Product for cleaning Diablo Alloys

[Sudesh]

Does anyone use a good product for cleaning the rims on the Diablo, something that's spray on and wash off? They are are a real pain to keep clean, especially around all the studs, and just about every time I wash the car, I need to use autosol polish on them.

[L33]

Step away from the Autosol!
Its great on many polished metals but its very abrasive so you'll take the lacquer off your wheels and they'll look far worse!!! (The polished dish on the diablo dish is lacquered).


Your best off giving each wheel a very thorough clean - including the rears where you can't see and then sealing the wheels.

First I used bilberry wheel cleaner as its one of safest out there.
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/valet-pro-bi...r/pro...

A soft brush takes care of cleaning round the wheel bolts.

After this you can seal the rims with a decent dedicated wheelcare product. I used planet polish wheel and shine:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0036BRRQU

This process took me about 1.5 hours PER WHEEL!

Good old fashioned soap and water works for me now the wheels are sealed. The dirt just falls away.

Go easy with a jetwash if you use one. Its very easy to wreck the lacquer if the water gets behind it at pressure.

If you check out the detailing world website, plenty of useful info over there.
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/index.php

[Sudesh]

Thanks for the info Lee, I've just bought 5L of the bilberry cleaner and little brush to put it on with. I

I've only used Autosol 2 times on the wheels and that's only because I don't have the patience to use it lol, it takes to long to put it on and then buff off. So I've just been using soapy water and wash mitt. But the water streaks that appear on the wheels after a drive or of it's parked up really annoy me.

[L33]

Some ordinary car polish or even wd40 will help shine the wheels and get rid of streaks until you get a decent sealant on them.

[rich888]

Try 'Wonder Wheels' from CarPlan which cuts through dirt, grease & brake dust, can be used on on most types of wheels, including lacquered alloy wheels, steel wheels and plastic wheel trims. Halfords sell it.

Have been using it for years to clean alloys wheels on several cars with no problems whatsoever.

Just make sure you use it when the wheels are stone cold and not after a run!

[Muzzer79]

rich888 said:

Try 'Wonder Wheels' from CarPlan which cuts through dirt, grease & brake dust, can be used on on most types of wheels, including lacquered alloy wheels, steel wheels and plastic wheel trims. Halfords sell it.

Seriously?

Wonder wheels is like nitric acid - it's fine for getting off seriously baked on dirt, on wheels that haven't been cleaned for ages, used very rarely, but as a regular cleaner it should be avoided.

Use Bilberry - it's cracking stuff

[Sudesh]

Thanks for the replies.

I bought, received and used the Bilberry product, it's great stuff alright! Even shined up the tail pipes real nice too lol Lees advise worked best for me, Bilberry followed by WD40 or car polish to get rid of the streaks after the wash. I need to buy a good sealant now.

[rich888]

Muzzer79 said:

rich888 said:

Try 'Wonder Wheels' from CarPlan which cuts through dirt, grease & brake dust, can be used on on most types of wheels, including lacquered alloy wheels, steel wheels and plastic wheel trims. Halfords sell it.

Seriously?

Wonder wheels is like nitric acid - it's fine for getting off seriously baked on dirt, on wheels that haven't been cleaned for ages, used very rarely, but as a regular cleaner it should be avoided.

Use Bilberry - it's cracking stuff

Thanks for the info, I wasn't aware there were any other products out on the market that worked quite so well and must say that Wonder Wheels does do a remarkably good job in removing baked on brake dust and grime so have had no need to use it on a daily or weekly basis, definately an improvement on using Autosol.

Will order the Bilberry wheel cleaner and see how well it compares, it certainly looks a lot easier to apply

[paddy328]

Bilberry isn't bad, but I've found that autosmart smart wheels to work better. You should try some Carpro ironx also. It's great at getting rid of stubborn deposits and even after cleaning a wheel and spraying it on after, you'll be surprised by what it finds. Ironx is designed to get rid of iron particles and brake dust embedded in the paint and wheels. I use it on every car I detail and also apply it to the whole car, as there is often particles embedded into the paint, especially at the rear of the vehicle. You could you it as a stand alone spray on and pressure wash off wheel cleaner, but it wouldn't be very cost effective.

The best thing to do would be to clean the wheels, spray them with ironx (turns purple when it finds anything) rinse off and when the wheels are dry use a proper sealant like gtechniq c5 wheel armour. Wheel waxes are ok, but are not as effective, as they don't last as long and can't stand up to the temps that a sealant can.

Here are a couple of links, just to show what I'm talking about:

http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/shop/carpro-iron-x-ls...

http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/shop/gtechniq-c5-whee...

If anyone needs any other product advice, just let me know.

Francis