clean wheel discs?

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Fri 11 Apr 2003 10:03
clean wheel discs? - glowplug
Hi,

Can anyone point me in the right direction for the plastic discs that go on the inside of your alloys to keep brake dust off them? I seem to remember that my brother had a set years ago but I haven't seen them since, is that because they effect brake cooling or something else?

Thanks.

Steve.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Apr 2003 11:55
clean wheel discs? - glowplug
I've found Kleen Wheels but it seems to be American only market.

Steve.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Apr 2003 12:32
clean wheel discs? - Marcos{P}
Apparently these covers will affect the cooling of the discs so will affect your braking. They seem pretty worthless to me.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Apr 2003 14:07
clean wheel discs? - volvod5_dude
I've seen them on new Volvos when I visited the showroom. They look horrible.

VD5D.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Apr 2003 14:25
clean wheel discs? - glowplug
Hmm, I'll keep a look out to see how they look. I'm just not keen on the chemical wheel cleaners. I've tried the Comma one, it cleaned really well but the fumes could start a toxic alert and within a few days the wheels look a mess.

Are there any treatments for the wheels that stop the dust sticking as much?

Steve.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 11 Apr 2003 18:08
clean wheel discs? - Vansboy
We had metal dust shields on the lattice (get the toothbrush out to clean them) alloys, fitted to our XJ.
They were a Jaguar part, so may be worth talking to your main ???? dealer.
No apparent braking problems, with them fitted, either.
VB
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 14 Apr 2003 10:50
clean wheel discs? - grommitt
Use "Wonderwheels" - it's acid based but doesn't smell that much and it's the best I've tried, when the wheels are clean, give them a couple of coats of good car polish ( Autoglym or similar ) - then you'll find the brake dust washes off far easier.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 14 Apr 2003 11:40
clean wheel discs? - glowplug
Thanks for the info, I'll pick up some WW next time I'm in Wilkinsons. I'll give the wheels a coating of super resin. I don't suppose Autoglyms Exra Protection would be better would it? I'm just worried about the heat aspect.

As for the clean wheel discs, I'll just keep an eye out.

Steve.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 14 Apr 2003 12:19
clean wheel discs? - smokie
Buy dustless brake pads like Green Stuff ( www.ebcbrakes.com/). Fitted them at last change and have not had ANY problem with dust anymore. Brilliant. They didn't cost a lot. UK supplier website seems to be off air but there are other suppliers. If they don't do Green Stuff for your car, just ask for the Kevlar ones, which I have on the rears - they seem good too.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 27 May 2003 19:14
clean wheel discs? - tenfour
Hi
Two UK web sites that sell these discs
www.eurocarparts.com and www.wheelworks.co.uk
There may be more but try these first
Dave
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 28 May 2003 07:54
clean wheel discs? - jc
Saw a car the other day with a plastic insert between the rear wheel and brake drum to make it look like rear discs.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 1 Jan 2017 10:44
clean wheel discs? - Last Hope

These brake dust inhibitors are NOT for boy-racers. Black discs showing through a wheel isn't pretty-pretty. And with brake fade on red-hot brakes on a race track, not advisible. But, for ordinary cars, driven by ordinary people, they are brilliant. I have used a set of two on my Granada since new in 1980 and they work ! If one used a small torch, then they could be seen. But the lack of any dust, dirt, on my wheels was well worth it. Using a tooth brush to clean the wretched alloy wheels was a chore; eliminated. I don't see why no one has said so, since 2003. Maybe standards have fallen so much, that no bothers with clean wheels or shoes or anything any more. Hugh Rogers.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 1 Jan 2017 11:27
clean wheel discs? - skidpan

Ancient thread from 2003, most posters will be long gone.

But for what its worth I clean my cars every 2 weeks and at the same time clean the alloys with the same car wash/water mix, no problems, they still look like new after 5 or more years. Takes just a few minutes with a sponge that I only use on the wheels. Then rinse with plenty of clear water. Its only a problem if you don't clean the cars regularly. All the cleaners I have seen have the warning that they should not be used on wheels with damage to the paint/lacquer and who has wheels with no small chips after a few days on the road.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 1 Jan 2017 11:40
clean wheel discs? - gordonbennet

And to bring things up to date there are new non acidic wheel cleaning chemicals on the market that are not harmful to alloy wheels finishes

www.bilthamber.com/auto-wheel check the video out

i have used this (and their anti rust products are first class too, no association with the company) not on my own wheels but others in the family don't look after their cars quite so well, not cheap, good quality seldom is, but reasonably priced if bought carefully in 5 litre bottle, as Skidpan notes if washed regularly then wheels can be kept clean without such chemicals but once it gets imbedded for several weeks or months its hells own job to shift, this stuff makes short easy work of the most inbedded dirt, a little agitation can help where particularly bad.

Its a bit too thick to go through a hand spray bottle, so i decant a small amount into a jamjar and apply with paint brush.

Edited by gordonbennet on 01/01/2017 at 11:43

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 1 Jan 2017 12:20
clean wheel discs? - bathtub tom

I polished and waxed my allies earlier this year, made cleaning them much easier. Still prefer steel wheels.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 7 Jan 2017 08:53
clean wheel discs? - edlithgow

Dunno if this'll help (because I've managed to avoid alloy wheels so far and wouldn't care much what they looked like if I had them) but for a few years I've been sandwiching plastic sheet or aluminium foil between my wheels and hubs.

The idea is to stop the wheels sticking on. This can happen due to rust/corrosion, but since I treat the hubs with sunflower oil and aluminium as an abrasive, they could also stick on because of the adhesive qualities of that treatment, until it sets.

Perhaps a wider version of such a covering would also limit dust transfer?

I was using aluminium foil on the front (disk braked) wheels because I thought they might get hot, but right now only have a custard pie dish covering the hub nut on one side. I'll re-instate some covering next time I treat them

On the back (drums) I've got that metallised shiny plastic from some junk food snack bag. By my standards that's a bit bling, but I might try it on the front. If it melts I doubt it'll do much damage.

If you don't fancy such improvisations (which probably wouldn't be effective anyway) maybe hub caps designed for steel wheels could be fitted, perhaps with the aid of cable-ties.

I imagine you could paint your wheels mat black (bitumen drain-pipe paint, which comes off easily with white spirit or petrol?) to complete the retro effect, and no one will notice that you have dirty alloys.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 7 Jan 2017 09:38
clean wheel discs? - skidpan

The idea is to stop the wheels sticking on. This can happen due to rust/corrosion, but since I treat the hubs with sunflower oil and aluminium.......

No need to reinvent the wheel, there is a product that stops this happening that is easilly available. Its called "Coppaslip" and is sold by many manufacturers under slightly different names. Been using it siince the early 80's and have noted that for about the last 10 years garages tend to smear the hubs as well

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 7 Jan 2017 09:50
clean wheel discs? - RT

I looked at the plastic dust deflectors when they first came out but concluded they might impede the airflow, negating the whole point of vented disks. So I live with the dust and clean the wheels regularly.

As my choice of vehicle has got gradually heavier, and higher performance, the amount of dust generated has increased.

I hated the colour of my Touareg alloys when I first bought it, mid-grey, but they do hide the dust better than my winter wheels which are light-grey (aka silver).

Whatever the professional valeter uses to seal/dress the alloys works well as the mud/dust can simply be washed off with a hose.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 7 Jan 2017 14:47
clean wheel discs? - edlithgow

The idea is to stop the wheels sticking on. This can happen due to rust/corrosion, but since I treat the hubs with sunflower oil and aluminium.......

No need to reinvent the wheel, there is a product that stops this happening that is easilly available. Its called "Coppaslip" and is sold by many manufacturers under slightly different names. Been using it siince the early 80's and have noted that for about the last 10 years garages tend to smear the hubs as well

Not so much re-inventing the wheel as re-painting it (though I did invent the paint)

Coppaslip isn't available here in non-industrial quantities. I bought a small tube of Pertex aluminium based anti-seize in Japan, but since that is locally irreplacable I save it for critical applications like brake sliders.

In any case I wouldn't use it for hubs since it was quite pricy, my solution seems to work OK, and is ....er.....more fun (sad, I know).

For less critical/high volume applications I either make my own anti-seize by grinding aluminium in grease (which would probably work OK on the hubs, if I wanted to do it) , or I substitute polythene or PTFE, as on wheel studs and other non-internal threads.

Polythene on threads also seems to have a thread-locking effect, nylock stylee.

Thinking about the OP's problem a bit more I think it'd be possible to make something to do the job, if you could be bothered, though I'm not sure how heat-resistant a plastic liner would have to be. Might have to use aluminium.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 7 Jan 2017 15:30
clean wheel discs? - Brit_in_Germany

Unless "here" is Antartica, I would be very suprised if anti-seize copper grease were not to be available in small volumes, e.g.

amzn.eu/fhCLPIq

Also greasing studs is generally a bad idea if you are torquing them to the recommended values which will be for dry studs. You will over-stretch the studs leading to failure.


Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 8 Jan 2017 01:23
clean wheel discs? - edlithgow

Unless "here" is Antartica, I would be very suprised if anti-seize copper grease were not to be available in small volumes, e.g.

amzn.eu/fhCLPIq

Also greasing studs is generally a bad idea if you are torquing them to the recommended values which will be for dry studs. You will over-stretch the studs leading to failure.


If you mean that I could order it in from overseas, maybe, but in general online sellers won't deliver to Taiwan, oils and greases are often considered hazardous materials, and I'm too mean to pay the shipping charges anyway.

If you mean it must be available locally, I couldn't find it, and a British mechanic who runs a garage business in Taipei confirmed that it was not available in Taiwan and they had to order it in specially from thier industrial supplier, who told them they were the only user in Taiwan he had ever heard of.

In fact I did eventually track down what may be the only shelved tin in the whole of Taiwan. It was a bit rusty and about 20 quid a kilogram, but by that time I'd got pretty comfortable with work-arounds, so I didn't buy it. Its in Kaoshiung.

Torque and lube again. Sigh

I don't routinely use a torque wrench on wheel studs. I never have, and see no compelling reason to start now.

I have a torque wrench, but as you point out, torque values are usually specified for dry studs.

I don't use dry studs either. I did once, due to the power of Internyet propaganda, and I'm never going to do it again.

My wheel studs live in the real world, were there is galling, and corrosion.

Edited by edlithgow on 08/01/2017 at 01:31

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 16 Jan 2017 21:26
clean wheel discs? - focussed

Try asking for a product called Never-Seez it's a nickel-based anti seize, I would be very surprised if it's not available in Taiwan.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 17 Jan 2017 01:32
clean wheel discs? - edlithgow

Try asking for a product called Never-Seez it's a nickel-based anti seize, I would be very surprised if it's not available in Taiwan.

People seem to be "very surprised" a lot. I was a bit surprised by this sort of thing to begin with, but not any more.

I've heard of that nickel stuff. Big in the US , but, based on my experience here (and that of an expat auto-mechanic fluent in Chinese and Taiwanese and actively involved in the motor trade here for many years, see above) I'd be very suprised (as in completely astonished) if the locals have, plus asking for it would be linguistically challenging.

Fake Japanese accent (Nevvah-see?) and the English word sometimes works.

For example, I was in the best tool store I know waving around some pictures of a universal joint adapter socket. Blankness.

Chinese word (maybe. My pronunciation, or the term, might have been off. Nobody I know locally knows this stuff AND Chinese AND English, and mechanics often don't speak or write Chinese much anyway) ditto.

Picture of Chinese character. No dice.

I mumbled something to myself about being very suprised they didn't have a universal joint adapter (an exaggeration).

Ah! JOINTOH! They had loads. Some engineering terms came to Taiwan from Britain (the cradle of the industrial revolution) via Japanese.

Could possibly get that nickel stuff in Japan, but I'm not clear what it'd do that the aluslip that I got in Japan before, and my home remedies, won't.

Edited by edlithgow on 17/01/2017 at 01:35

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 16 Jan 2017 12:45
clean wheel discs? - peter moss

I bought a copperslip spray in the pound shop use it all the time !

Reply | Report as offensive | Link