Any idea on getting the wheels a bit cleaner?

three4rd

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Referring mostly to the inside (harder to reach) areas. I tried a few things already besides whatever typically comes off at the car wash. It appears that some of it is maybe just the finish having been worn off of the wheels over the years, so probably not all that much to be done to get it to look like it did at one time.
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Remove the wheel,clean it from the inside, and afterwards maintain it with a bottle brush or similar wheel brush for hard to get wheel areas.
 
I just recently got my 2002 LeSabre. The wheels looked like they had never been cleaned. There was greasy black baked on brake dust all over and in between the spokes. I thought the wheels would be corroded underneath the grime, but they weren't.

A couple of different brands of wheel cleaner that I had did very little. I ended up scrubbing them with Krud Kutter degreaser and a toothbrush. I had to keep going over them, 6 or 7 times, with a little more grime coming off each time. For the most stubborn areas, I scrubbed with a small piece of green Scotchbrite, keeping it wet with the degreaser so it wouldn't scratch the finish. For the tight spots between the spokes, I wrapped the Scotchbrite around a large screwdriver.

Finally, all of the black grime came off and the sparkley metallic silver finish was still smooth and shiny underneath. At that point, I waxed them with the same carnauba car wax that I use on the rest of the car.

I can't quite tell if yours are permanently damaged or not, but a lot of those brown / black dirty areas on yours looks like how mine looked, so it may be worth some time and elbow grease. Also, I did mine while the were still mounted on the car.

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1580..thanks for the reply. I'd rather not remove the whee if avoidable as MR suggested, but picking up some of the Krud Kutter sounds worth a shot. Elbow grease is no issue. If it comes out even half as nice as yours, it'll be well worth it!
 
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I fill 1/3 of a spray bottle with Dawn Ultra and the rest with water. I also use this on the tires. The wheels come out shiny and the tires nice and black after scrubbing with a wheel/tire brush set.
 
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