Raising Car for Wheel Cleaning - Help

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Hello All,

Before Spring I would like to remove wheels & give them a full clean along with calipers, arches etc.

What process do you employ to do this? What equipment do you use?

I have access to the information on jacking points under the car. Just wondered if you, for example, place two axle stands at whatever end & do two wheels at a time, then the other end.

Never done it before so would appreciated any advice for those who have.

Thank you,

Darren
 
Hi Darren,

I do this twice a year when switching betweeen summer/winter set-ups ... I usually do one side rather than one end at a time as jacking/supporting is easier. Give some thought to what you might use apart form elbow grease as some will surely highlight that some cleaners are harmful to alloy/rubber/other components ... whilst I’m sure all valid observations, the amount of time the ‘cleaning’ material is in contact with the surface is minimal and Ive not had any issues over many years.

Are you thinking of dropping the wheel arch linings? If yes there was a thread on here about a year ago (silver convertible IIRC) where the owner did this and made recommendations for aftercare sealant/protective coating once all cleaned.

I use the Poor Boys cream sealer for the wheels (pink cream) and it does a great job of preventing brake dust and tar spots sticking. For the calipers I use G-Technic sealant.

Hope this helps and I’m sure others will offer ideas, thoughts and guidance.

And as a final option if you don’t fancy doing it yourself, your could have the underside ice blasted ....
 
Thank you Senninha. Always a detailed, well-informed & well-meaning response & very much appreciated. Alas, will always disagree with your disapproval of red brake calipers 😁

This was exactly what I’m looking for. Only thing missing. What lifting/supporting equipment is best? Not wanting to spend a fortune but do want to feel safe when crawling around underneath 👍

Thanks again.

Darren
 
All you need is a 2 tonne trolley jack and pair of axle stands. Halfords is easy. Costco sell better quality for a price.
Simply crack loose wheel bolts, jack up one wheel on normal point and place axle stand under the solid suspension mount points. Lower and do same with the second wheel. Once on stands your safe as houses (assuming in solid level ground)
I always chock one wheel too if I’m messing under the car
 
Another safety thing I was taught when changing a wheel (yes I was shown the correct method for changing a wheel on a driving course years ago :roll: ) is to put a removed wheel flat under the sill and as close to the jacking point as you can.
In the event that the jack fails, or the axle stand fails then the car will drop onto the wheel and thus fail to crush the owner who may have one or more of his appendages under the car or to save knackering the disc and suspension when it slams into the road.
Cheaper to fix a wheel than a person or all that lovely suspension stuff.
:D
 
You can use a set of hydraulic ramps from CJ Autos, they lift the car to 500mm allowing you to put the axle stand on the jacking point. The ramps can be controlled independently which means you can do one corner at a time. Picture is of my car on ramps. Apologises pic up side down. Phil.
 

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Yep good advice re. the wheel - and of course, due to the trigonometry of raising the car. for the rear wheels leave a FWD i neutral and for the front wheels leave the handbrake off / RWD in neutral.

Less of an issue with a wheeled trolley jack than a scissor jack, but block paving and all that...

I still managed to twist my Halfrauds 1 tonne hydraulic jack just lifting one corner, so supposedly around 400kg for a 50/50 balanced car. So however well supported don't stick body parts under unless you really need to!
 
Thank you all very much for taking time & trouble to respond. I will probably purchase jack & stands as fancy cleaning/painting the rusty coloured rear sub frame at some point.

Will post photos of my endeavours, when the weather warms up!

Thank you,

Darren
 
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