I didn't find a thread on this already so decided to pose the question...

any thoughts on how to keep the polished wheels clean? The brakes give up a ton of brake dust, I'm at about 500 miles on the car and I clean the rims and exhaust everytime I get home.

Some friends are suggesting wax the rims, even basic turtle wax they say would work. Your thoughts?

There is another thread on this but people recommended an Eagle 1 product (and a few other similar products) that is designed to keep break dust off. I picked some up and it works as designed.

This being said, I also picked up some wheel polish and did my wheels this past weekend. Then I applied the Eagle 1 stuff after polishing and noticed a whitish haze on the wheels. The E1 instructions tell you to let the stuff sit on the wheels and not to whipe it off (let it dry for 15 minutes, etc.). I did and didn't like the way that it looked so I wiped it off.

I suggest black chrome....Looks badass when clean or dirty :sneaky:

My buddy used this on his bike!

http://www.rejex.com/rejex.html

He said he applied some of this on his bike, and when he went to wash it the next time around all he used was windex and it wipped off easily.
I don't know how well it would work on chrome, but I know the chain lubricants that comes off the chain of a bike onto to the wheels are a pain to clean. I'm going to try and used this on my wheels. I'll let you know how it works out.

Good luck though.

How about brake dust on wheels?
RejeX won't keep brake dust from accumulating over time, but it does make wheels much easier to clean. Usually a good high pressure spray of water is sufficient to knock off brake dust. Plus RejeX leaves a wicked shine on both chrome and alloy wheels.

Thx for the opinons guys.

I actually heard sunlight or some kitchen dish/galss soap is good to clean polished rims since they clean spot free and are somewhat of a degreaser. Of course you will not and should not use that soap on the paint or any other part of the car :)

I will read up on the products you guys mentioned and see what else the local store has. Of course you can't avoid the dust/dirt but as long as there is a way to clean it of easily thats all I ask. I'd hate to have the brake dust "bake" on if not cleaned properly.

Goodtimes.

Your CTS-Vs polished wheels are clearcoated, just like your paint. Don't use metal polishes or wheel polishes on them (even the ones that say "Designed for polished aluminum"), as those are made for uncoated, polished mag wheels.

Best thing to do is put a coat of wax on them every few months, and wash them with regular car soap and water when you clean the car. Don't use any abrasive wheel brushes, or you'll have tons of swirl marks in the finish just like you would if you rubbed your hood with the brush.

On my old jeep with the same kind of wheels i used a teflon based spray wax. It would take off the dirt easily and at the same time wax em' up

http://www.shiftr.com/v2/images/stories/apax_folder/eagleonekc_1.jpg


I bough this stuff at the suggestion of the other Thread on the subject.. and it Works. I used it on my Painted CTS-V Wheels, Chrome Vette Wheels, Painted G6 wheels, 9-3's Alloy Wheels, and Tahoe's Polished wheels.. ALL look great after a 3-4days of driving. :thumbsup:

^^^ I not sure how you applied the E1, but I sprayed it on just like the instructions said, and it left a whiteish haze on my polished wheels after it dried. I don't care for that at all .. :helpless: But - that said, it does seem to keep the dust from collecting as much as it did before applying E1, so I guess their claim is true to a certain extent. I'll be shopping around for something that doesn't leave the haze on the wheels.

Rob

this is the stuff...meguir's teflon spray

^^^ I not sure how you applied the E1, but I sprayed it on just like the instructions said, and it left a whiteish haze on my polished wheels after it dried. I don't care for that at all .. :helpless: But - that said, it does seem to keep the dust from collecting as much as it did before applying E1, so I guess their claim is true to a certain extent. I'll be shopping around for something that doesn't leave the haze on the wheels.

Rob

Yeah.. same here. I thought U were supposed to wipe the Haze off with a dry towel. I did.. and it works like a charm:thumbsup:

[QUOTE=Cadillac Tony;1868933]Your CTS-Vs polished wheels are clearcoated, just like your paint.QUOTE]

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info! I will stick to using car soap and I might give some wax a try and see if that helps. I was just worried that the heat coming off the brakes might bake the wax onto the wheels and ruin them.

I agree with Tony!
I wash the car and wheels often with car soap only.
I would NOT use ANY nonsense on them I don't care what these companies claim.
Every product I used in the past that was supposedly "SAFE" for wheels always ended up damaging them.

Yeah.. same here. I thought U were supposed to wipe the Haze off with a dry towel. I did.. and it works like a charm:thumbsup:

Good to know! I'll see if I can find that product and give it a shot.

^^^ I not sure how you applied the E1, but I sprayed it on just like the instructions said, and it left a whiteish haze on my polished wheels after it dried. I don't care for that at all .. :helpless: But - that said, it does seem to keep the dust from collecting as much as it did before applying E1, so I guess their claim is true to a certain extent. I'll be shopping around for something that doesn't leave the haze on the wheels.

Rob

It does leave a whitish haze but do one front tire and not the other and then compare after 1 day of driving and the white haze actually looks much much better than the other rim. I agree though not as good on day 1 but the rest of the week they still look clean not to mention it helps ensure no baking on the rim.

[QUOTE=Cadillac Tony;1868933]Your CTS-Vs polished wheels are clearcoated, just like your paint.QUOTE]

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info! I will stick to using car soap and I might give some wax a try and see if that helps. I was just worried that the heat coming off the brakes might bake the wax onto the wheels and ruin them.

Yikes... make sure to HEAVILY coat them with wax and you will need to do this each time you wash now. No wheels are made today that you need to use aluminum polish, or any other polish on. This is for those that *strip" their factory wheels and just polish them to get rid of the corrosion.
Please keep an eye on your wheels now and make sure that you look for the white spider webbing effect that corrosion does. This will typically work from the inside (back of wheel) to the front (side you always see).

If you guys ever get your wheels coated any other colors use 'PVD' coating. The stuff is so d@mn durable. I clean my wheels with simple green and paper towel :thumbsup: not even a scratch. Now try that with clearcoated wheels :eek:

I bought some stuff from Discount Tire called wheel wax and it works Great!

If you clean the wheels with soap, water and dry them with a leaf blower/microfiber towel combo, then put the wheel wax on, they'll be easier to clean up for the next couple of months.