Going to the car wash.

**BlueDodgeMagnum** · 12-23-2006, 12:22 AM

Any one going through a car wash (in that emergency to get your car clean) DO NOT LET THEM USE WEEL SHINE! This is a chemical they scrub into the rims to remove dirt and brake dust. This stuff will get all the dirt of your rims, but the factory rims on my R/T AWD went to a milky white haze. I did not notice this right away and I spent allot of time waxing the rims to get this crap off. I have a friend who is an auto detailer. He told me to use WD-40 and a soft rag. Apply a small amount of WD-40 on the rag and apply to the rims. The rims look new and the brake dust does not stick

**Magma** · 12-23-2006, 12:25 AM

Thanks for the heads up!

**06SilverSteel** · 12-23-2006, 12:36 AM

cool, will give it a try, thanks.

**STAGE 3 R/T** · 12-23-2006, 12:38 AM

cool thanks for the info!

**CoolVanilla** · 12-23-2006, 12:44 AM

This is a tough one, as ALL car washes use different stuff and they are all in varying states of repair. There is very little uniformity from wash to wash. Generalizing though isn't really fair as there are a bunch of high quality washes out there to be had.

From the sounds of it, you went thru one that uses diluted HF acid for cleaning wheels. I'd betcha the dilution wasn't right and you got a very strong dose. Or it coulda been that it sat on the wheels too long. Or it coulda been they were really hot at the time of application...

A clean, well maintained exterior wash is a great way to save some time, get a good wash and save some money. But ya really gotta do your homework and find a wash in your area that wont harm your baby.

PS: In CA all that acid stuff is 100% illegal. We get to spend 3x on the chemicals and they don't clean as well. But at least its 'safe' for the environment

**BlueDodgeMagnum** · 12-23-2006, 01:01 AM

Originally Posted by CoolVanilla

This is a tough one, as ALL car washes use different stuff and they are all in varying states of repair. There is very little uniformity from wash to wash. Generalizing though isn't really fair as there are a bunch of high quality washes out there to be had.

From the sounds of it, you went thru one that uses diluted HF acid for cleaning wheels. I'd betcha the dilution wasn't right and you got a very strong dose. Or it coulda been that it sat on the wheels too long. Or it coulda been they were really hot at the time of application...

A clean, well maintained exterior wash is a great way to save some time, get a good wash and save some money. But ya really gotta do your homework and find a wash in your area that wont harm your baby.

PS: In CA all that acid stuff is 100% illegal. We get to spend 3x on the chemicals and they don't clean as well. But at least its 'safe' for the environment

This is true. I still continue going to this car wash. I belong to the clean car club there. For $200.00 a year you can take your car through once a day. No extra charge except the tip to the guys who hand dry tour car. The car wash is a soft cloth type wash that uses 60% reclaimed water that is filtered. I think it has Ammonia in it. I have asked them if there was Acid in there. I even looked at the bottle. No mention of Corrosive content, but it did say harmful if swallowed (HAHA).

**Electrofreak** · 12-23-2006, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by BlueDodgeMagnum

Any one going through a car wash (in that emergency to get your car clean) DO NOT LET THEM USE WEEL SHINE! This is a chemical they scrub into the rims to remove dirt and brake dust. This stuff will get all the dirt of your rims, but the factory rims on my R/T AWD went to a milky white haze. I did not notice this right away and I spent allot of time waxing the rims to get this crap off. I have a friend who is an auto detailer. He told me to use WD-40 and a soft rag. Apply a small amount of WD-40 on the rag and apply to the rims. The rims look new and the brake dust does not stick

Ah crap... I just had that done to my R/T AWD at the Delta Sonic the other day. It has stock rims too.

Well, thanks for the heads up. I don't think I saw any haze on my rims afterwards, but I'll be sure to check again more closely later today when its light out. Maybe Delta Sonic uses a different product?

EDIT- I just read CoolVanilla's post... makes sense. I do like the WD-40 idea though, and since I carry a can in the car, I can put it to good use

**Silver Wraith** · 12-23-2006, 05:25 PM

My biggest problem is the guys who pull it in. Because the wash itself rarely gets all the dirt off the backs of the cars, they use brushes on the backs; scratches the hell out of the cars because they're not careful with them at all and bang them all over. I started tipping the guys last time and it worked; If it didn't I wouldn't be bringing my car anymore (I'd rather have it dirty than scratched).

For all you warm weather types; I'd rather be washing it myself, but it's hard when your hand freezes to the inside of the bucket :-)

**36 chambers** · 12-23-2006, 06:22 PM

the car wash is my enemy!!! i clean my own car!!!

**pigpen** · 12-23-2006, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by 36 chambers

the car wash is my enemy!!! i clean my own car!!!

Yeah ok try to live in MN, you won't be washing your car when it is below -0 haha trust me I know.

**sugar-tj** · 12-23-2006, 11:46 PM

wd40 huh, cool, i'll have to try that on my honeys pt cruiser, the brake dust is real bad, thanks....

**Bubba's Dragon** · 12-24-2006, 11:23 AM

When I go to the car wash, I take a bucket and all my cleaning stuff and just use the arwashes high preasure water to wash, so rinse and wet down only from the car wash.

**colletjr** · 01-10-2007, 02:43 AM

I'm in western WA where we've got a lot of Brown Bear car washes. For the manual one, one of the options for the spray wand is some kind of "clear-coat protector".

Does anyone know anything about it? is it good, bad, is it just water, etc.? If it were something beneficial, I'd use it, but I'd want to hear a positive review from someone who knows what it actually is, first.

I went to look for it on their web site and didn't really find any info.