Cleaning the Wheel Wells on XLRs [Archive] - Cadillac XLR Forum: XLR and XLR-V Forums

: Cleaning the Wheel Wells on XLRs


Ed and Sandra
11-23-2006, 09:11 PM
OK, do any of you folk have some magical way of cleaning the wheel wells on an XLR? From the outside we can barely get our hands in enough between the wheels and the wells to wash or wipe the area properly. Fortunately, we have a car lift which helps with access from the inside of the wheel area and, frankly, we can’t imagine how others do a decent job of cleaning the wells and inside the rims without one.

http://home.carolina.rr.com/esgeneral/Picture10.jpg

We should note, we use the car so infrequently (4,000 miles on an ’05 purchased in July of that year) there’s not much need to wash it per se and more often than not we give it a once over with a California Duster and then use Meguiar’s Quik Mist & Wipe Detailer (it’s kept well waxed). When using the Detailer to do the cleaning of the car we simply wipe the wheel wells and rims with a damp cloth or perhaps we should say at least try to do so.

Come to think of it, we’re really curious what you folk with the oversize tires do – take the wheels off, or perhaps just not worry about it?

Best regards and happy XLR motoring,
Ed and Sandra

Caly
11-27-2006, 08:26 AM
A long skinny "spoke brush" can be used to get most of the visible dirt out of the wheel well AND the inner wheel too, which does more for appearance thay you may think.

Alternately, take each wheel off every once in a while (two-four times a year for our daily driver) and clean the inside and the wells thoroughly. Use some armorall on the wheel wells for a newer appearance.

Ed and Sandra
11-27-2006, 09:40 AM
The ArmorAll is a great idea! Do you have a recommendation for a specific spoke brush? All we've been able to find in the local shops is the BlackMagic one and its not really long enough to properly reach and clean the deep XLR rims from the outside.

Thanks for your help.

Ed and Sandra

Caly
11-28-2006, 07:30 AM
The ArmorAll is a great idea! Do you have a recommendation for a specific spoke brush? All we've been able to find in the local shops is the BlackMagic one and its not really long enough to properly reach and clean the deep XLR rims from the outside.

Thanks for your help.

Ed and Sandra

I'm pretty sure the current one is a BlackMagic too... yep it should be longer but is thin enough to get around the calipers on the Vette too.

I'd love to find a better brand too, although they don't last me very long.

XLR I FL
12-22-2006, 01:16 PM
Caly: You may have already noticed but Armor All will attract dirt and road grime since it has a "oily" base. windex works proetty good.

Regards

XLR I FL
12-22-2006, 01:19 PM
How much for the floor per square foot and will oil stain it?

Regards

Ed and Sandra
12-22-2006, 02:17 PM
The tiles we’ve used are Swisstrax which are pretty much the Cadillac of garage flooring (pun intended). We purchased the product from the Myrtle Beach, SC distributor and received a discounted price of $3.29 sq/ft. because of the quantity we ordered (approximately 850 square feet). It seems the regular price was about $3.79. It should be noted these tiles measure 13” x 13”.

We have found this flooring to be extremely resistant to any type of staining and easy to clean (don’t know how the white color would be in that respect).

Here’s the link to the particular version we used: http://www.swisstrax.com/diamondtraxabout.html

Best regards,
Ed and Sandra