Question: best way to clean wheel wells

[carlc1c3c5]

hello putting on new front pads/ black wheel wells need a good cleaning & detailing//what is best way to clean all the road crud ??? thanx :thanks: also what are little screw down covers for????:confused

 

[Toms007]

Carl, I am an Adams Polishes user, so I will tell you what I use of their products.

I would
#1 Use "All purpose cleaner" (APC) diluted 1 to 1, spray it in the wheel well liberally and let it soak.
#2 I would use a soft (but not too soft) brush (soaked with APC 1:1) to scrub the wheel wells thoroughly.
#3 Rinse with a jet spray nozzle of water.
#4 Check the cleanliness of the wheel wells and repeat steps 1-3 if needed.
#5 With an old sponge and car wash soap, I then wash the wheel well thoroughly.
#6 When satisfied that the wheel well is clean I spray with Undercarriage Spray Dressing

These steps will make your wheel wells look great.

 

[6 Shooter]

1 Stop Shopping - Spray everything ya want cleaned, let it foam, scrub where needed!

 

[Yoda]

This stuff is Awesome

I found out about a few years ago when RARE and I were getting rather intimate. This product works as good and better than any other I've found for cleaning about anything, esp. tires and wheels.

Our Montero gets each wheel and tire sprayed before I run it through the car wash and the white letters, wheels usually come out sparkling clean. Sometimes the raised white lettering requires a little brushing along with it ..

And best of all... ANY Dollar Tree, Dollar Store sells it for a $1.00 a bottle :dance

"Awesome Cleaner"

Bud

 

[Boeingdriver]

Detailing Wheelwells......

Carl:

All the previous suggestions are good. I've had good luck with Simple Green diluted 1 : 1 with water in a 1 quart spray bottle. Heat it up in the microwave to about 120 F. (this is easy) and spray it into the wheel wells, on the suspension components, brake calipers, hoses, etc. You can let it soak if you want but I go right after the dirt with a 3M scratch pad on the hard parts and a dish scrubber on the plastic inner fenders. Keep a bucket of hot soapy water (Dawn liquid detergent is good) to rinse the scrub pad as you work. If you're working on a wheel wheel which has never been detailed, it's going to take some time. Once the well is done like this though, keeping it up is very easy. Don't be shy about reaching in to the differential to clean the axles and anything else you can reach. If you have access to a water hose and can rinse the wheelwell with a quick shot this works well (just put some newspaper down to catch most of the rinse water). If not, just spray clear water with a bottle to rinse the soap off. You're going to have little specks of tar remaining on the plastic inner liners. You can carefully scrape these with a putty knife, or with your fingernail if they're limited. Then I like to wipe the liners down with Meguiars #40 Professional Vinyl & Rubber Conditioner (available at all parts stores). Other products like Armour All, Eagle One, etc. would work just as well, I just have had good luck with the Meguiars product for all plastic pieces on my cars. Doing this last step makes everything look fantastic but more importantly, it keeps tar and other trash from sticking to the plastic as much. You could also use a spray wax for this as well. Once you detail a wheel well llike this, it's easy to keep looking perfect.

One more suggestion, and two important cautions:

Suggestion: While you're detailing the wheelwells is the perfect time to draw (suck) old brake fluid out of the caliper. I have a Sears mity-vac tool which pulls about 6 oz. of used fluid from the caliper and is a one-man operation. Fill the reservoir with clean DOT 3 to replace what you remove. This is in no way a complete fluid change but keeps clean fluid in the system on a regular basis. I do this every time I pull a wheel off.

Caution:

• Don't get Meguiars or whatever you use to wipe the plastic down on to the brake rotors. Drape a shop rag or plastic bag over the rotor to keep everything off the disk.

• Make totally sure that you jack your car correctly and use jack stands positioned correctly. If you're unsure about jacking procedures, do some reading on this subject on the forum before you start and invest in some good stands. I spend lots of time under both of my cars and always have three (tri-redundant) sets (including the hydraulic jack) of support to protect myself.