- Forms a protective barrier on wheels and trim
- Repels brake dust, road grime and dirt
- Keeps wheels clean longer
Every once in 12 or so car care products I come across something that I would bother to purchase again. ArmorAll Wheel Protectant Spray falls into the 1 in 4 car care products I have ever found that not only do what the manufacturers claim, but excel at the function. The first car I put this on was an Audi S5. The rims already had a silver cast look, but in two days they were spotted with brake dust and looked dirty under normal conditions. Normal for me is barely using the brakes on a commute. If I did a little apex attacking, my rims were closer to black. I had thought about all the different products that I could use: different pads, brake dust shields, etc..; however I did not want to change the look or performance of my vehicle. So...I had to try this product.
Excellence in a can, is about how I would summarize this spray. I cleaned my rims with rim cleaner, every kind of brush available and lot of cool clean water. Then dried them with some microfiber towels and liberally sprayed the wheel protectant on. This product works best at room temperature and the longer you allow it to sit on your car the better the results 'should' be, according to ArmorAll. It was about 70 degrees f when I applied this and I let it sit on my wheels for a good three (3) hours before driving. For the first two to three days I noticed a little haze in the deepest grooves of my rims that looked almost like Meguiars cleaner wax. The rest of the product blended perfectly with my rims. While you could wait until you wash your car to clean your rims, I elected to hit them lightly with a swiffer and then rub the small areas of haze down with a microfiber cloth. It only took about 10 minutes to take out the haze and the product performance was unaffected.
I am now at the start of my 4th week without washing my rims, and the daily driver looks like it was just cleaned. All I do is a light dust off every 5 days. I did rub them down with a damp cloth once, but this was no better than dusting. Even with the application of water the protectant held out. There is obviously enough of a coating to prevent dusting from scratching the rims because you can see the residue on my rear black calipers. I would recommend taping an index card, or even using painters tape to prevent coating your brake calipers when spraying this product on. Obviously I incidentally hit my rotors and my car still stops the way it was supposed to: on a dime.
The second car I hit with this was a 740 with forged nook and cranny rims from hell. Toothbrush doesn't even come close to a description of the cleaning job regardless of the wheel cleaner. These rims are now 2 weeks post application, have been through one 'brushless' wash and go about 2 days after application and they also look great. I was surprised that the haze was so minimal and that the appearance on shiny forged and silver cast rims was very close to stock.
Obviously, this product holds up to a car wash and is good for more than 3 weeks. I fully recommend that you try this on your rims.
Pros:
Works, Brake dust does not stick, Rims look like new, easy to dust off
Cons:
Light wax like haze on calipers if not protected, and on some areas of rims; although this is easily treated or prevented.
My best advice is to shake the can for about a minute, apply this to thoroughly cleaned rims on a still day when mid day temperature is close to 70 and let the car sit overnight if possible. Giving the rims a light buff in the recesses will remove the hazing and covering your rotors can enhance the look of your car. Dust your rims if needed, or just wash your car as usual and avoid touching your rims. Eyes don't leave fingerprints.
I have yet to attempt to remove and redo the coating. I am hoping that my rims won't start to suffer from a chipped finger-nail polish layering effect by using this product continuously or have some other undesirable side effect.
I have read some reviews which compare this product to others that leave a lot of residue or claim this product does. For me it did not leave a lot of residue and beat everything else I tried. Remember, if you are coating something with a semi-permanent aerosol spray shake the can properly. Some people shake paint cans for two minutes or more.
This product works as advertised and I recommend it to anybody who wishes to prevent brake dust build up on their car rims.
why can't they make this stuff to spray on the paint too! Then you'd never have to wash your car, bird poop and road grime wouldn't stand a chance!
I cannot extoll this product enough, it is truely amazing and will never go w/ dirty wheels again. thanks Armor All!
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