How to clean rusty race pad dust off wheels?: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Classic Motorsports

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June 19, 2011 5:35 p.m. Armitage Reader

I'm having a problem with the copious amounts of dust left behind by these Hawk DTC-60 race pads after a track weekend. If it rains, and it always seems to, the dust, which I suspect is more bits of rotor than pad in the first place, forms an everlasting friendship with the polished and painted surfaces of my wheels. It looks like I have 1/16" of rusty growth on all the spokes and the lip. The only thing abrasive enough to remove it is scotch brite and tons of elbow grease but I don't want to ruin the finish. Any other ideas how to remove this stuff? Spray on wheel cleaner is useless as are all the other cleaning agents I've tried. Thanks!
June 19, 2011 5:44 p.m. ansonivan Dork

Wheel acid or diluted muriatic acid which can be found at Lowes. Wipe it on, leave it for a few minutes and rinse it off. Use a tooth brush to agitate and multiple applications as required. I use a rag to wipe it on as it will kill spray bottle pumps in short order.

This will corrode any exposed steel or aluminum so its a good idea to experiment on one wheel before diving into a huge mess.
June 19, 2011 6:17 p.m. iceracer Dork

I have had good luck with car wash and a scrub brush.
June 19, 2011 6:28 p.m. jimbbski Reader

phosphoric acid

Look for products that contain this. Do not use muriatic acid, while it does a good job removing rust from steel and etching concrete phosphoric acid is much safer to use and will also remove rust stains and etch concrete. Muriatic acid fumes are nasty and it can cause chemical burns where most products that contain phosphoric acid and be used and disposed of down most city drains. Heck, it's even used in some foods in small amounts.
June 19, 2011 7:29 p.m. paul Reader

Any good sealants/waxes out there to help deter future dust adhering to rims?...
June 19, 2011 7:59 p.m. ansonivan Dork

Jim, have you found any local sources for phosphoric acid? I've heard the same things but have yet to located the stuff.
June 19, 2011 8:10 p.m. fasted58 HalfDork

naval jelly (phosphoric acid), but it will harm paint, maybe wheel paint not so much
June 19, 2011 8:26 p.m. DavidinDurango New Reader

Coca Cola.

ansonivan wrote: Jim, have you found any local sources for phosphoric acid? I've heard the same things but have yet to located the stuff.

I've cornered the market on old Ford stuff
June 19, 2011 11:55 p.m. amg_rx7 HalfDork

I used some Meguiars All Wheel Cleaner and a tooth brush. http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+G9524

I have also used some simple green and hard sponge in soapy water to rub off the difficult stains on the wheels and paint. Seems to have worked for me on my Spec Miata on Team Dynamic silver wheels.

Claying the paint also helped a lot. I used some wheel wax on the wheels also after the first rain race where I had to clean all that crap off my wheels and car.

Yes, I'm running DTC 60 pads. White car.
June 20, 2011 12:34 a.m. e_pie Reader

Meguiars All Wheel cleaner and a little elbow grease has always worked for me.
June 20, 2011 10:12 a.m. iceracer Dork

Non-stick cooking spray,aka:PAM, unflavored will help. Applied before, not after.
June 20, 2011 10:45 a.m. jimbbski Reader

jimbbski wrote: phosphoric acid Look for products that contain this. Do not use muriatic acid, while it does a good job removing rust from steel and etching concrete phosphoric acid is much safer to use and will also remove rust stains and etch concrete. Muriatic acid fumes are nasty and it can cause chemical burns where most products that contain phosphoric acid and be used and disposed of down most city drains. Heck, it's even used in some foods in small amounts.

Your local Lowes's, Home Depot, or Menards is the place to buy it. Look at products like "Lime Away", or concrete etching, or concrete cleaning. The following is a link to info on one such product. Click on the MSDS sheet and you will see that it containes phosphoric acid. It can also be used to clean aluminum. When dulitied it is safe on most paints it just may take longer to clean.

http://www.krudkutter.com/cleanandetch.asp