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Wheel Cleaning Tips

imaniguana

imaniguana

Charter Member
SM 2004
SM 2003
Full Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2002
Messages
2,739
Location
Philly area
I was debating whether to title this thread either:

- How do you easily clean the inside of stock 17" wheels?

OR

- Where can I hire a contortionist?


I find it really difficult to get in to clean the inside of these wheels. I haven't found a good 180 degree brush and it's difficult to get my fragile, uninsured, guitar-playing hands in there without damaging them too much. Any ideas?
 
Take them off twice a year and clean them then put on some Zaino or Klasse for protection and easy cleaning. I have a long stick brush with lambs wool and it reaches in pretty well also get some soft cotton or MF gloves and just wash while wearing them.
 
Try a refrigerator coil cleaning brush available at any hardware or home store. I have seen them from free at a ecology fair to about US$5 in the store.

It is about 2ft long with 1ft being handle and the other a brush. It is a two stage brush, one about the size of a 45 ring cigar and the other the size of a pinky finger. It is also bendable. Looks like a long bottle brush.

Get one and bend if 90degrees. Goes right into the slot and gets to the spot.

 
ygmn is right - you should pull your own wheels off 2 to 3 times a year. You can inspect your brakes, rotors, shocks, springs, fender wells, and check for any leaks of grease or oil while you have them off.

It's a good habit to get into (albiet a bit time consuming). To speed the process up consider buying a floor jack. Use a piece of wood between the jack and your Av to lift on the stock points instead of the frame (due to weight). The weight of the Av will push in the wood instead of buckling the thinner metal around the lift points. Easier, safer, and more secure than using the stock jack with the Av.

:D:
 
Dumb question,but nobody has ever given me a really good answer. :p
How do you use a jack and stands to rotate tires??(please be very detailed).I've always used ramps to service vehicles.
When using a pair of jackstands,are they safe enough to be under the truck yanking on tight bolts,etc.,etc. :B: :B:
 
aVOLanche said:
?Dumb question,but nobody has ever given me a really good answer. :p
How do you use a jack and stands to rotate tires??(please be very detailed).I've always used ramps to service vehicles.
When using a pair of jackstands,are they safe enough to be under the truck yanking on tight bolts,etc.,etc. :B: :B:
Click to expand...


I too would also like hearing different techniques for getting this beast up on jack stands. I'm even leary of using my ramp.
 
aVOLanche said:
?Dumb question,but nobody has ever given me a really good answer. :p
How do you use a jack and stands to rotate tires??(please be very detailed).I've always used ramps to service vehicles.
When using a pair of jackstands,are they safe enough to be under the truck yanking on tight bolts,etc.,etc. :B: :B:
Click to expand...
I got well into writing a guide on how to do this when I realized that I would be taking a lot for granted and may in fact miss an important step that may not be obvious to one that has never done this and may be working by yourself. There are a few things you can do to make this easier and safer.

1.Don't work alone;Find a friend with some experience. Not only will it be safer but you will probably learn a lot, the job will go faster, and you may not have to buy some expensive tools!
?
2.Have the tools that you need on-hand. Heavy duty jack stands, not the cheapie stamped items they sell at the department store. You have a heavy truck! A hydraulic floor jack makes any job faster, safer and easier on your back. Besides the right sockets and ratchet (1/2" drive) you will need a torque wrench to properly remount the wheels after you have rotated them.

3.Apply the Parking brake! But, the parking brake alone is not enough!!! Block the front wheels if you will be raising the rear-end. The parking brake only acts on the rear wheels!.

4.Loosen the lug nuts slightly before raising the vehicle.They are torqued on hard and will require some leverage.Final tightening when you get the wheels back on should be done with the tires in contact with the ground.

5.Get a shop manual! It will help you find proper jacking points, torque settings, etc.

6.Never, under any circumstances, work under a vehicle that is only supported by a jack! Mechanical jacks are too unstable and hydraulic jacks can bleed down!

A vehicle properly supported with quality jack stands, correctly positioned, can be safely worked around and under. I also like to leave my floor jack positioned close to the area I am working under, touching a lift point but not under load, as a redundant safety.
Hope this helps!
 
steelheadchaser,Thanks!The main question I still have is about the stands.Do you use them in pairs?To do the front(or rear).To jack one side(F&R) and hold it while you rotate F to R?(I don't suppose it is feasible to "cross rotate" without a lift?).
Where are the stands placed(rear axle,frame,etc)?
 
I would lift a side at a time to rotate the tires. Put jack stands at postitions at both front and rear and make your swap. With radials you go front to back on the same side. I have heard that they can be rotated side to side now but I would check with the manufacturer first. If you only want to take one tire off at a time for cleaning/inspection you can do it with a single stand. You will want to have a pair of stands sooner or later so buy a pair. Check your owners manual or a service manual for jacking and stand points if you are unsure. They will have pictures and descriptions of where they should be placed. Is there anyone in the club close by that could give you a hand?
 
Someone asked where I was placing my jack stands and I answered them on Sunday. Now both post are MIA, so here it goes again. I place the jackstand under the frame rail as far forward as possible. On the 1500 there is an area where frame metal overlaps. The owners manual recommends this spot. When raising the rear, depending on what I am working on, I will place the stand under the rear axle as close to the wheel as possible, or I will put it under the frame rail as far back as possible. I lift only the minimum amount neccessary, and avoid overly tilting the vehicle. If I am going to be working under something I use four stands and keep the vehicle level.
 
Steelheadchaser,so it is reasonable to use 4 stands(1 at each "corner" at the proper jack points),in order to keep the truck level.Seems it would be good to be perfectly level when changing the rear diff fluid,for example,so one could properly measure the fluid levels.
(instead of ONLY raising the rear and having the fluid not level for measuring).

Is the vehicle stable when fully off the ground on 4 stands?That is my biggest concern.Thanks!

:B: :B:
 
You will only be able to keep it as level as the surface that you are parked on. It is not as hard to get it stable on four points as opposed to three since the vehicle is heavy enough that you will get some sag in the frame. Make sure that you are parked on a solid surface. Blacktop in 100dg heat is not a good idea as the stands will start to sink into the softened surface. Concrete would be my first choice. Once again, get yourself the heavy duty jack stands, not the cheapie stamped stuff. They have a better base on them that will make everything much more stable, as well as a better range of adjustment.

Where I live, some of the community colleges have interesting continueing ed. classes that include different levels of auto maintenance and even restoration. You might check around and see if anything like that is offered near you.
 
Another thing to ponder is the type of stand and jack that you are working with. It is better to be over jacked and overstanded than under jacked and understanded...Understand?LOL Seriously look at the LBS ratings of these lifesavers and make the proper call.
 
My tire guy, who knows his tires, says to rotate tires to all four positions on the vehicle to insure proper wear. For what its worth. Also jack stands are sold in pairs, not a problem if you buy two pair, but most poeple, using jack stands lift one side at a time or front or back.
 
Steelheadchaser said:
I would lift a side at a time to rotate the tires. Put jack stands at postitions at both front and rear and make your swap. With radials you go front to back on the same side. I have heard that they can be rotated side to side now but I would check with the manufacturer first.
Click to expand...
According to the owner's manual you need to swap all 4 tires in a figure-8, not just the pair on each side.

Rear tires go forward to the front on the same side. Front tires cross to the opposite side of the vehicle and go on the back. You can do this with a pair of Jack Stands without trying to jack opposite corners of the truck in 3 goes. First jack each side and swap the pair of tires front to back. Then jack the back on both sides and swap both back tires (which were the front moments ago).

Do this on as flat a surface you can find and don't forget to block the front tires as mentioned above since the parking brake only stops the back wheels from turning.

Keep in mind if you have Kleen Wheels or anything like that which are specific to which direction that the tires will spin when in motion, that the front tires will end up spinning backwards when they swap sides so you'll need to swap the Kleen Wheels from wheel to wheel on the back pair when you rotate too.

 
i usually do it the hard way guys. i put on a rain suit to crawl under the AV. while underneath the vehicle i have a rag and soapy water. i clean as far around the rim as possible. them i have to pull the vehicle forward to get around the rest of it. i do all four wheels before pulling it forward. a little time consuming, messy, and uncomfortable. it looks real nice when completed though. ;D
BTW, i purchased some wheel cleaner and used it on the wife's truck. it worked real well. you may be able to spray one of these cleaners on the inside of the wheel to loosen up the brake dust for easy removal. :B:
 
Another thing you may want to do while you have the wheels off is to apply some anti-seize compound to the wheel studs. This serves 2 purposes. The first is that it makes it much easier to remove your wheels next time (you don't need to worry about rust or corrosion making it tougher to loosen the lug nuts if you get a flat or whatever). The second reason is that you should always tighten down your lugnuts to the proper torque in the proper sequence to ensure your brakes/rotors do not wear prematurely. Having the anti-seize compound on the studs help to ensure the lugnuts will turn easily to get the proper torque.

I learned these things the hard way after trying to change the tires on my Ford Probe. Not only were they on so tight (dealer over-torqued them using an air tools), but they didn't torque them down properly and it ended up warping the rotors. It was a mess trying to change a flat tire using the stock lug wrench that came with the car when you are out in the middle of nowhere and you don't have a breaker bar handy!!
 
saint said:
Another thing you may want to do while you have the wheels off is to apply some anti-seize compound to the wheel studs.
Click to expand...

Most torque settings are "dry", meaning that the threads are not to be lubricated. If the threads are treated with anti sieze, you will end up over stretching the threads in order to get the specified torque setting. This weakens the threads and they will eventually fail. Anti-sieze compounds are typically used to prevent galling when steel bolts are used in aluminum. Service manuals will indicate what bolts or studs are to be torqued "wet".
 
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