Wheel barrels that aren’t worth cleaning?

**Bill D** · 12-16-2018, 08:06 PM

Glad to see you are level headed about it!

**rlmccarty2000** · 12-16-2018, 08:23 PM

I’m with you, just leave them alone.

**Calendyr** · 12-16-2018, 09:27 PM

If the barrel are hidden, I see no reason to clean them. If they are visible, then I think it's important to clean them.

**Setec Astronomy** · 12-16-2018, 09:59 PM

Eldo, since you use Meg's Wheel Bright that should be a fairly touchless process and would be worth doing because it's not much work.

I had to laugh at that picture of the new wheel, because if that wheel had been on even a new a car, it would be all stained just from driving it on and off the transport vehicles and around the dealer lot. When I was telling my story about the Buick dealer a couple weeks ago, I was quite interested to see on one of the vehicles in the showroom, I think it was the...what is the convertible? The apparently come with plastic shrouds over the rotors, because they had accidentally left on one--I guess that's to keep the brake dust off during what I described above...obviously not if you're going to drive it at speed.

Why GM can't paint the barrels on a Cadillac is beyond me...but that's what we were talking about GM being cheap in that era. I'm sure the barrels on your Kia are painted.

**Eldorado2k** · 12-17-2018, 03:38 AM

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

Eldo, since you use Meg's Wheel Bright that should be a fairly touchless process and would be worth doing because it's not much work.

I had to laugh at that picture of the new wheel, because if that wheel had been on even a new a car, it would be all stained just from driving it on and off the transport vehicles and around the dealer lot. When I was telling my story about the Buick dealer a couple weeks ago, I was quite interested to see on one of the vehicles in the showroom, I think it was the...what is the convertible? The apparently come with plastic shrouds over the rotors, because they had accidentally left on one--I guess that's to keep the brake dust off during what I described above...obviously not if you're going to drive it at speed.

Why GM can't paint the barrels on a Cadillac is beyond me...but that's what we were talking about GM being cheap in that era. I'm sure the barrels on your Kia are painted.

IME Wheel Brightener can’t handle that task.. Even with the wheels off it usually can’t. And if you try it with the wheels on its a complete fail. Even Brown Royal requires some work to clean these type of barrels with the wheels on the vehicle, but it can do it whereas Wheel Brightener cannot.

I tried Wheel Brightener on the barrels of my Seville [which are the same as these new wheels] WB couldn’t even begin to clean the barrels.

The wheels on my fathers Tacoma have these type of barrels and Wheel Brightener couldn’t touch them either... I was able to get them about 85-90% clean with Brown Royal without removing the wheels but it took alot of work to try to get in there with the wheel brushes. Alot of work!

And once they’re clean they’re not smooth, so it’s a PITA to maintain them clean. I personally gave up trying to keep those barrels clean.

On smooth barrels that are caked, baked and removed from the vehicle, Brown Royal cuts through it...

Like a hot knife through butter. Spray, quik scrub, perfectly clean.

WB is great for maintenance cleaning, but when it comes to caked & baked, it usually fails.

Yea, the wheels on the Kia are painted. I think it’s more of the way some wheels were made in those years. These days just about every OEM wheel has painted barrels, they’re also the same bland gray anodized color which is also cheaper for them to produce vs. chrome wheels. I think these modern wheels are also alot lighter.

So I wouldn’t necessarily call them cheap on this 1.

**Setec Astronomy** · 12-17-2018, 07:54 AM

I got fed up with my wheels that didn't have painted barrels and had the wheels repainted including the barrels.

I saw a commercial for that new Cadillac XT4--they said it has massaging seats...do you think the barrels are painted? I guess if they're not, at least the massage will take your mind off it.

**MikeC78** · 12-17-2018, 08:05 AM

Same way on GM's top of the line SUV (Escalade) which can topple six figures. Bare unfinished aluminum barrels, GM should be ashamed of themselves.

**Setec Astronomy** · 12-17-2018, 08:09 AM

Originally Posted by MikeC78

Same way on GM's top of the line SUV (Escalade) which can topple six figures. Bare unfinished aluminum barrels, GM should be ashamed of themselves.

Yeah, I don't get it.

**Paul A.** · 12-17-2018, 08:23 AM

I always attack and clean as best i can the wheel barrels. My thought is that they contribute to "dirtying" the exposed part of the wheel by throwing crap out front.

My DD wheels are easy to clean inside but those look difficult to not only get to but maintain, Eldo. I'd still want to do a wheels off cleaning and seal or coat.

**SWETM** · 12-17-2018, 08:40 AM

I start with a tar remover when any deep cleaning is needed. The thought is that whatever is used to manufacture the brake pads has some kind of adisive in it. And when it's heated up and released when you brake. Some of that adhere on the wheels and mostly the wheel barrels. When the tar remover is done I move on to useing the wheel cleaner of choice. Just look up so the tar remover is fine to use on bare aluminum.

And as long as the dirt from the wheel barrels don't come out on the wheel faces. I would just clean what I can reach in the wheel barrels. Or if it's not so cosmetic fine I would maybe do a wheels off cleaning. We have the opertunity here in Sweden to do so since the law of the use of winter tires in the winter months. So deep cleaning is done either when I get the wheels off or when I'm put them on. Depending how lazy I am LOL.

Would be intresting to see how McKees 37 wheel cleaning gel does on bare aluminum. The results I have seen on here is pretty impresive on regualar caked wheels.