Cleaning barrels ?

Pentalab

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I swap wheels May1 and back to rain tires at end of oct. What's the trick in cleaning the barrels ?
The barrels of course can't easily be gotten at, once wheels are mounted. At least with my swapping wheels every 6 months, I can access em. Is there some special goop, or technique or product used ?
I use chrome bullitts in spring/summer....and oem in fall /winter.
 

JJ427R

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I use a small mothers powerball on a drill at slower speeds (on the wheel face anyway, to try to avoid scratching) with Meguires car wash on mine, I have 20" Roush wheels and they recommend not using any chrome cleaners on their wheels, they say just use soap and water. Powerball works well as you can get in the lug holes somewhat as well. I change water every wheel.... Powerballl is also good for getting rubber off insides of wheels after track days....
 
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01yellerCobra

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Depends on how dirty they get. The last time I cleaned the inside of my rims they were pretty bad. I used simple green and a soft plastic bristle brush to get the hard stuff off. Then finished with the car soap and wash mitt. Followed with a thorough polishing before putting them back on the car.
 

Pentalab

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Depends on how dirty they get. The last time I cleaned the inside of my rims they were pretty bad. I used simple green and a soft plastic bristle brush to get the hard stuff off. Then finished with the car soap and wash mitt. Followed with a thorough polishing before putting them back on the car.


Mine get pretty gunked up with brake dust and crap. Which version of simple green did you use ? They make a lot of various products.
 

Gabe

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I just use detailer spray. I do it usually when the wheels are off, cuz it's too much of a pain to do it with the wheels on the car.
 

Mojo88

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I have 20" Roush wheels. The barrels were so crudded up, I used paint stripper and planned on repainting. However, I was pleased to find chrome under the finish, so I just left the chrome exposed. The chrome on the barrels is not as nice as on the face of the wheels, there are some blemishes from the chroming process in the barrel finish. But since barrels are almost invisible during casual inspection, I figured wtf.

I also have an older set of Roush RR03 18" wheels, and I stripped the barrels on them too. Below is a side-by-side pic of two of the RR03 18" wheels, showing before and after stripping.
RR03barrel3.jpg
 

Gabe

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If that chrome is anything like Ford chrome, chances are good that they painted over the inner chrome to keep it from peeling.
Lots of older Navigators, Explorers, Lincoln LS's and other models were running around with huge layers of chrome peeling off, hitting the calipers, making some lovely noises.
The warranty-replacement wheels were coming in with the gray-finish inner barrels instead of the chrome barrels on the old wheels we were replacing.
 

Mojo88

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If that chrome is anything like Ford chrome, chances are good that they painted over the inner chrome to keep it from peeling.
Lots of older Navigators, Explorers, Lincoln LS's and other models were running around with huge layers of chrome peeling off, hitting the calipers, making some lovely noises.
The warranty-replacement wheels were coming in with the gray-finish inner barrels instead of the chrome barrels on the old wheels we were replacing.


So far, I've stripped eight Roush barrels and no evidence of peeling on any. As I mentioned, there are blemishes and also some wear marks, but no peeling. As an added bonus, the barrels are much easier to wipe down now. The smooth chrome finish makes it easy to wipe brake dust off as I'm polishing the wheels.
 

msvela448

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I have 20" Roush wheels. The barrels were so crudded up, I used paint stripper and planned on repainting. However, I was pleased to find chrome under the finish, so I just left the chrome exposed. The chrome on the barrels is not as nice as on the face of the wheels, there are some blemishes from the chroming process in the barrel finish. But since barrels are almost invisible during casual inspection, I figured wtf.

I also have an older set of Roush RR03 18" wheels, and I stripped the barrels on them too. Below is a side-by-side pic of two of the RR03 18" wheels, showing before and after stripping.
RR03barrel3.jpg
What product did you use when you say "paint stripper"?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

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