Review: Boyd Coddington Wheel Cleaner

[ScottH]

Dear Forum Members,

Meghan/AG sent me this latest product for review. I am not certain how long this product has been on the market - I think it is relatively new and AG may be considering it for sale. Here is the product description from Coddington's site:

Description
Safe on all wheels, including polished, Billet, forged and satin finished!Boyd Coddington Jr. developed this Wheel Cleaner as an all-purpose extremely effective, acid-free and pH balanced rim and wheel cleaner that is safe for all wheels, including billet aluminum wheels. Boyd Coddington Jr. combined his twenty-five years experience manufacturing custom alloy wheels with the experience of top detailers around the world to formulate this exclusive, extremely effective and safe pH balanced and acid-free wheel cleaner for use on polished aluminum alloys including painted, anodized, and clear coated wheels that will not deteriorate clear coats.
Use Boyd Coddington Wheel Cleaner works safely to clean road grime and brake dust on hard to reach brake calipers also.


– Acid-free and pH balanced formulation
– Cleans Uncoated Polished Aluminum And Anodized Wheels
– Environmentally Friendly & VOC Compliant
– Turns red as dirt and grime is penetrated
– Safe for use on all wheel finishes
– Great results on high-end aluminum and alloys
– Safe on billet, painted, anodized and clear coated wheels
– Safe for cleaning motorcycle wheels
– VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) compliant
– Quick and easy to use

Test Car
The test car was my Grandmother's 2005 Ford Five Hundred. Ford didn't build too many of them and called off production in favor of the Taurus and Fusion. Nonetheless Gram is 92 and only drives the car 3,000 mile a year so it doesn't get really dirty, and never driven in snow. God bless her, she is a creature of habit and regimen, and of course lived through the Depression. Her regimen calls for a swirl-tunnel wash once a quarter, or 4 times a year despite the fact I beg her to bring the car over - she always says "no you are too busy". She doesn't realize the satisfaction we get from detailing cars, more so for her because she's my Gram and I would always make time for her. I tricked her this Easter, inviting her over for dinner. When she got here, she went inside where my wife entertained her for approx. 90 minutes - just enough time to wash it, clay it and hit it with McKee's 360. It all started with Boyd Coddington's Wheel Cleaner.

In Use
The bottle was a 16 ounce spray bottle. The spray trigger felt substantial and unlike other sprayers, it didn't drip product as it sprayed. This eliminated wasted product and also kept it off my hands (even though I was wearing gloves). From experience, I've used a fair share of wheel cleaners, from Pinnacle, Griot's, Meguire's, McKee's, you name it but this was my first Coddington product. One of the first things you come to know about your wheel cleaner of choice is how it smells. Maybe that is because some smell pretty darn good or downright offensive. My previous experience told me that products with a harsh smell generally had more cleaning ability, but that is not a hard-fast rule and not always true. Some products on the market today are finding a balance between results and usability. This happens to be one of them, The smell is a combination of a fragrance and a chemical. Harsh and offensive? No. Are there better smelling wheel cleaners? Yes, but this one strikes a nice balance.

I always start with the front driver's-side wheel and this was no exception. Per the directions, I sprayed the product on the wheels and the tires. Now I would normally not call the job complete without also using a rubber/tire cleaner but I was testing this product and did not want to skew the results. The product clings fairly wheel to the wheels with a foam-like consistency. I would give it a hang-time of 8 out of 10.

The directions indicate that the product will eventually turn red but pre-agitation, it did that only in a few spots (e.g. near the valve stem). That happened to be an area where more brake dust accumulated - I didn't expect too much red/bleed because the wheels were not that dirty (they were filmed-over vs. brake dust-laden). I did notice that upon agitation with a Jr. brush, more of it turned red but not nearly as much as say Pinnacle Advanced Wheel cleaner. But unlike other wheel cleaners, the foam continued to build as I agitated it. Is foam an indication of a better wheel cleaner vs. one that doesn't foam? I haven't conducted enough side-by-side tests to draw that conclusion, and I think part of it may be physiological - we see foam and we think it's better. I've used some great wheel cleaners that product zero foam, and some that foam like a beer and wash away with no cleaning ability.

The Results
After light agitation, I watched the dirt rinse away with no product having dried onto the wheel. This may sound trivial, but some wheel cleaners have poor working times and if not rinsed quickly start to cause spotting; not here - but its always good practice to do one wheel at a time. The wheel cleaner did a nice job cleaning a wheel that I would consider lightly dirty and certainly not excessively dirty. The tires however, were as brown as a fox (grin) and upon rinsing, shed a substantial amount of grime/brown gunk. I do expect dirtier wheels to be in my driveway this coming weekend, and will try it out against a more formidable opponent, and if my opinion changes based on that (good or bad), I will update this thread. Right now I was satisfied with the ease of use, fairly pleasant smell and shine it left behind on the wheels that have never received cleaning beyond that of a scrub brush at the Swirl O'matic.

As mentioned, I don't know if this product will soon be listed @ AG for sale. Not knowing the price point, I therefore can't make a definitive value judgment (e.g. underpriced, overpriced or priced right) I would suggest that if this wheel cleaner is priced in the $ .85 to $ .95 an ounce, it may be worth a look. If it is priced above $1.00 an ounce, it will run up against some stiff competition from some really strong/solid wheel cleaners that have a foothold in the market.

Grandma enjoyed dinner and was very happy to find a nice shiny car in the driveway. Thanks to Meghan and AG for allowing me the opportunity to review this product. I showed her what a clayed/polished car felt like. Maybe I've converted her? :-)

ScottH

[Meghan]

Great review, thank you Scott

[Bobby B.]

Great review! The new Boyd Coddington Detail Garage Wheel Cleaner works great. I've been very impressed with all of the Boyd's products. Boyd Coddington Detail Garage Products

I used the Boyd Coddington Wheel Cleaner, Hot Rod Metal Polish and Extreme Black Tire & Rubber Dressing on these Grand Sport Corvette wheels. The Grand Sport was also coated with the Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating V2.

[Marc08EX]

Nice review Scott. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice work too Bobby!

[Bobby B.]

Nice review Scott. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice work too Bobby!

Thanks Marc08EX!

[FrankS]

Nice review Scott.

I recently tried the Boyd Coddington Wheel Cleaner also. I think it's a very good wheel cleaner.

Here's a few things I like about it:

1. The fragrance is pretty good. As Scott mentioned, a good balance between fragrance and chemical. Kinda like cherry scent.

2. Good foaming action and cleans well.

3. Turns red when cleaning brake dust and road grime.

I would definitely get a gallon if it was at a good price point.