Page 1 of Brake Dust on Alloys...help!!

Have a Kia Rio.
Forgot ;) to clean the car for a month or two and the front wheels were covered in brake dust. The surface stuff came off, but now they are ingrained and pitted with bits of it.
Anyone suggest anything to get that stuff off without damaging the wheels? I used some stuff from Halfords which was a complete waste of time - maybe I picked the wrong product.

WD40 and a lot of elbow grease might be worth a shot.

Don`t think of yourself as an ugly person. Think of yourself as a beautiful monkey!

You need wonderwheels ( Halfords do it )
It`s brilliant stuff
Wins awards left right and centre.
Brush it on,work it in,leave it for a bit a and wash it off.
Should remove everything bar the most stubborn bit of tar.
Believe it or not,the cheapest and most effective stubborn tar remover is plain old petrol on a rag.

if the car is still under the makers warranty, you can have them replaced.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 2nd February 2005, 09:24

I was always warned not to use Wonderwheels as it took off the protective coating on the alloys.

Don`t know if it`s true or not :/

Cheers

Si



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Quote:
I was always warned not to use Wonderwheels as it took off the protective coating on the alloys.
Don`t know if it`s true or not
Cheers

Absolute tosh,pish and twaddle.
Of course it`s acidic in some manner,otherwise it wouldn`t clean like it does.
If you adhere to the instructions,no problem.
Perhaps if you continually left it on and didn`t wash it off,ever,you might get problems.
I`ve been using it for years and it`s our unofficially appointed `wheel cleaner of choice` for the company cars.
Highly recommended.

Quote:
if the car is still under the makers warranty, you can have them replaced


Not unless they`re defective, you can`t. A bit of ingrained brake dust is very unlikely to be considered to be a defect.....

AutoGlym do a good alloy wheel cleaning solution - £12.99 from Hellfrauds, last time I bought some. Similar to Wonder Wheels, but not quite so acidic and a bit gentler on your wheels.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 2nd February 2005, 12:07

Thanks all. I`ll check it out. No - the wheels are not covered by that - being that I haven`t cleaned them - it#`s just wear and tear really.

Quote:
No - the wheels are not covered by that

They are,actually.
If the wheels have pitted ( actual little pock-marks/indentations on the alloy itself ) then you have a definite claim for new ones as the protective lacquer clearly (sic) hasn`t done it`s job.
However,at the same time,you are expected to `do your bit` and keeps the wheels reasonably clean and,at this time of year,clear of salt and grit.
If you decided to pursue the claim you might have a bit of arguing to do and the dealer may just offer a professional clean or even a repaint,rather than whole new wheels.

Try cleaning them with a really good wheel cleaner and see how they turn out.If they still look rougher than Jordan`s skin,go back to the dealer and make a fuss.

I use a baby bottle washing brush to get into all the little crevices on the wheel. Got 18 spoke alloys and they can be a pig to get clean right in the center where they narrow down.