Suggestions for Cleaning and Maintaining New 17'' Voxx Wheels

[LostInTransit]

As suggested by Mike, I was asked to create another thread about what are some of the best products for cleaning and maintain a good clean shine on cast alloy wheels. These 17'' Voxx wheels have been silver painted with a machined face. One issue I'll be encountering is that I'm unable to bend my left leg so stooping to clean the wheels would be impossible. I need a spray on product with a soft long handle brush. clean the wheels and tires then rinse off. Then what's a good tire shine product to keep my tire bright and new.
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I've since had the shop remove the cheap Ford brake pads which left heavy brake dust on the factory wheels. Now that I've had new Powerstop carbon fiber/ceramic brake pads installed, they don't leave as much dust but there still is some trace of dust.

[The Guz]

You could have someone help you ceramic coat them to make maintenance easier. It won't stop brake dust from sticking but your washing will be much easier.

[Coatingsarecrack]

I don’t see it on Autogeek but wheel woolies makes a long handled version of the Boars hair brush that Mike likes alot. Soft, won’t scratch wheels.... long handle.

I second what the Guz said about ceramic coating.

Maybe get a large pump foamer with a wand to to spray product/cleaner into barrels.


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[glen e]

Daytona speed master brush and sonax wheel cleaner to clean them
Then easiest way To protect them is blackfire hydroseal, gyeon wetcoat, or carPro Hydr02 -spray on , hose off, you’re done.

[evo77]

One of the absolute worst wheel designs for cleaning - the multi-spoke! LOL

I vote for a good quality ceramic coating to make cleaning a breeze but more importantly resistant to chemicals. Because if your mobility is limited then you'll want a very strong chemical cleaner to be able to spray on and rinse off. You must be diligent though in your wheel maintenance. The more frequent you clean them the easier for the dirt/grime to clean easily with the spray on/rinse off process. If you follow this guide then I would still perform a thorough hand-wash every 2 months to fully remove any bonded contaminants and to rejuvenate the ceramic coating.

I have used Poorboys Spray and Rinse Wheel Cleaner in the past and it was a good product.

Poorboy's Spray and Rinse Wheel Cleaner 32 oz (https://www.autogeek.net/pbsrwc32.html)

[LostInTransit]

thanks everyone for the support, but I'm going to have to throw a money wrench into the works. I've ordered a couple can of the Por-15 Blue brake caliper paint. So I contacted Por-15 direct and asked what would be the best product to use on my new wheels that wonts damage the newly blue painted calipers. Por-15 spokesperson just got back with on this and didn't offer any suggestions other than at some point they are going to start offering their own cleaning/detailing line of products. I suspect what is going to have to happen is that I'll have to routinely/systematically remove one wheel at a time and clean them accordingly thus avoiding any uncertainly with spray on cleaning products thus risking the freshly painted calipers.

[glen e]

None of the products here will mess with the paint on the calipers.. Caliper paint is just a high temp paint, nothing real special.

[LostInTransit]

The weather just hasn't been cooperating. I was suppose to have attempted ,my first coat on at least on caliper this weekend, and without a shop I'm not going to be able to do this.. yet. Furthermore, it's been 1 month since buying and mounting these new Voxx wheels. But with all the bad involved with the wheels.. like the valve stems that still don't register or the wheel weights are falling off as we'll as the wheels aren't balanced correctly, we're going to be upgrading the wheels and tires again. Don't make the same mistake we did and order wheels from CariD or other sites without test fitting the wheels or knowing what you're getting into. We trusted CariD salesmen word and advice on this which was all lies. He/They convinced us that these wheels would fit and have the correct offset. In fact this set up is too small for our van and actually looks sllly.

This time and with the help of NTB, Voxx wheels & DPA lugs, we're going with 18 x 8 ET45 Voxx Capo wheels w/ Yokohama GT tires. We've just not been pleased with this setup nor can we return them according to CariD's site. The only good thing that came out of these deal, was my uncle Eddie milled us a set of wheel rings using his home made, basement lath to adapter the wheels to the van. The reason we're not mounting a set of the Nitto tires (preferred tires) is because Nitto themselves said they will not warranty their tires on our van nor do they wont their tires on our van. Because of this whole ordeal, I've since created a negative review on the BBB site, yet, the BBB has given CariD an "A+" rating with thousands of negative reviews. So who's paying off whom here.. Again don't buy anything from CariD unless you know what you're getting into as they will not warranty the parts they sell you.

[LostInTransit]

So as we all know by now, I made (CariD's salesman Made a mistake) of selling us a set of the Voxx 17 x 7.5 wheels w/ 215/50/17 Nitto tires. But once this combination was mounted on the van, we're hating the setup. the wheels and tires look small almost like the small wheels/tires on the Nissan NV200. We've attempted to get these switch out, but due to CariD's return policy, we're not able to return the wheels or tires. There's so many issues with this combination and we hate it.

In steps our savior. Discount Tire spokesman has offered to support our issues and even give us a trading value for the tires and will help with selling the wheels. However once bitten twice as shy. We're going to have to order just one 18 x 8 Voxx wheel and have it test fitted on the van and even though Discount Tire Cooperate says they guaranty these wheels will fit, but IF by chance they don't I'll not be charge anything, cost of the wheel or a restocking fee etc. Mind you we'll have to drive more than 3 hours to the closest Discount Tire center and we have to call DT cooperate a few days ahead of our arrival so that they can contact the store manage and set things up.

Once the wheel has bene confirmed that the wheel fits, we'll order the full set and hand deliver the set to our powder coaters where they will ceramic coat the wheels for us. Once the powder coaters have completed their task, its back to the DT shop for the tire mounting, which we've yet to decide what tire it will be.

One reason I'm here today, is to let others know that we've opted for a differant type of spare tire. The factory spare is up under the van and is very difficult to lower, disconnect and extract from the ground. I did some cross referencing using "roadkillcustoms.com" site and found several other vehicles have the same bolt pattern & center bore. After learning this we drove 600 miles nearly 10 hours to SC to a salvage yard just to buy a single 2005 Ford Thunderbird balloon spare. We've test fitted the spare on the van and fits like a glove.
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Now that we know what smaller spare wheels will fit, there's an issue with the Maxxis tires on these wheels. The most respected tbird site seems to indicate that the maxxis tire has been known to explode in the trunk of the car or even while mounted on the car. Thus we're getting rid of the maxxis tire and opting for something else. We've just had a chance to have the tire removed from the rim by our local Triple A service center at no charge because we're a member.
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Now off the rim goes to our powder coater for a shot or two of a candy blue color. Once this has bene completed, its back to DT for that need tire then it's off to a handicapped installed for that interior wheel mount. Once this has all been taken care of, we'll finally get rid of that factory spare and I'll post the completed powder coater's image results.

Note: BTW, for what it's worth, the factory M14 x 1.5'' open end lug nuts & M14 x 1.5'' x 2'' budge acorn tuner lugs will fit the balloon spare.

[ducksfan]

I've had excellent experiences with Discount tire store.

[LostInTransit]

In a few weeks we'll be heading up to PA to finally have the power coater coat that spare balloon wheel for us and once completed, we're off to Discount Tire, which will be a drive of more than 3 hours from our current location. Once there, we'll have DT mount another better brand of balloon tire on the freshly coated spare wheel. But this isn't the only reason we're visiting with DT center. it's been almost 1 year since owning these Voxx wheels and crappy Nitto tires.. and you guessed it. we're getting rid of these wheels/tires and opting for something larger. I have seen 18x8 wheels on the van or even larger on the TC's but I don't want to chance the 8 inch width on our van. I was able to locate an 18x7.5 ET40 wheel and this time I'm not going to order a full set without having DT test fit at least one wheel on the van first. Once the Balloon tire has been mounted we're heading to another wheel shop to have them upgrade the struts. then I'll order that single 18X7.5 wheel as there's a 8 week backorder. Plenty of time to save up for the rest of the wheels. Plus we'll have DT run through a list of what tires would best fit our new wheels selection. I'm thinking if I have to order one wheel at a time, I'll have them sent to the powder coaters so they can ceramic coat them for me. These 18x7.5 wheels with 225/50/18 tires is the largest wheel/tire (not the widest) combo that can be mounted on the van without having to lower or raise the van. I can't wait as this would be the most expensive wheel and tire combo I would have ever purchased for any vehicle I've ever own. One thing's for sure I'll never mount a less load rated tires on our van ever again..

[SNP209]

In for updates. 17s are definitely too small for a transit and I agree 18s would be a large improvement, maybe even 19s and a slight drop?

Im runnning 18x8.5 +42 on 225/40/18 tires on a 2016 focus with h&r lowering springs and like the look overall, I know its kind of an apples to oranges comparison but I thought I'd share some pics anyways lolhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220203/ef82442f81bc5e314b6bbfd31416daf1.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220203/16070451c1dad891d629a5070bba5d41.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220203/a558ce639c204c0b512d5288f9d836d7.jpg

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[LostInTransit]

Appreciate the image. tell me, what's the load rating of your federal tires? I'm restricted to what type of tires I can have mounted on the 18x7.5 because of the load rating or that Discount tire isn't willing to sell me a set of tires that do not match or accessed the vans load rated spec of more than 98 and I'm surprised that cariD sold me something that shouldn't have been on our van in the first place. I've learn my lesion with the current Voxx/Nitto set up as these are 95 load rated which is far less that what it should be. Going to have to stick with something higher that load rated of 98. So mix matching wheels with the correct load index was difficult. But DT helped me figure out which tire would be best suited for the wheel we've selected. Even with the 18's on your focus.. they look small or out of proportioned like the 17's on our van.
As for the 19's thats a little beyond what I'm wanting to do without lowering. the van is sitting fine like it is, and the 18/225's will fill the wheel well a bit more and still clear everything.. or at least thats what the paper work says.

oh and Not only has Discount tire (corp) been speaking with me about this, Custom Offset site has had a few TC owners update their pic on the site:

Custom 2020 Ford Transit Connect Image Gallery | Custom Offsets (https://www.customwheeloffset.com/wheel-offset-gallery?make=Ford&model=Transit+Connect&year=2020)

I mean even with all the positive images and specs, I've changed my mind about wanting a wider tire on the van because of the weather and fuel economy around Maryland.. going to try to keep the tire thin on a thin wheel. 8'' wide wheel is just too tight under our van.

[SNP209]

Load rating on those particular tires is 92.

I hear ya on the driving conditions having an impact on your wheel/tire combo, I live in california and the weather is pretty mild compared to maryland.

Keep us posted on your setup

[LostInTransit]

@SNP209 I'll be going from a 17x7.5 ET38 Voxx wheel to a 18x7.5 ET40 2Crave N26 wheel. These will be custom drilled by the manufacture to my bolt patter/specs of 5x108 M14. In a couple of weeks once the new struts have bene installed I'll pay my deposit and wait till I can get at least one will in stock then hand it over to Discount tire. From there I'm considering the Nokian One 225/50/R18 Index 99. which will give the van better handling and a stiffer tire as compared to the rubbery nitto index 95 tires.

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