I bought a 99 4runner with the 6spoke 16" chrome rims and the front set has about I'd say about 10 years of baked on brake dust. The previous owner obviously never cleaned or rotated the wheels, as the rear tires were totally spent and the fronts still have about half their tread! The worst part of the rim is the inside, the part that rotates around the rotor and catches the majority of the dust.. the surface has all these tiny grooves and the dust in settled in there and baked on. These are the products I've tried so far.. colonel brassi's metal cleaner, simple green, spray on rim cleaner, brillo pads (which made the most progress i think, but still far from clean), pb blaster, wd40 and blue magic. Is there a magic product out there? Or do I just need to spend the next 5 weekends scrubbing and scrubbing? I can post a picture if that would help. Thanks in advance for any advice from someone who may have been through this already

 

Why start a new thread?

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f177/rusty-rims-180018/

 

Sorry, im new to these and couldn't find it. Plus I was wrong about the rust, its pretty much all brake dust. What about clr?

 

Might give CLR a try, or some of the different wheel cleaners, I have used some that seem to dissolve brake dust pretty well. Also if you have an air grinder or electric drill, invent in a wire brush on a mandrel. Chuck that up and let the wire brush in the drill do a lot of the work.

Another option is some spray on oven cleaner. Might want to test it on a small spot to make sure it won't damage the wheels, but I recently had to clean up a wheel on my VW where a CV boot ripped. Had about a 1/4" of grease and brake dust/road grime caked inside that wheel. A few oven cleaner applications along with wire brush and rinsing with a hose got it all off to bare metal.

 

Oven cleaner? Thats a good idea I'll try it. What I did for a buffing tool is put a large drill bit in my cordless then wound an old T-shirt around the bit. It's not getting in the tiny grooves though. I'll try the oven cleaner since I have some, then I'll go buy some clr. I'll let you know.. any more advice while im experimenting is welcome

 

Do you have the tires on?

If not you should just get them media blasted. Around here most places only charge about $15-$25 a wheel.

You could have that done to the front two and then have them clear coated or clear powder coat for a lasting and "easier to clean finish." or do it your self with a can if you dont mind touching it up about once a year.

Probably would have been cheaper than buying all these different products.

 

Have you tried this stuff? If not I would say it's worth a shot. You might have to spray them a couple times but it took a couple years of brake dust off my friend's rims.

Follow the directions and like i said it might take a couple treatments but this stuff is magic. The first time i used it on my old explorer someone asked "dude did you get new rims?". Lol good luck!



bad picture..

 

get a light air grinder with a round head. i forgot what they are called exactly, but we use em at work (a tire shop) to get old brake dust and stuff off the inside of the rim so sticky weights will stick.
theres the grinder, then theres a grinding PAD, about 3" in diameter. someone will know what im talking about. those are your best friends for getting off old dust.

 

I havent tried the armor all wheel cleaner. The stuff I have is dupont but it doesnt do much. The clr didn't work, nor did the oven cleaner. Brillo was probly the most effective thing i used but it didn't come close to what i was hoping for. (just for readers info) I guess when it's time for new tires in a couple years ill have them blasted before moun ting the new rubber. I'll try the armor all as a last resort though

 

Do not use Armorall wheel cleaner.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f5/d...cleaner-15900/

It may work on some wheels, but it ruined my Centerlines.
I was able to polish them back though.

I had found the same info on other forums about it too.

 

sandblast them.....

 

Well I tried the eagle one never-dull polish with the wet cotton in the can, and its the best product Ive tried hands down. It's disolving things i thought were there for life. However I cant help but mention it smells like wd-40. Like they soaked a cotton ball down with it and sold it for 7 bucks. What do you guys think? Is that probable?

 

don't sand blast them. way to agressive. if you have to go to that extremelook into plastic bead blasting or even (baking)soda blasting. my wheels are also getting stained from the brake dust and I wash mine regularly. but mine are painted so i'll have to be carefull.

 

CASTROL SUPER-CLEAN!!!!!! get a bottle of this and use it, this stuff is magic, you can also use it on white-walls, i had some pretty rough lookin saw-blade wheels on my yota and some super-clean and a scotchbrite pad later, the wheels looked like new. if you have aluminum wheels, DO NOT let it sit on there for very long at all, this stuff is so powerful it will eat the clear off your wheels.