I get a lot of brake dust and i tried this wax on type cleaner and it woops my butt....So im wanting to see some of the techniques you guys use on chrome wheels...

 

I don't know if you would like these, but it would eliminate dealing with the brake dust. You just wouldn't get the look of being able to see the rotor or caliper behind the wheels.
http://www.f150store.com/Shop/ViewPr...&PlateTypeID=1

 

soap, water, and a wool mit dedicated to your wheels.

wash, rinse, dry, apply wax, buff off excess, tire black. SHINE.

 

I second the brake dust shields. I can attest, they work great.

 

Sorry bud... there's no miracle cure product for brake dust. Simple washing is the best way... keep them protected with a good synthetic wax.

 

On our coated wheels, frequent washing with soap and water (every 2 to 4 weeks) works best for me. After my wheels are clean and dry, I spray & wipe them with Duragloss Aquawax. I never have to scrub the wheels to clean them after they're coated with Aquawax as long as I don't let them go too long. It's a simple matter of wiping them down with a wet soapy grout sponge from Home Depot. CarQuest auto parts stores sell's Duragloss AquaWax in a spray bottle for something like $7. It's a nice and easy to work with spray sealant as well and it doesn't leave any chalking or discoloration on trim, moldings, etc. You'll get at least a months protection from it on the paint. We use it as a spray booster after a wash.

Sometimes we'll use wheels cleaners if needed on certain customer vehicles, but we try to stay away from them if at all possible. I've seen customers that swear their wheels are coated and their expensive wheels turned out not to be coated or everything was coated but the lips or the cleaner got under the coating, etc, and ruined the wheels. I know plenty of people do not like Simple Green, but it's worked out well for us when carefully used in dilution for limited working times. We also use Simple Green's Aircraft & Precision cleaner in the blue bottle when working with aluminum (i.e. engines, wheels, etc) or Titanium (motorcycle exhausts, etc) instead of the Concentrated Cleaner in the green bottle that most people are familiar with. We use other products as well (Meguiar's APC+ is very good stuff, etc), but we've had plenty of Simple Green on hand from a bulk purchase I made a ways back.

 

New, higher quality brake pads did wonders for me.

 

Well, thanks for the replies, i do get real busy and just let them go too long 3-4 weeks w/out scrubbing the wheels, just gotta do it more often is what im getting from this...I think if and when i go to a different (bullet hole style) wheel(black) i may check on the brake shields, but w/my current wheels it wouldnt look good in my opinion...And when is a good determinant on when to change disks?...My truck is an 06 with 18k....ive always went 20+ and listened for the nipple to alert me when they are ready?...And which are the best pads with less dust?...thanks again for the help...

 

Switch to ceramic brake pads. They are harder than semi-metallic therefore produce less dust. Or there are also expensive hybrid compound brake pads you can get too.

 

I changed my front pads at 11,000 just to get rid of the dust, changed my rear at 31,000 they were worn pretty badly. I installed Wager Thermo Quiets, and they have been great.

 

on chrome wheels, use Simple Green or any general brand of wheel cleaner should work. purchase you a large brush with soft bristles. just before you pull up to wash your truck, get the wheels wet with water first(your wheels will be hot). then spray them down with the simple green and let it sit while you begin to wash your truck. you may or may not even need the brush, depending on how dirty they are.(i recommend the brush to get into small crevices). just be sure to rinse them well so there is no spotting or residue left on the wheels. hope this helps

 

A couple things...How close are you to changing out your pads? As mentioned here, some pads are less prone to dusting, or at least making the dust less noticeable.

On the wheels, prevention really makes subsequent wheel cleaning a lot easier. Clean 'em up real good and coat with a good polish or wheel sealant, then a coat or two of good wax. I did it twice last year, both times I removed the wheels so I didn't have to work around the lug nuts. On washes after that, the wheels were really easy to upkeep...I have black wheels and all it really took was a light brush with a good sudsy wash solution.

 

Well- maybe not-- I'll bet you were asked, too, to do the product testing for the new 2007 products, one of which is a Quik Wheel Detailer--optimized towards removing brake dust.

It's backordered at the moment, but I will be getting some before it hits the shelves. There's a couple of really noce goodies the're adding this year. (ie: a new metal polish, QD spray--same as before, just aerosol, a carpet stain remover, and Hot Shine Tire Gel--more on this later)

After I finish filling out the reviews from Meg.'s, I'll post them on here for everyone to see. But for the time being, as soon as Hot shine Tire gel hits the shelves, get a bottle. No slingoff. (I applied it really heavy, didn't wipe, let sit for 1 hour, and drove on the hwy at 70 mph. Not a spot on the fenders. Amazing. Lives up to the text on the back of the bottle "will not sling off"...

 

So, brake dust is from the pads... vs rotor stuff.
So we go with ceramic pads, eliminate pad dust but get rotor dust?
I put ceramics on at 880 miles. The wheels are spotless. The brakes work awesome.
Have read where ceramic pads wear rotors. So?
Clean is clean. Rotors are cheap.
Why weep?

 

I agree 100% there, the best way to clean is to eliminate it almost completely. A dedicated mit is a no brainer with soap and water. I tend to stay with semi-metallic pads as ceramics seemed too hard of pad and when they hit 10k km's, the squeeling and brake dust was crazy.