what are you guys doing to keep your wheel well clean and not looking dirty? do any of you spray it down with anything special? washing it when i wash my truck just doesnt give it that "like new" look i'm hoping for. any adivce?

 

Cheap tire shine.

 

what about to remove the dirt and grim?

 

I use one of those garden nozzles that has a high pressure angle sprayer on it. I hose it off really good, then take a brush I use on the wheels and tires and go over the area pretty good.

for the front wells, I do like nassty said, just use a cheap tire shine. for the rear ones, i use a bug/tar remover to finish the job. I use the 3M stuff, (black and green bottle) and it works pretty good. Since those wells aren't glossy, just painted, I'll use some cheap wax on them to give them a more uniform look.

 

First spray the wheel well with a degreaser like Simple Green or some type of APC (All Purpose Cleaner). Scrub inside the wheel with a stiff bristled nylon brush and hit the shocks / coils / lines, etc, with a softer long bristled brush. Hose it off and repeat if necessary until it's clean. Once the area is dry, then spray it down with a tire dressing product as mentioned above. Meguiar's Hyper Dressing diluted works very well, but you can use Armorall original shine, No Touch, Black Magic, etc. I currently use a water based dressing from Optimum after I spray / wipe down the painted surfaces with Aquawax.

It's the same with your tires. Make sure to clean them first with an APC & a brush, then apply your favorite tire dressing after the tire is dry. I simply spray a foam tire applicator with my dressing (Optimum) and wipe it around the tire. A little dressing goes a long ways when used this way. Then I'll wipe off any excess dressing and quickly buff the tire with an old microfiber which leaves a nice clean matt surface and she's good to go (no sling, etc).

 

I use the method as qadsan described but, rather than using any dressing that I really 'like', I typically reserve the wheel wells for dressings that I've purchased or been asked to try that I don't like.

My wheel wells are where dressings that didn't like go to die.

 

I hit them (they're rubber for me, don't know what yours are)...with Bleache White and a nylon brush. After that, they get a coating of the cheapie tire coating.

Alternately, you can use underbody coating (a good idea anyway) and paint them. (I've done this too, ad it makes a huge difference)

 

I am extra **** about my wheel wells and under carriage. I spend hours to keep it like new.


What I start with...

 

I so want a steam genie.

 

amazingly clean!

 

What did you use to give it that "shiny" look?

I had my Dakota's underbody pro painted with a high gloss DuPont Midnight Black... it looks awesome! But it cost me a small fortune and since my F150 is my daily driver, it probably wouldn't be worth it and there is too much to paint.

 

They don't seem to be available in the US.

 

They're available... just pricey. Not worth my investment for the client base and amount of typical 'grunge' that I deal with...

 

Meguiars Hyper-Dressing, but any tire dressing will work.






Next time you are doing some work up this way drop in. You are welcome to mine anytime.

 

check out griot's garage....he has all kinds of cleaning supplies including a special cleaner for those of us who are "****" about our wheel wells
part#11138 Undercarriage Spray.....i've bought several items from him and well pleased with all of them