Rust on wheels. Any suggestions or similar problems?

RWFJR · #1 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 11:44 AM

Over the past several months, I have noticed rust on the disk portion of my wheeles...more predominately on the rears. It looks like hell and am trying to figure out a way to get it off without taking off the wheel its self. Moreover, maybe a little ammunition when I take it back to the dealer to see what he will do?

Thanks for any advise you can give me out there in V2 land...

aco · #2 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 01:37 PM

The rusted portions look like the disk hats to me. Aren't the brakes made of iron? Those will rust pretty easily.

wait4me · #3 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 01:44 PM

WOW mine dont do that? They do rust on the surface of the rotors though. But that comes off when i drive the car.

Maybe just take them off and scrub them down with steel wool and then lightly spray them with flat primer grey brake paint.

Gary Wells · #4 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 01:48 PM

How is that car being washed? Do it yourself or washed at a carwash?
Rust is probably from water accumulation after washing. Blow drying the wheel areas with a compressed air hose and / or wiping the area dry with a towel (extremely hard to do to next to impossible to do) will help. Using a strong brake dust spray remover / wheel cleaner? If so, I would quit that until you resolve the issue. HTH

musclesbmf · #5 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 02:51 PM

yes, definitely not the wheels rusting. But that one area looks pretty bad. I would do what W4M suggested and clean and spray them. I don't think you'll have any luck at dealership.

Mark

tedcmiller · #6 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 04:27 PM

This person apparently has a rust problem with the hats (not the discs). While I have observed a very small amount of rust on my hats, it is not particularly severe. The stock discs or rotors are made of cast iron and will rust rather severely when they come in contact with water from washing or driving in the rain. Use of the brakes when this occurs, as indicated by other posters, will remove the rust on the rotors.

musclesbmf is correct, in that you will probably have no luck with the dealer. Try cleaning up you hats (removing the wheels will be required) and then hope for the best.

Prof · #7 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 06:51 PM

I'm an old fart with time on his hands so my wheels come off each time I wash the car. I have used a little abrasive CLR to pull tiny amounts of rust...and a spray can of silver paint. The only way to get the wheels clean is to pull the wheels or have the little lady with the skinny hands and arms clean around the calipers...wearing...well never mind...

Pull the wheels once or twice a month to clean the wheels and rims the way they should be done.

Oh yes, here is something that some will flame me about...I also put a little white grease on my lugs to keep them from rusting too...go ahead and throw your old wives tales at me...I am a little obsessive about my cars...you should see the garage queen truck!

Gary Wells · #8 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 07:11 PM

Prof:
I'm curious, as I have not found it necessary to wash my car yet, so I can't claim to have removed the wheels so far, but about 15 or so years ago when I started playing with '86-'87 turbo Buicks, I developed a habit of using anti-seize on virtually every bolt and / or nut that came off of any of my cars. Still do it, but I haven't pulled anything off of the Cad yet. What wives tales are going around about this? How many miles on your car? dd or not? Had any clicking issues yet? How many lbs. do you torque the wheels down to?

Prof · #9 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Wells

Prof:
I'm curious, as I have not found it necessary to wash my car yet, so I can't claim to have removed the wheels so far, but about 15 or so years ago when I started playing with '86-'87 turbo Buicks, I developed a habit of using anti-seize on virtually every bolt and / or nut that came off of any of my cars. Still do it, but I haven't pulled anything off of the Cad yet. What wives tales are going around about this? How many miles on your car? dd or not? Had any clicking issues yet? How many lbs. do you torque the wheels down to?

I do use anti-seize on selected bolts, those holding on brake calipers, and things that are going to come off at least yearly. Just hate having to force things off.

There are those that think that it is dangerous to use any lubricant on lugs. I have never lost a lug...and I also have no issues with rust or frozen lugs. Not because of the grease, but I am a little obsessive-compulsive about vehicles.

I have just over 9k on my four month old CTS V...my son and I took a trip to SoCal...to pretend that we were foot loose and fancy free...but got so tired each day that we were in bed by 9...getting old is hell!

The CTS V is a daily driver, and I treat it like one, drive it rain or shine, ...I have two garage queens, a Supercharged Ram SRT 10, and a Turbocharged 97 Volvo 850R Sport Wagon, fair weather rides.

I do insist on hand washing all the vehicles...its the only caressing I get to do these days!

V-Beach · #10 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 08:19 PM

I had the rust too on my hats and the dealer repainted them. I had the same exact thing on my 2004 V.
We are both in Florida so maybe the heat has something to do with it?

Gary Wells · #11 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 08:25 PM

Beautiful whip collection, Prof, wish that mine were like that.
Actually my '09 CTS-V has about 350 miles on it, about 2 months old, almost identical to yours, except I opted for a solid roof, std wheels (non-polished), & the replica suede steering wheel & gear shift selector wrap, my '87 turbo Buick has slightly under 26K miles on it, was a feature car in May, '09 edition of Hemmings muscle Machines mag, & my '02 C5 ZO6 serves as a dd, with about 84K miles on it & a little tired around the gills.

Gary Wells · #12 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 08:27 PM

RWFJR:
Here's something that I dug up on *corvetteforum*. Might be pertinent to your cause. Hopefully, they don't can me like a tuna for posting this.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...of-rotors.html

V-Beach · #13 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Wells

Beautiful whip collection, Prof, wish that mine were like that.
Actually my '09 CTS-V has about 350 miles on it, about 2 months old, almost identical to yours, except I opted for a solid roof, std wheels (non-polished), & the replica suede steering wheel & gear shift selector wrap, my '87 turbo Buick has slightly under 26K miles on it, was a feature car in May, '09 edition of Hemmings muscle Machines mag, & my '02 C5 ZO6 serves as a dd, with about 84K miles on it & a little tired around the gills.

So do you have rust on your hats or what?

Gary Wells · #14 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 08:56 PM

No, but I can't take any credit for that. About 350 miles on car, about 2 months old, never washed, never seen water, I wouldn't even let the dealership wash the car when I took delivery. But I think that they wiped it down with Quick Detailer & microfiber when I wasn't looking. The hats on the rotors are pretty much the way that it came from the factory / dealer.

Gary Wells · #15 (**permalink**) 09-16-09, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-Beach

I had the rust too on my hats and the dealer repainted them. I had the same exact thing on my 2004 V.
We are both in Florida so maybe the heat has something to do with it?

If you're in Florida, I don't think that heat alone would do it, but the combination of humidity and heat, especially the humidity part, could be the culprit.