Cleaning the Wheel Wells

A

aquilles10

Member
Location
Los Angeles
Car
2018 QX60
So I officially picked up my '04 FX35 Sport yesterday. I'm super excited to finally have it! I'm still learning the ins and outs of owning the car. So since I just acquired it, I started inspecting and seeing what I need to do in order to get it up to snuff. It really could use a good detailing inside and out, which I'm not surprised. I am pretty picky when it comes to these things.

However, I just noticed that the wheel wells and the rear wheel wells in particular have this nasty, caked on mud/asphalt/whoknowswhatelse material. Besides looking like s**t, I'm sure they also are a dead weight back there.

Has anyone ever had to deal with such a thing? Any tips on how to clean the wheel wells? Have I mentioned that they are extremely nasty?
 
I don't think this well come off with high pressure water. I think I'm going to use a lot of water in the wheel wells to soften things up, then attack it with the end of a crow bar and a stiff tire brush. Yuck. This doesn't sound like a pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning.
 
Could be some kind of aftermarket undercoating. Don't damage your paint by trying to dig it off if it doesn't release easily.
 
Dirt would flake off easily with just a fingernail to it. This stuff doesn't feel like any dirt I've ever seen. It's almost baked on.

---------- Post added at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:43 PM ----------
bleedingsujit said:
mines pretty much the same. i have tried power washing before but in vain. you're gonna have to go the hard way. and you need to buy new tires also.
Click to expand...

Word on the tires. They're almost bald GY RSAs.
 
Just wash that out. No wire brush or anything too abrasive. Hit it with a clay bar on the painted parts. Even with a pressure washer, you risk the undercoating getting wiped away. I'd rather have some dirt than rust
 
don't listen to dave, just get one of these and fire away..lol jkjk

wire-brush-514.jpg
 
If the dirt build up is actually that bad, try this.

1. First presoak the wheel wells with a dedicated degreaser at full strength. Do not dilute it for maximum cleaning power. Try this stuff out, I use it on mine:

http://www.detailedimage.com/wax.ph...e.com/Meguiars-M43/Super-Degreaser-D108-P379/


2. After letting it soak for 10 minutes, spray it again with the degreaser I posted in the link above. Then get a hot bucket of hot water with degreaser mixed in dip your sponge in it and begin scrubbing the wheel wells with it. Try out this sponge. It's specifically made to wash wheel wells:

http://www.detailedimage.com/wax.php?id=5411&url=detailedimage.com/Lake-Country-M7/Ulti-Mit-P121/

3. After that, rinse them and repeat those steps if necessary.

I wouldn't really recommend using an extremely stiff brush on it because you could risk scratching the black plastic that the wheel wells are lined with up underneath. Just my opinion.
 
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