good old soap and water works best.

 

I have been using "Eagle One" wheel cleaner. It too desolves the break dust with ease. Then I just use Eagle One "Wet Wash" to wash the car and fine clean the wheels. Works great for me and the car looks awesome.

 

You are so right tex, I used Bleach White on my tires once and where it dripped on to my wheels it took all the finish off, left ugly streaks that I will never forget. Immediately threw that crap out and have never bought it again.

 

The best way to make the job of cleaning the wheels easy is to wax the wheels with Nu-finish car wax. It last a long time and the brake dust washes off real easy with soap and water. Remember to use a good quality car wash concentrate to clean not only the wheels but the rest of the car too! It will keep the waxed finish longer. Have fun!

 

I didn't know Nu-finish made a "wax". I thought that Nu-finish was a polymer coating. Mainly used to temporarily restore old oxidized paint.

 

There's a company that make a dust shield for most cars. Had some on my P T Cruiser worked
well keep my rims clean of brake dust,they don't
have any for the Crossfire yet everyone e-mail
them maybe they will make some there are made
of a high stregth aluminum alloy that can be painted
to match the car...
www.kleenwheels.com

 

Those dust sheilds work excellent.

But a caution should be noted. DC strongly recommends against them.
They restrict airflow to the brakes, which can lead to overheating, premature wear, brake fade, rotor pulsation.

But I have had many customers come through the dealer with them installed on other cars- and they indeed work as claimed!

 

You may want to consider changing to less dust producing brake pads...see other posts. You're half way there with the work by removing the wheels to wash them. Another 1/2 hour of work may extend your special detailing technique to only once every six month... :wink:

 

Definitely do not use Blech White on your wheels! I use Griot's Garage Wheel Cleaner (www.griotsgarage.com). This is an excellent product that won't hurt the wheels. It is endorsed by BBS Wheels. It will also clean the brake dust left on the inner barrels of the wheel.

 

Nu-Finish on the wheels does work great! I've had a bottle of the stuff sitting around for 10 years.. used to use it when all I could afford was older cars... it does work great. Lasts a long time - Consumer Reports says it resists a weekly car wash for a year.. I put it on all 4 wheels... did the front two when I removed them to put in hyper white fog light bulbs.. works great... Now brake dust comes off extremely easy when washing the car... or in between washes, a quick wipe now works wonders.. Thanks to whoever posted that tip!

Another side note - a few years ago, I had an Eclipse with 18" aluminum wheels - they got very dirty. There was a product I was using - an anti brake dust spray product. You spray it on - let it dry, and it basically does the same thing as the Nu-Finish - only I think it also made brake dust build up slower. I can't seem to find it anymore. Has anyone else seen this stuff? I'd like to buy more if I could find it! I bet the Nu-Finish with the anti brake dust spray would be insane!!

 

Eagle One A-Z dry them then.... a light coat of Speed Bead form Stoner, www.moreshine.com there products are excellent!

TIP: (Wash them cold and in the shade. dry w/microfiber)

 

I put two coats of Mother's Gold on the rims last weekend. They stayed much more free of brake dust accumulation this past week than any other week I've owned the car, and cleaned up with just soapy water and a sponge.

so... Mother your Rims :!: :!: :!: