{"id":252,"date":"2009-11-10T19:46:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-11T00:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/?p=252"},"modified":"2016-11-16T14:25:05","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T19:25:05","slug":"how-to-detail-your-wheels-tires-and-wheel-wells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/how-to-detail-your-wheels-tires-and-wheel-wells\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Detail Your Wheels, Tires and Wheel Wells"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/h2>\n

Wheels, tires and wheel well cleaning is one of the most popular detailing processes that I get asked about. Most people understand that clean wheels and properly dressed tires and wheel wells make a huge impact on the overall looks of the vehicle, but they don’t know how to get them looking that good, or how to keep them maintained after they do. I’ve spent 12-14 hours detailing vehicles and polishing the paint to perfection, only to have the owner of the car first notice how good the wheels look. “Oh my, look how nice the wheels are! How do I keep them looking that way?”<\/p>\n

If your wheels have been neglected and they look almost black from the build up of break dust and grime all over them, you’ll need to put in a bit of work in order to bring them back to life, but after that it will just be a matter of simple maintenance during your normal washing process to keep them looking in top shape.<\/p>\n

The majority of the build up on your wheels (especially on the inside) is from brake dust. This is a by-product of the braking process, and if left un-treated over a period of time, the corrosive qualities of it can permanently damage the finish of the wheels. You will also notice that your front wheels look worse than the back because most of your braking power is at the front, and typically you have larger brakes up there which will also generate more dust.<\/p>\n

So regular cleaning and maintenance of your wheels not only makes them look much better, but it will prevent damage and keep them in great shape for many years to come.<\/p>\n

Here are a few examples of wheels that have gone too long between proper cleaning (if any!).
\n\"Dirty
\n\"Dirty<\/p>\n

Items Needed<\/h2>\n

First let’s tackle those wheels that have been neglected for a while. The process isn’t much different from regular maintenance cleaning, and most of the tools required are the same.<\/p>\n

One thing to keep in mind for wheel cleaning is that you always want to start the car washing process with the wheels first. The reason we do this is because the wheels are typically the dirtiest parts of the car, and we don’t want to risk overspray from the wheels getting all over a clean painted surface.<\/p>\n

Make sure that you have a dedicated bucket and wash media strictly for wheels! Never use your wheel washing materials on painted surfaces. Ever! There are too many abrasive contaminants on the wheels, and if you were to use it on the paint afterwards, you’ll most likely damage the finish (that’s one way swirls are caused, but we’ll get to that in another article).<\/p>\n

Tools and products you’ll need:<\/p>\n