Do you regularly hose out your wheel arch rims?

[Krupp Stahl]

I appreciate that this is a bit dull to say the very least and I feel very ashamed, but......

Do you clear out your wheel arch rims with hose nozzle and fingertips when washing your car?

I know that wheel arch liners can often put something of the kybosh on regular wheel arch cleansing, but I'm sure you know what I mean.

Ps I'm genuinely not taking the piss - and I really am interested as to the general approach on this. I own an E46 which so far, hasn't yet rusted to a brown crispy hulk like many before it. But when I bought it, its wheel arches were solid with mud as if nobody had ever cleared them or even thought of doing so. I didn't check on the day as I was frothing at the mouth. Subsequently clearing out the crud and realising that the coating underneath was smoothly coated and sound was a great relief and I always keep these areas clear.

Do you do this?

[bitchstewie]

Yes but I'm one of those weirdos who has a foam lance so whilst it's arguably a little OCD it's "little and often" rather than trying to dislodge 5KG of st on the annual wash.

[shake n bake]

I used to when I had older cars, but now I have a new company car and another that's made of plastic there's not much point!

[Monkeylegend]

I do most times I wash my car. Did it this morning.

I also wash/clean under the bonnet, did that this morning as well

Edited by Monkeylegend on Friday 22 May 18:54

[Tickle]

I do mine every now and again, especially if I have used the car in the winter on salted roads. I usually take the wheels off, snow-foam and then spray everything under the arches with a decent corrosion block like ACf-50.



The daily has bigger gaps between the wheels and arch so no need to take the wheels off to snow-foam.

[ging84]

i don't think you need to go as far as taking the wheels off, but making sure the wheel arches get a good blasting everyone couple of weeks to a month in winter is probably the most important maintenance step there is if you want a modern vehicle to last
and off course when it get really cold and the salt is at it's highest, so you need it the most all the car washes shut down due to the risk of damage from frozen pipes

[Krupp Stahl]

Tickle said:

I do mine every now and again, especially if I have used the car in the winter on salted roads. I usually take the wheels off, snow-foam and then spray everything under the arches with a decent corrosion block like ACf-50.



The daily has bigger gaps between the wheels and arch so no need to take the wheels off to snow-foam.

Excellent.

[Krupp Stahl]

ging84 said:

i don't think you need to go as far as taking the wheels off, but making sure the wheel arches get a good blasting everyone couple of weeks to a month in winter is probably the most important maintenance step there is if you want a modern vehicle to last
and off course when it get really cold and the salt is at it's highest, so you need it the most all the car washes shut down due to the risk of damage from frozen pipes

I'm tempted to dinitrol the wheel arch rims. I don't drive the E46 in winter though. I'm not sure it would last very long. Dry weather only now.

[belleair302]

Foam lance, open hose to rinse off and I dress the arches every wash.

[V8RX7]

I have a 90 degree attachment on my jet washer for this.

I only jet wash the cars every 3-6 months though.

[aka_kerrly]

Of course I do!

How many cars do you see with rusty wheel arches front and rear that could so easily be avoided by ensuring that the inner arches are free from chunks of mud that trap moisture.

All of my cars are either coated with a tonne of waxoyl


Or on the extra special ones I may have gotten a bit carried away and stripped/zinc coated/primed/3 coats of colour + a clear wax oil layer on the inner arches and whole underside.

[pidsy]

My m3 drivers side arch:



Luckily being repaired under warranty.

I will be washing them in future.

[Krupp Stahl]

OK. I think I may not be going far enough with this. I would like to take the liners off and get everything proofed.

Is keeping the nooks and crannies clear of debris sufficient? Should I really be thinking more along the lines of strip down and Dinitrol?

[aka_kerrly]

^^^ If the wheel arch liner doesn't extend all the way to the edge of the arch then mud just sits on the inner arch lip and rots it from the inside out.

Other cars have arch liners that are close to the arch lip but not flush and it allows water/mud to collect on the inside of the arch liner to.

Hence it's worth removing a wheel and giving the wheel arches a good clean now an again.

[YorkshirePudding]

Both of ours regularly get a good washing under the arches, it just seems normal to me.

[Krupp Stahl]

OK, well I think I'm going to have to be a bit more proactive about it.

The rear wheel arches are open and I just clear them. The front arches have liners and I'm a bit worried about them as they're not accessible and when I hose them out, I think i may be re hydrating the crap that's amassed behind.

Front wheels and liners off from now on.

[007 VXR]

Yes, every time i wash it ...

[James_G]

When I lived in Wiltshire, where the roads were generally a bit dirtier due to farm traffic, I used to do this every time I washed my car. Now in suburban Surrey it's less of an issue but even so my Alpina gave up plenty of crud when I bought it, as this shows:

[MarkRSi]

I assume that's bits of car and not mud...


I've got a 90deg angle nozzle for the jet wash, makes it easy to wash around the arches and under the car.

Should probably start using ACF50/FS365 under there as well...

[jagnet]

As a minimum the arches get a good wash with the foam lance and pressure washed off. Every six months it's wheels off and liners out to de-tar and spray with Dynax-UC.

18 years old and still looking good:



Audi cunningly designed a leaf trap behind the arch liner and whilst it does generate some very rich compost, it's not ideal for keeping the rust at bay.