Cleaning Wire Wheels

Macy's Garage

A Family Tradition Since 1932

Professional Strength Wire Wheel Cleaner from Dayton Wire Wheel

I’ve got to admit that cleaning wire wheels is my least favorite part of Triumph ownership.  It’s not such a bad job if I’d stay after them, but because I dread cleaning them it’s easy for me to fall behind.  The wires on my red TR3 hadn’t been cleaned since before TRA Auburn (2003), and the grime accumulated in nearly 2000 miles since then was getting hard to ignore.

Lucky for me, my door prize from TRA Springfield (2004) included a fresh new bottle of Wire Wheel Cleaner courtesy of the folks at Dayton Wire Wheel.  With the wheels already off of the car due to a brake system refurb, I decided I’d better bite the bullet before the dirt got any worse.

The bottle says this cleaner is safe for chrome and gold plated wheels, but fearing that I might remove paint along with the offending dirt, I actually read the directions.  Spray on a cool wheel, wait 20 seconds, and rinse off with high pressure water.  Only 20 seconds?  Must be some powerful stuff I thought.  (This was confirmed quickly when I got some of the cleaner in a cut on my hand!)  The label went on to explain that “neglected” wheels might need a second application.  Sounds like my wheels for sure!

After a good soaking of the rim and as much of the spokes as I could cover, I counted to 20 and picked up the hose.  Quicker than I could say “Holy Cow”, I was looking at a clean wheel!!!  Remembering the part about “neglected” wheels, I applied a second coat of the magic elixir, and hosed it off again.  Now the wheel almost sparkled, and I couldn’t wait to get after the next one.  What used to take me between 30 and 45 minutes had been accomplished in less than 2, and they looked good to boot!  Take a look at the composite picture of before/after below, and you can see for yourself what a wonderful job this cleaner will do on your wheels. 

On the top half of the picture, note the “anti seize” grease that has been thrown from the hub and caught on the rim.  Also, the black areas where the spokes attach to the hub are not shadows, but brake dust from the disc brakes.  (I now have Kevlar disc pads on this car, and the black dust problem will be greatly reduced.)

With the exception of one small spot between the spokes on the lower half, the wheel looks as good as it did when I painted it 6 years ago.  The remaining dirt spot was easily removed by a quick dab with a Q-Tip.

As you can probably tell, I’m quite impressed with this product, and I've added it to the product line here at Macy's Garage.  One bottle was enough to do the 4 neglected wheels from my red TR3 (double application), and the 4 relatively clean wheels on my white TR3 (single application).  So, if you keep up with your wheels, you should be able to get 3 cleanings from a bottle.  Heck, as easy as it was, I’d still recommend it if I only got one cleaning per bottle!  The Professional Strength Wire Wheel cleaner from Dayton Wire Wheel is a winner, and now I’ll have to decide on a “new” Triumph chore that I dread the most.  Want to know where to buy some of this magic wheel potion?  Look on the TR parts/accessories page of this web site.