I clean my car regularly and was curious if anyone knew if the brake dust/dirt on the inside of the wheels is harmful to the wheels. will this build up do any damage to the wheels themselves? how often should this be cleaned? Thanks for your help.

 

It will not harm them in any way. I just pull mine off once a month and pressure wash them. They look brand new everytime.

 

Also, if the pressure washing does not work on them try using some purple power. that stuff is amazing. I do that with mine. Also works really good to get those bugs and tar buld up off of your car.

 

really? i heard they will bake or some **** after some time if you dont clean it

 

Whoever told you that knows nothing about automobiles. They are just trying to sound intelligent by saying something that might make sense to those who don't know better. But if it has been on there for a while, purple power is definately the stuff to use.

 

nah, no damage... taking the wheels off is the best way to do it...

other then that you would have to take a wheel brush and degreaser and reach around from behind and clean it... <---doesnt sound like fun

also, be sure if you do take them off to clean them, and put them face down on the ground, do it in the grass, or on an old towel, so the ground doesnt scrap up the wheel face

 

nah forget that use some paint stripper, comes right off. haha jk

 

i thought brake dust was harmful if left for a period of time. I know it wont break the wheel or anything but i thought it would be some what harmful to the finish of the wheel.

 

You sure about that?

Brake dust is obviously a result of the (depending on pad makeup), metal and composites that are sheering off at temps that can reach 1000+ degrees in track conditions and at least a multiple hundred degrees in daily driving. Those particles are settling on the rim which can, definitely, "bake" onto the rim. This is why you should never spray cold water on just parked vehicle's wheels. You're essentially heat treating the brake dust onto the wheel by spraying cold water onto extremely hot metal, encouraging the fusing of particles onto the wheel. w/o the water, its just a slower process, but still attaches to the wheel.

Additionally, try cleaning a set of wheels that have not been cleaned in years. I've done it a countless number of times, and purple power, or whatever APC/wheel cleaner you want to try, just wont do it. Not even close.

So yes, brake dust absolutely can damage the finish of the wheels if you dont stay on top of it.

 

Get Ceramic Pads.... Less dust, and its invisible.... (well same colour of rim)

 

True. my brother has a 2.4 ss and his stock rims look like **** now... ive tried cleaning them for him and they are faded and stained black... **** wont bling like it used to :[

 

You have some leeway since your wheels are clearcoated, but without that clearcoat the acidic brakedust will etch into the wheel...

If you leave anything on any surface of your car too long it will eat its way in. You can look at my dads 2005 3500 if you don't believe me.

 

I use Westley's Bleche-Wite on my rims and it does a fantastic job at getting all the brake dust off.

 

I think he was mainly talking about the inside of the rim behind the spokes, not the face of the rim.

 

best wheel cleaner i've used to date is ARDEX (Professional Detailing Products), but they only sell to dealships as far as I'm aware

 

im on the same boat. my rims are dirty i suck at washing cars and my rims look horrible. im thinking of taking some very high grit sand paper and getting the dirt out. i have tried a brush and bleche white and also a brush with turtle wax foaming spray and nothing is happening

 

Before you go at it w/ sandpaper, you might want to give this a shot. its what I've used on some pretty bad rims as a result of brake dust.

Wash w/ spray n rinse and/or APC and soapy water. Dry. Using soapy water or a clay lube, clay the area using a medium grade clay bar. On a microfiber towel or applicator pad, use some ssr3. This has worked well for me when cleaning the inside portion of rims.
http://www.glimmerglassdetailing.com/ssr4.html
http://www.glimmerglassdetailing.com...ubricants.html
http://www.glimmerglassdetailing.com...-cleaners.html

btw, using that process, the wheel took me approximately an hour and a half to clean up. No before pics, but heres afters I took quickly w/ my phone

 

just clean them when you rotate your wheels. they get pretty dirty, but so would anything that was "covered" and never cleaned.

 

sounds like something i need to try. thanks alot for the info