Brake dust!

[Broncojunkie]

I have a set of sve 10th anniversary wheels in anthracite with polished lip. Wheels are in good shape, other than the previous owner evidently never cleaned them. Two of them are absolutely caked with brake dust. On the inside of the wheels, I managed to get the really thick stuff off with a pressure washer. The outside powder coated area has brake dust that seems to have embedded or baked itself into the finish. I figure I'll have to refinish them, but I'm trying my best to see if i can clean them up.

No cleaners I have tried even touched it. I filled the lower half of a large rubbermaid trash can with a couple gallons of white vinegar... and diluted 50/50 with water (maybe not quite 50/50). I was worried that the vinegar might harm the aluminum, but it hasn't hurt it after about 12 hrs. I watched a YouTube video and a guy tried it on aluminun. Full strength and it didn't hurt it at all. So far,it might barely be working on the brake dust. The brake dust has basically rusted and that's what creates the unsightly stains. It also embedded itself into the finish in the process, I guess.

Any tips for getting these cleaned up? Maybe a few days in the vinegar will do the trick, but while I'm waiting, I was curious what you guys thought. I'd be open to trying different things just for the sake of entertainment.

[KevinVarnes]

I just refinished some old wheels for my Thunderbird that had seen better days even 15 years ago. I had to clean them up and strip all of the powder coat off of them, but I digress. On the inside of the wheel they did not powder coat them and it was just bare aluminum caked with years of brake dust and various other crap. In the end, brake parts cleaner (the chlorinated kind not that wimpy non-chlorinated stuff they try to sell these days) was the only thing I found that was reasonably effective at cleaning the old brake dust off. Nothing else would really touch it. It did not harm the raw aluminum or the factory primer under the powder coat which was apparently made of carbon fiber reinforced titanium because that stuff was tough. It also didn't really seem to harm what was left of the factory powder coat. I can't say it won't harm your powder coat, but if you think you might have to refinish them anyway it might be worth a shot. Maybe try it on an inconspicuous area first to see what it does. I didn't have to leave the brake cleaner on for long. I just sprayed and wiped it off (I used a Scotch-Brite pad, but you could probably use something less abrasive).

[87gtVIC]

Maybe a iron removing product similar to iron x can help.

Try a clay bar making sure to keep the clay lubricated.

Most likely will need to do a polish to the aluminum and a compound the powdered/ painted surfaces.

[mudgepondexpress]

Wood bleach, CLR are products I have used with success. Wood bleach is an acid that removes rust stains and caked on rust. CLR is the same, but different formula. With either one you have to keep it wet for a while while the acid works. If you can dunk the whole wheel, I would try wood bleach. Last time I used it was on an aluminum motorcycle perch (Yamaha R5) that was horribly rust stained. Took about 1 hour but it came out clean. The aluminum took on a fairly white tone.

Kenny

[Broncojunkie]

Wood bleach, CLR are products I have used with success. Wood bleach is an acid that removes rust stains and caked on rust. CLR is the same, but different formula. With either one you have to keep it wet for a while while the acid works. If you can dunk the whole wheel, I would try wood bleach. Last time I used it was on an aluminum motorcycle perch (Yamaha R5) that was horribly rust stained. Took about 1 hour but it came out clean. The aluminum took on a fairly white tone.

Kenny

All good suggestions, but this one seems the most intriguing because the whole wheel can be submerged. The polished area is a very small section about 1/2" wide around the outer rim. Wouldn't take much to polish it back to a shiny finish. I tried a couple different heavy duty wheel cleaners today. One was Meguiar's. I forget which one, but it was whatever they advertise as being the strongest. It seemed to clean up the lighter stuff, but the heavy buildup remained. The brake dust/rust/buildup is heavy enough to where it feels rough. Might need scraped off, but I was hoping to get by without being too aggressive. A heavy plastic brush won't touch it...even with various cleaners/solvents. Brake cleaner won't touch it. Penetrating oil did nothing. The white vinegar seems to VERY slowly dissolve it, but I'm talking about a week per wheel, at the rate I'm seeing. A heavy wire wheel would probably do it, but again, I'm trying to avoid that at this point.

[mudgepondexpress]

You can buy wood bleach (oxalic acid) at most hardware stores. I mix it strong (tablespoon to 12 oz warm water) but it will work at almost any mix rate, it just takes longer. I would get a container I could put the wheel in. You could do 1/2 at a time (front/back). Not too big, you don't want a lot of extra fluid. Place the container and wheel on top of the clothes washer and do a load. The vibration helps break up the dirt and rust.

The fluid turns green as the acid works. Once it is fairly green, you need to replace the fluid as there is no more acid to combine with the rust and iron.

Kenny

[emerygt350]

Something else to think about might be adding a sonicator to the process.

[Jack Hidley]

Use Sonax wheel cleaner full effect. The stuff is awesome. I just cleaned off the wheels on my wife's car which had 200k miles of brake dust buildup around the rim lip and behind the spokes. The dust had turned into a solid hard material. The cleaner didn't attack the wheel or clearcoat at all.

[Foxy 83.5]

Dunk it in a tub of Evapo Rust.

[Broncojunkie]

Use Sonax wheel cleaner full effect. The stuff is awesome. I just cleaned off the wheels on my wife's car which had 200k miles of brake dust buildup around the rim lip and behind the spokes. The dust had turned into a solid hard material. The cleaner didn't attack the wheel or clearcoat at all.

Where did you buy the Sonax? I don't think the local stores carry it, but I might try ordering some.

[Broncojunkie]

Dunk it in a tub of Evapo Rust.

I think vinegar is a slightly slower, cheaper version. I have used it before for basic rust, but I would think it would work slightly better than vinegar. Also, I have to wonder if the venegar isn't working because it's not just rust, but a buildup of other materials.

[Jack Hidley]

I couldn't find Sonax locally, so I sent my wife a link to it on Amazon and it showed up along with her 15 other boxes from Amazon the next day!

[Broncojunkie]

I couldn't find Sonax locally, so I sent my wife a link to it on Amazon and it showed up along with her 15 other boxes from Amazon the next day!

After looking at some pics, it appears the Sonax stuff is the same as the Meguiars I'm using. It turns a deep reddish purple when you spray it on. My guess is that it's rebranded.

[Broncojunkie]

I just went out and checked the wheel soaking in vinegar. It's showing some real progress now. I wish I hadn't diluted it. I may buy a few gallons and use it full strength. Some of the thicker stuff came off, revealing undamaged powder coated finish (after some light scrubbing with stiff plastic brush).

[Jack Hidley]

I purchased a bottle of the Meguires first and tried it. My main problem with it is that its viscosity is very low, so it runs off of the wheel quickly.

The Sonax has about double the viscosity, so it stays on the wheel much better. In addition, the current version is probably 50% stronger than the Meguires.