How to remove caked on brake dust?

[Draven]

Due to a special moment, one of my rims has MASSES of caked on brake dust. I gave them a wash tonight, but no amount of scrubbing with a sponge would budge most of the crap. Is there a product around that is tough enough to remove thickly caked brake dust (which has solidified due to sydney's recent wet weather), but will not damage the rim?

Cheers,
Greg

[blacktop]

Any wheel cleaner that has Acid should do the trick, but unless you do it properly you can stuff the wheel pretty bad.
have you tried degrease, brake cleaner, thinners?

[thechuckster]

high pressure water sprayer at a car wash? - just avoid using the nozzle up real close if it's aa concentrated jet.

[30psi 4agte]

Mild solvent will work..... Carby clean and thinners will prob be too strong and take the paint off..

I guess its one of them things..... Id basicly start with the more mild chemicals and work my way up till you find the stuff that takes it off..--- You may find in the end thinners is the only shit that works.

I sometimes use costic degreaser and a scrubbing brush.

[Xistant]

can brake cleaner soak it in, high pressure clean it off.

[MR22ZZ]

spray on brake cleaner, grab a toothbrush and scrub

keep a bucket of water on the side to rinse of the brush frequently

[Soarer_D00D]

We have this stuff at work which is called "Magnific" from Omnicron, apparently has Hydrofluric acid in it, dilute it with 6 parts water, doesnt damage the rim and works the best ive ever seen anything.

I've used it on chrome as well, and it doesnt seem to fuck it..

[blacktop]

Just looking on the back of a brake cleaner can and it looks like it is just thinners. maybe try Prepsol and a paint scraper to get the bulk of it off.

[The Real Roadrunner]

UMMMM i think draven means HOW TO REMOVE CAKED ON RUST? time for a title change maybe?

that aint brake dust if its the d/s rear your asking about, its rust (ill let draven shame himself)

in order to remove said rust you may want to the buffed to polish it out, but it depends on how thick the paint is as to how far you can go.

ask matt to sort it out when he does some painting.

cheers
linden

[medwin46]

Meguiars Hot Wheels (In a pink spray on bottle) is your best friend here. I had 3 years of baked on dust on the inside of my rims when i got my ute, a couple of goes of spraying it on, let it dry and hot soapy water sponge washing brought them up like brand new! Wont harm paint or any surface. Its so good it cleaned the calipers back to their original condition.

[MR22ZZ]

We have this stuff at work which is called "Magnific" from Omnicron, apparently has Hydrofluric acid in it, dilute it with 6 parts water, doesnt damage the rim and works the best ive ever seen anything.

I've used it on chrome as well, and it doesnt seem to fuck it..

I wouldn't be putting anything with Hydrofluoric acid anywhere near anything... especially if it's metallic, and certainly not in condition which would allow swift skin penetration into your blood streem. It's nasty stuff!!!

[JustCallMeOrlando]

Meguiars Hot Wheels (In a pink spray on bottle) is your best friend here. I had 3 years of baked on dust on the inside of my rims when i got my ute, a couple of goes of spraying it on, let it dry and hot soapy water sponge washing brought them up like brand new! Wont harm paint or any surface. Its so good it cleaned the calipers back to their original condition.

I vote for this. Although don't let it dry, follow the instructions. It *is* acidic, but if you follow the instructions and don't leave it on too long it shouldn't cause any issues. Spray it on, let it sit for a little bit and wash it off. A couple of goes, washing off with a high pressure cleaner should remove it no worries.

[The Last Streetfighter]

Most of those "effective" cleaners have trace HF in them. Usually good on ceramic or glass but if you leave it on too long it will etch both. And yes, Nitrile gloves are highly recommended (As well as good ventillation and even a mask.)

[greg]

I have been using a product from the reject shop called automotive wheel cleener at $2-00 for 500ml. it contains "oleyl alcohol,triethanolamine,sodium dodecyl sulfate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether,propyl hydroxybenzoate." and it works,mind you I tried it on the xr6 and the wife's new mazda 6 sport b4 using it on the cressy. cheers greg

[Draven]

incidentally, Linden has it right. it is probably more thick metal shavings than brake dust. part of the metal shavings are the backing plate of the pads, the rest is the rotor.

the impressiveness of the amount of rust is surpassed only by the stupidity required to accomplish it.