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Re: Excessive Brake Dust
BMW BMW General Discussions (alt.autos.bmw)
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#41
 
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Re: Excessive Brake Dust -
07-23-2003
, 06:45 PM
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Two different things. |
John
#42
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You can use the same bucket, provided you use different water for the body than the wheels (ie you can use the soap solution from the body on the wheels, but if you do the wheels first, your soap solution will get real dirty so you'll want to dump it out and use a fresh soap solution). I would keep the stuff that touches the body seperate from what touches the wheels. As far as drying, if the wheels are clean, and you dont see any brake dust or grim on the towel, then that can be used for the body, but don't clean your wheels with something and then go clean the body with it. Drying the wheels isn't necessary, but I find it helps keep the wheels clean longer. But if I wash from body then to wheels (even though Skid said to start with wheels first), then I could theoretically use the same bucket of water right? Since the body will be less dirty than the wheels. Or should I always start with the wheels regardless of that fact. John |
Hugh Gundersen
hsg (AT) h-gee (DOT) co.uk
hsg (AT) bognor-bill (DOT) co.uk
http://www.bognor-bill.co.uk
Bognor Regis, W.Sussex, England, UK
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Vyisder Asmeni
Orsisarsis Asderisorsis.
B.Cozderiz
Vunarz
PERORZ
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#43
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On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 12:00:56 -0700, John Lee <> wrote: If we are talking "Cleaning the wheels" then a good idea is to visit your local school chemistry lab and get some diluted Hydrochloric acid or buy some proprietary wheel cleaner that has HCL in it. Mix up a solution of "washing up" liquid and "antifreeze" with water. 30% Antifreeze will do and wash the wheels with this solution using a brush. The antifreeze will make the water wetter (break down the surface tension and attack the brake dust from below thus releasing it and it should wash off easily. The HCL will finish the job but be careful if any of the clear lacquer is chipped showing bare alloy - the HCL will attack it and you will get a white powder showing in time (Aluminium oxide) Hugh |
wash your hands afterward. There won't be any of that dirty epidermal layer
left on those clean, white bones. My vote for most significant
understatement of the year goes to "the HCL will finish the job."
#44
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"Hugh Gundersen" <hsg (AT) h-gee (DOT) co.uk> wrote in message news  op2iv875130cdlprv4e8dsfaus8fji8ki (AT) 4ax (DOT) com...On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 12:00:56 -0700, John Lee <> wrote: If we are talking "Cleaning the wheels" then a good idea is to visit your local school chemistry lab and get some diluted Hydrochloric acid or buy some proprietary wheel cleaner that has HCL in it. Mix up a solution of "washing up" liquid and "antifreeze" with water. 30% Antifreeze will do and wash the wheels with this solution using a brush. The antifreeze will make the water wetter (break down the surface tension and attack the brake dust from below thus releasing it and it should wash off easily. The HCL will finish the job but be careful if any of the clear lacquer is chipped showing bare alloy - the HCL will attack it and you will get a white powder showing in time (Aluminium oxide) Hugh Another important side-benefit of Hugh's method is that you don't have to wash your hands afterward. There won't be any of that dirty epidermal layer left on those clean, white bones. My vote for most significant understatement of the year goes to "the HCL will finish the job." |
disrespecting his well-intentioned advice, I'll clarify my position.
Yes, some commercial wheel cleaners do contain a mild solution of acid. But
it's carefully proportioned and blended with other ingredients to cut the
dust while minimizing the risk of damaging the finish on clearcoated alloys.
With all due respect, I can't imagine anyone would want to take the gamble
of mixing a do-it-yourself witches' brew of hydrochloric acid and antifreeze
and deliberately spraying it on your expensive wheels. It would cost as much
as buying a bottle of the real thing and the odds of damaging the finish in
the process would be an order of magnitude higher.
#45
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#46
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To save a lot of further debate, let me pass on an excellent article on the subject of properly cleaning wheels and tires and using the right products for the job: http://www.howtocleananything.com/hc...autowheels.htm |
wheels and tires. I was already expecting to clean the wheels because
of the break dust, so my motivation was for aesthetic reasons, but now
I realize that cleaning is necessary to prevent corroding the wheel
and tire. It's good to know that P21S is a good choice for wheel
cleaner since I already ordered it. However, I wasn't prepared for all
the work that would be required to clean and maintain a tire. I
understand that steps should be taken to prevent the tire from
hardening, cracking, and becoming discolored, but tires, unlike
wheels, are consumable resources and, thus, need to be replaced. So my
question is cleaning tires absolutely necessary? I never cleaned my
old tires and there never seemed to be any problems, but maybe I was
just lucky. If cleaning is required, how often should I clean them?
and how often should I wax it?
John
#47
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To save a lot of further debate, let me pass on an excellent article on the subject of properly cleaning wheels and tires and using the right products for the job: http://www.howtocleananything.com/hc...autowheels.htm Wow! I had no idea so much work would be involved in cleaning the wheels and tires. I was already expecting to clean the wheels because of the break dust, so my motivation was for aesthetic reasons, but now I realize that cleaning is necessary to prevent corroding the wheel and tire. It's good to know that P21S is a good choice for wheel cleaner since I already ordered it. However, I wasn't prepared for all the work that would be required to clean and maintain a tire. I understand that steps should be taken to prevent the tire from hardening, cracking, and becoming discolored, but tires, unlike wheels, are consumable resources and, thus, need to be replaced. So my question is cleaning tires absolutely necessary? I never cleaned my old tires and there never seemed to be any problems, but maybe I was just lucky. If cleaning is required, how often should I clean them? and how often should I wax it? John |
#48
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It is possible that if you drive enough and the climate is fitting, you never need to do tire care. If you're like me, and you drive 30,000 miles in 5 years, then it becomes something of an issue if you don't garage a car. |
be my primary means of transportation. And the climate is typical
sunny southern california, meaning tons of sunshine and fairly dry
weather, unless when it's raining of course which doesn't happen all
that oftne. And the car is garaged, but that's usually during night
anyway, so I don't know if that'll be a major factor.
John
#49
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So I guess you'll go through tires every 2-3 years? In that case, I don't think you have anything to worry about. |
John
#50
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sport package or regular? It all depends on how you drive. The regular ones last about 35000, the sport package ones last less. |
will push the gas more but I don't do hard cornering, at least not
very often.
John
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