Cleaning brake dust behind rims (*PICS*)

[Gonad]

Ok, so my new rims have some severe accumulation of brakedust (and/orrust as someone told me)...

I'm talking about the back of the rims not the front face. The back is justmachined aluminum so ther's no coating there or anything now.

Anywho, I tried using Meguiars wheel cleaner and then using a wirebristle toothbrush to clean it, and it did an ok job but it's stuck on therepretty good.

I resorted to buying a wire cup brush (see pic below) and used itwith a drill and lightly used it against the rear and it seemed to clean it uppretty well, however, I want to make sure this is safe and not damaging tomy rims. I would guess that if I went with this technique, I would have tore-coat the wheel with something to prevent rust.

For those interested in what the rims are, I have several pics here: http://240sx.cubicdesign.com/picpage12.php

Comments: Wirebrush:

Wheel after using a wire bristle toothbrush (not the one above) and Meguiars wheel cleaner:

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[Mastaflash]

HUGE PIC! but anyway, after you do that, you could paint the back side black so you wouldnt have to wory about it anymore. or put just clear spraypaint on it.

[elwesso]

Id think it would be better to just sand off the brake dust first.... But i think youll be safe with your wire brush.... Besides, if its aluminum it wont rust...

[Gonad]

^^^ How can you gurantee this?

Im not worried about removing any coating, cuz if I do clean it upwith the wirebrush, I will most likely just clearcoat it.

I Just want some kind of absolute gurantee that using thewirebrush to remove the dust/rust/etc. would be advisable.

[Mastaflash]

well that wire brush will take the dust off, but it probobly would take any coating off as well. if thats not a problem, then it should be ok to use that. it may leave small surface scratches though. it shouldnt take any metal off though.

[SmithSR]

Gonad, the aluminum wheels won't rust and turn red-brown, like iron would. You really won't hurt anything by using the wire brush to clean the backside of the wheel.

It's really tough to keep the back side of a wheel clean, unless you're very critical about pulling the wheels and cleaning them on regular intervals.

There are some really good industrial wheel cleaning products available, for use on bare metal. Warsaw Chemical makes some ultra-potent cleaner products. Just be sure to keep these kinds of chemicals away from the clearcoat/polished face of the wheel.

^^Use Warsaw Chemical, or similar, and a wire brush to clean em, then every month or so, pull all the wheels and re-clean. This cleaning process is MUCH easier once the initial scraping and grinding and elbow grease part is done.

PHIL:)

[Gonad]

I dunno if I can find the Warsaw Chemical around me. Mostauto stores (we have Canadian Tire - its like a PepBoys) but theydon't carry anything heavy duty.

[SmithSR]

You don't necessarily <need> an industrial metal cleaner, just a good cleaner, and the brush. What you're doing is very common... you can't hurt anything by taking a wire brush to the backside of the wheel to clean off the packed dust/grime. Like I said, the real hard part is the initial cleaning/grinding. After this, it's just regular maintaining/cleaning.

Pep Boys will have some kind of cleaning solution that'll help you along. Just be careful to keep nasty chemicals off the face of the wheel. Happy grinding!

[Gonad]

I used Meguiars Wheel cleaner along with a metal bristletoothbrush (it's the same kinda bristle as that wire cone brush).

Anywho that took too much effort in cleaning just a little. When Iused the wirebrush with the drill, the stuff just came off real easilyand I didn't really apply too much force so I doubt I would havedone any damage if anything.

I think I'll just go ahead and use the wirebrush...take my chances.