Wheel Coating or Protection

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serper3

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Hi! Glad to be on here! This is my first post here, although I have been lurking and recognize a lot of the names here.

I just recently corrected and coated my white Camaro, and am now trying to decide what to do for my wheels. I want to get the wheels off the car soon, and really clean them thoroughly, (barrels, back, etc) and coat or protect them somehow. Also would like to do the same for the calipers since the wheels will be off the car, but not sure if coating is a good idea as they will get HOT.

I basically have 2 questions. What coating or product, and how to prep the wheels.

I still have some CSL and EXO, but I am not sure if I want to go this route, because the wheels are somewhat complicated and I don't want to miss any areas that may cause it to look bad. Is there a spray on coating that would be better maybe? The brake dusting is REALLY bad, so I would love something that helps the wheels stay cleaner without as much agitation. The car is a weekend toy so it doesn't get driven much so I don't need something crazy durable. It will also be tracked so I do not want to go with a less aggressive pad.

Regardless on which route I go with for protection, what is the best way to get the brake crud off the wheel? I know it is a bit stuck on the barrel already. The car only has 8k miles on it. I read that for a coating you need to maybe clay bar? the prep is somewhat involved i guess? regardless of the protection i go with, I plan to pull the wheels and get them really clean whenever this is needed. I have P&S wheel cleaner but have used other product so far.

For those that may have seen my posts, I am VERY happy with how the car looks. The gloss for a white car is amazing.. I don't think I could be more happy. This is CSL, 2 coats of EXO, and topped with Extreme Solutions Topper. I did a two step correction before the coating. I think next time I will probably stay away from at least this combo just because 3 coats is a lot, took forever for me, and is a lot of touching the car just getting the coating off. I was super paranoid about high spots, and probably went a bit overboard because I did not have the best lighting. Here is a crappy garage pic.

What is also impressive, is how slick the car is. I went for a pretty long drive yesterday, and there were some areas the road was wet, it was foggy, and there was some drops from trees, etc. On prior drives before the coating, the car was filthy afterwords. The pic below is from after the drive, and the car is still spotless!!

Thanks everyone!

IMG_0861 (1).jpg
 
You can use CSL/Exo on the wheels but keep in mind it may not last long compared to a dedicated wheel coating. It will work if that is what you have. A dedicated wheel coating will have a higher temperature resistance.

It you are looking for a spray coating, well you have options like CarPro Hydro2, Gyeon WetCoat which are spray and rinse.

It will come down to how much work you want to put it.
 
Hey Ducksfan,

On our vehicles, I will use Car Pro’s DLUX. When I lived up north and would rotate from the normal season to winter season wheels/tires, it was easy to do. I found my winter wheels would last two winters between coatings…due to being on the vehicles for 4 months or so.

Using a spray on/ rinse off products are easy. On my normal weekly wash, I can just use car soap to get the wheels clean. Once a month, I’ll us a dedicated wheel cleaner. Tires are another story. I also use a dedicated wheel/tire bucket with dedicated tools.



BTW, the Camaro looks great!

Are you an Anaheim or Oregon Ducks fan?
 
If you are going to do Track Days you will have the wheels off all the time to replace the Rotors and Pads and have lots of time to clean the wheels.
 
Ducksfan said:
Exactly. Which is why I love the spray on/ blast off products. Best bang for the time spent.
Click to expand...

I personally don't like the spray and rinse. From my experience they attract more dirt that having a true coating on them. I get that many like it for the ease of application.
 
The Guz said:
You can use CSL/Exo on the wheels but keep in mind it may not last long compared to a dedicated wheel coating. It will work if that is what you have. A dedicated wheel coating will have a higher temperature resistance.

It you are looking for a spray coating, well you have options like CarPro Hydro2, Gyeon WetCoat which are spray and rinse.

It will come down to how much work you want to put it.
Click to expand...
The Guz said:
I personally don't like the spray and rinse. From my experience they attract more dirt that having a true coating on them. I get that many like it for the ease of application.
Click to expand...

Thank you! My concern is that I won't be able to get an even coat over the whole spoke/face.

Are there maybe better working coatings or maybe sealant type products that are also very high slickness that may be better? I don't mind a wax like application, I just don't want to mess up and be stuck with crappy looking wheels or have the pressure of messing up with the real coating. Cleaning these wheels and worrying about missing areas for me is stressful enough lol

I am indecisive and picking products is always so hard!

Stittville Ed said:
If you are going to do Track Days you will have the wheels off all the time to replace the Rotors and Pads and have lots of time to clean the wheels.
Click to expand...

I am actually shopping for a track set of wheels now so I can run a square track setup probably.

From what I am reading, other zl1 1le owners say the pads will go 5-6+ track days depending on the pace and the rotors about double that. Probably will be doing 5-6 track days a year for now hopefully more down the road as the kids get a bit older. But yes, the wheels come off a lot for other things too like bleeding the brakes, tires, etc.

Ducksfan said:
Exactly. Which is why I love the spray on/ blast off products. Best bang for the time spent.
Click to expand...
How is the slickness compared to a real coating?


Any tips on how to prep the wheels for whatever protection I go with? Once I get all the visible stuck on brake dust off, do I need to clay and or polish slightly? I thought I remember that somewhere, but these wheels are matte.

Thanks everyone.
 
serper3 said:
Thank you! My concern is that I won't be able to get an even coat over the whole spoke/face.

Are there maybe better working coatings or maybe sealant type products that are also very high slickness that may be better? I don't mind a wax like application, I just don't want to mess up and be stuck with crappy looking wheels or have the pressure of messing up with the real coating. Cleaning these wheels and worrying about missing areas for me is stressful enough lol

I am indecisive and picking products is always so hard!
Click to expand...

It is not any more difficult than coating the paint. You have plenty of options such as CarPro DLUX, 22ple VM1. They are not hard to use it all and no need to worry as I already mentioned.

If those wheels are matte then you have to choose wisely on what products to use on them. A coating will richen them and give them a deep and darker color with no added gloss.

Another option is Dr. Beaseley's. Keep in mind that a sealant is not going to last long and neither is a wax.

I am actually shopping for a track set of wheels now so I can run a square track setup probably.

From what I am reading, other zl1 1le owners say the pads will go 5-6+ track days depending on the pace and the rotors about double that. Probably will be doing 5-6 track days a year for now hopefully more down the road as the kids get a bit older. But yes, the wheels come off a lot for other things too like bleeding the brakes, tires, etc.
Click to expand...

You are going to want to coat those track wheels with a dedicated wheel coating.

How is the slickness compared to a real coating?


Any tips on how to prep the wheels for whatever protection I go with? Once I get all the visible stuck on brake dust off, do I need to clay and or polish slightly? I thought I remember that somewhere, but these wheels are matte.

Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...

The spray on coatings don't leave slickness. Most true wheel coatings are rather tacky. They are not designed to repel brake dust but to aid in easier clean up.

You're wheels appear to be a matte finish. No polishing unless you want to lose the matte appearance. Also no claying. I have coated may matte wheels and the prep I use is an iron remover, wash, dry, panel wipe and coat.
 
FireCorgi said:
Hey Ducksfan,

On our vehicles, I will use Car Pro’s DLUX. When I lived up north and would rotate from the normal season to winter season wheels/tires, it was easy to do. I found my winter wheels would last two winters between coatings…due to being on the vehicles for 4 months or so.

Using a spray on/ rinse off products are easy. On my normal weekly wash, I can just use car soap to get the wheels clean. Once a month, I’ll us a dedicated wheel cleaner. Tires are another story. I also use a dedicated wheel/tire bucket with dedicated tools.



BTW, the Camaro looks great!

Are you an Anaheim or Oregon Ducks fan?
Click to expand...

Does using a dedicated wheel cleaner shorten the life of Dlux or should you stick to using coating safe washes? I just picked some up to try on my wheels.
 
MisterSnoop said:
Does using a dedicated wheel cleaner shorten the life of Dlux or should you stick to using coating safe washes? I just picked some up to try on my wheels.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure if it does tbh, with weekly use.

I just know using good ole’ car soap works just fine. Since DLUX doesn’t last as long as say UK 3.0, I play it safe. If I go on a long road trip, say 2,000 miles plus, then I use a wheel cleaner…just my preference.

Hope that helps , Mr. Snoop.
 
I disagree that Dlux doesn't last as long as UK 3.0 on wheels. My experience has been the opposite.
 
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