So I'm gonna need a stronger wheel cleaner...help?

For track use, I have a set of TSW Nurembergring wheels on my GTI, along with Carbotech XP10's on the front and XP8's on the rear. Though great brakes, naturally like most track brakes they dust like hell. And I am having the worst time with the brake dust. The wheels have a matte gunmetal finish, which doesn't really feel "smooth" to the touch like factory coated wheels do, and I believe it is giving the brake dust an excellent surface to adhere to. My dad has the same brakes but we have no trouble cleaning his wheels as they are factory clear coated. I tried cleaning off a track day and a few hundred miles worth of brake dust today and was defeated...a lot of it comes off but the rest stubbornly sticks on, even after multiple hits of CG Diablo at 3:1 and lots of agitation.

I have Megs WB but I would not feel comfortable using it on these wheels...and at any rate they would need to be cleaned so often that using an acidic wheel cleaner would not be practical. Is there a stronger non-acidic wheel cleaner that would work well to remove this brake dust from my wheels? I would try Sonax but as these brakes are a ceramic compound I don't think that would be the best choice.

Thanks,

Clark

 

AG CWC, or CG citrus.......... WB is OK too, but if you do not feel comfortable don't risk it. I just dumpster-ed a gallon of 4:1 Diablo, its a joke IMO and does not do anything.

I use WB all the time, its very easy and safe to use. I just have a sprayer of APC near by, and do one wheel at a time. You could always try a higher dilution too, like 5:1

Sonax will not work, I tried it on my car, I have PFC pads which are carbon ceramic. did not do squat.

 

Clark... I have those same wheels, and have found that after getting them clean, using something does not haze (like aquartz reload in my case) will not make the wheels shiny.

They will remain matte, but have a more rich appearance.

As for cleaning the dust, if you have power clean, I would try that ,IF, the suggestions that Kilo gave you don't work as well as you'd like.

 

One more for the TSW 'Rings. I don't have track pads, but I Opti-Coated the wheels almost as soon as I got them, and NOTHING sticks to mine. I've also got the matte gunmetal with mirror-cut face, and the OC did not impart any gloss to them at all.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I think I'll try the Zep Citrus first as I've got that on hand...if not maybe I'll mix up a slightly weaker dilution of WB and see how well it works. As far as coating them...I applied Collinite 845 but it seems like the heat from the track and the brake dust combined removes that pretty quick. I'll be Aquartz-ing the GTI soon so I'll get the reload and everything then and go to town with it

 

I knew that soooner or later, you were going to come back to this forum with this exact problem after reading your thread on the new wheels and track pads.

Try P21S Gel or Sonax. Both are quite powerful while being gentle on the wheel surface.

 

I like Brown Royal. It's cheap, can be diluted and safe on every type of wheel.