Generally I find the access when cleaning the wheels on this R of mine pretty good, but in the area of the footprint of the caliper it’s super tight. How are you guys accessing the barrel in that area for cleaning? Any product suggestions?

The cleaning tool I have is just too thick to get in there.

Obviously I can always move the vehicle ever so slightly and hit the inaccessible area but clearly it would be more ideal to not need to do that.

As I type this a paint stir stick and a microfiber comes to mind but that feels sorta ghetto ;-0

 

The barrel area by the caliper is unlikely to be in the same place every time you clean the wheel, so just skip that bit! F-Types are for driving, not cleaning ....

 

LOL, I know, you know what I mean...If your gonna take the time to clean you might as well do the whole wheel...My thoughts only I guess... ;-)

Remember, the brake dust on these cars is particularly brutal so it's not just about cleaning...If you don't get that crap off it will eventually muck up the finish of the wheel as well, so there is a practical angle here as well.

 

I have used a microfibre mitt to do that - the back of my hand will (just) fit between the barrel and the caliper, though it's not easy to reach every bit.

 

I have some product here that is for cleaning the barrels. It's just too thick, but I just realized that the microfiber cover for the tool comes off. Gonna try putting the cover on a paint stir stick this evening and see if that is thin enough...It may work...

 

I got a set of "Wheel Woolies" but even the smallest would not fit between the caliper and the barrel for my original combination of Super Performance brakes and 19" Centrifuge wheels. I had to either move the car or let it go. Usually, it was the latter

Now that I have 20" wheels I can get my wheel brush in there (Speed Master).

 

Okay, I’ll keep that product in mind if my idea doesn’t work out on my 20 inch wheels. I took the advice above and went for a drive instead, so I didn’t try my idea ;-0

 

I have a small 'woolly' wash pad that I use on wheels/brakes. I can barely fit it into the caliper area. But it DOES seem to clean the brakes OK.


https://tinyurl.com/2aqmantc

 

I used to use a pressure washer on mine, just with the spray function set soft enough that you can hit your hand at about a foot without it hurting. It does the rims in seconds, perfectly clean. These days I have graphite coloured rims so I barely notice brake dust anyway.

 

I simply move the car during cleaning so that the caliper no longer obstructs the area.
180 degree rotation solves the problem.

 

I use disposable foam paint brushes with extended handles FWIW.

 

I spray Eagle One Wheel Cleaner on them. Let it sit 30 seconds and hose off. When the dealer details the car, they basically do the same thing with the product they use.

 

I understand the brake dust issue but consider the source?

Both of my Jags had terrible brake dust with the stock pads. On one car I went with Ceramic pads and that worked but now I use CF pads from Porterfield and have been well satisfied with pedal feel, stopping performance and especially the lack of brake dust. The ceramic pads have a light tan colored dust so it does not show as bad but the CF pads just seem to dust less over all.
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Your other option is pulling the wheels off and getting the inside and outside of the wheels ceramic coated. I did that and makes cleaning my wheels a breeze.

 

I did ceramic my wheels but I don’t feel I can just spray them off. Seems to me I still need to get in there and get physical a bit etc…I used Car Pro DLUX.

I am aware there a better pad options, but that wouldn’t be a complete solution either in reality.

 

Wheel Woolies work fine on my 19” Propellers. I clean the wheel barrel, then move the car a couple of feet to get the area under the calipers, just for the fronts. The rears with 326mm brakes have lots of room.

 

My suggestion, in the spirit of the thread subject, would be to be a bit more specific when titling threads - "Any suggestions for wheel cleaning?" would have been a good one for this, then folk know immediately what it's about.

 

That’s fair. The intent wasn’t to waste anyone’s time, but I get ya…

For folks interested in efficiently cleaning their vehicles silly little things such as this is of interest. I think so anyway.

 

It’s my own fault for getting black wheel….I think this is driving my quest for efficiency ;-0

 

For anyone that cares, my paint stir stick "technique" gets in there perfectly.

Just sayin' ;-0

Works so good I should probably try and patent it. Moving the car is fine as well obviously, but I like to do one wheel at a time...Which makes moving the car less nice. In my recent experience drying one wheel at a time with the leaf blower immediately after washing seems to solve a lot of the brake dusting issues I was getting after before washing. Massive improvement.