Call Me Mr. Clean (part 3)

Posted in Uncategorized by drivindave on October 9, 2011

One of the most noticeable features on your ride other than paint and body work, are the wheels and tires. Nothing can change the look of your car quicker then a different set of wheels and tires ! So it’s important that they look good and they are clean. After this last trip my wheels and tire were beat up badly. They were ugly to say the least. They had seen just about every kind of weather and road surface with the exception of snow. I knew this was going to take some time to do right. So Saturday morning I got up early and began to work on the wheels and tires. First I got the Roadster outside where I could get the wheels off the car. Getting the car up in the air on all fours with the use of my floor jack and jack stands, I started removing the knock-offs. The lug nuts were next and then I started cleaning each wheel combo at a time. I began with a spray of Meguiar’s wheel cleaner and a soft brush to clean the back of the wheel. Next I dried the wheel and began cleaning the back of the tire with some of Meguiar’s tire cleaner. The next step is to clean the tread and the front of the tire with tire cleaner, before polishing the front side of the wheel. Sometimes I use a foam cone with wheel polish like” Mothers “to really polish the wheels. I did this not too long ago and the wheels still looked good so I skipped that step this time. After all the wheel and tires are cleaned and polished they are ready to be put back on the car. I always mark each wheel to tell me where they go. That way they don’t go on the wrong side. Be sure you clean each lug nut before they get reinstalled. Last I clean the knockoff’s and get them ready to install. Before I lower the car I try to place the valve stem in the same position on each wheel. I know, but it’s just my thing ! I lower the back of the car first then the front. Once the car is back on all fours, I begin to torque each wheel to 75 foot pounds. Now I install the knockoff’s and tighten the locking screw. If I didn’t have nitrogen in my tires, now would be the time to check the air in the tire. So that’s it for the wheels and tires, now it’s time for a drive.

See you back here soon,

Dave