Best product for cleaning abused wheels

Nicad

Nicad

Well-Known Member
Site Donor
Messages
3,564
Reaction score
568
Location
Toronto
Trying to bring back some neglected BBS Subaru rims, I found this was the only product that dissolved embedded brake dust. I tried a lot of chemicals. Worth the money if you need it.
Iron X.
 
Peter, et al,

Here is a Google search result: https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS730US730&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=iron-x wheel cleaner&oq=iron&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0l4.6493j0j7

I've been using a product with what I assume is the same ingredient as this - a chelating agent for iron - for about 3 years. It was Adams Deep Clean wheel cleaner, but this product seems to have left the market. You spray the cleaner on wheels that are dirty - even some that no other product fazes - and after a minute or so the solution starts to turn purple. That is the chelation product of it dissolving the iron particles that were deposited on the wheel when the brake pad vaporized and bits of rotor left as well. After it about 5 minutes or so, use a scrub brush to remove the solvent/chelated iron. Sometimes it takes 2-3 treatements for really bad wheels, but it is truly marvelous product.

I'll be getting some of this Iron X from Amazon soon (have Prime, that helps), as my Deep Clean solution is down to about 2 qts. I ONLY use it on very dirty wheels that Deep Purple or Simple Green won't clean.

Gary--
 
Sonax wheel cleaner turns purple but i only used it because i got some free but worked great. Probably a glamorous version of iron-x
 
i order sonax wheel cleaner from amazon ... and i use it on my porsche. it works great. there is also a version that works on tougher issues ... haven't tried it yet ... but i swear by the regular stuff that turns purple.
 
One thing about the Iron X, I will probably rarely use it, as my wheels never get this dirty. Where it came through was when I bought some extremely nasty but valuable wheels that no wheel cleaner or abrasive I had would make a dent on. (Gold BBS Forged wheels for the 2004 North American STI). The retail price of these rims is $1500 a piece. Yikes!!.. now they are my winter rims. Holding up great.
 
I've used Iron X, works very well, but I've discovered that applying Zymol Wheel Coat to freshly cleaned wheels will keep brake dust and most road grime from sticking. Makes routine wheel cleaning much easier.
 
Both of the sites noted above carry 'Adams Wheel Cleaner'. This does not appear to be the same product as the 'Adams DEEP Wheel Cleaner' I bought about 4 years ago after a demonstration of it's performance at by a DC area detail shop.

A P-928 meet was being held at the detail shop, and the owner demonstrated quite a few of the products he used. Everyone was amazed at the results with the DEEP Wheel Cleaner. Can't say the current product WON'T work as well, but it certainly isn't labeled the same, nor the same color in the spray bottle.
 
i have tried the zymol wheel coat before and never noticed a difference between using it / not using it ... so i stopped using it. my 911 has partially painted wheels - i was afraid of using a chemical cleaner on them, but i have had no issues with it ... and no scrubbing with the regular sonax (full effect). i will try the wheel cleaner plus this weekend and report back.
 
On Amazon it's Adams "DWC-16" does that not infer deep wheel cleaning, perhaps not anymore...

I just did the 2fer Sonax.

Gary Knox said:
Both of the sites noted above carry 'Adams Wheel Cleaner'. This does not appear to be the same product as the 'Adams DEEP Wheel Cleaner' I bought about 4 years ago after a demonstration of it's performance at by a DC area detail shop.

A P-928 meet was being held at the detail shop, and the owner demonstrated quite a few of the products he used. Everyone was amazed at the results with the DEEP Wheel Cleaner. Can't say the current product WON'T work as well, but it certainly isn't labeled the same, nor the same color in the spray bottle.
Click to expand...
 
I'm learning something here. My wheels have little, black particles on them - they look like black paint overspray (though the wheels have not been exposed to paint). I guessed I might have driven over a newly-tarred road, and it was tar residue. But solvent didn't remove it.

Might I be seeing "iron particles that were deposited on the wheel when the brake pad vaporized and bits of rotor left as well"? Does that look like small, black particles firmly adhered to the coating on the wheels?

And if Adams DEEP Wheel Cleaner is NLA, what other products will attack those particles? It isn't clear from the posts below whether Sonax or Iron-X do that chelation thing.
 
Last edited:
Iron X removes metallic brake deposits. pretty sure it will make short work of Black Dots. Mine were more like thick patches the size of an ant.
 
rsporsche said:
i have tried the zymol wheel coat before and never noticed a difference between using it / not using it ... so i stopped using it. my 911 has partially painted wheels - i was afraid of using a chemical cleaner on them, but i have had no issues with it ... and no scrubbing with the regular sonax (full effect). i will try the wheel cleaner plus this weekend and report back.
Click to expand...

Seems to me, that when used on my "collector cars", the Zymol makes after-drive cleaning very easy, basically a quick rinse with a hose and a wipe down (we have very hard water so I can't let droplets stand). On my daily driver the Zymol prevents build up, and whatever does stick is much easier to remove...
 
on uncoated aluminum wheels, i could see the wheel coat working well. as my wheels are coated - paint + clear on the 911, it made no difference. when i go to the RS wheels on the coupe, which are a PITA to clean ... i might give the wheel coat another try.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top