Keeping rust off new wheels

[sidneyj]

Are any of you doing anything to keep rust off your wheels that gets transferred from the hub? I bought some brand new wheels and I want to clean the rust off the hub more permanently. I’ve taken a wire brush to remove what I can. When I had the rotors off I removed all the rust with a wire brush on a drill. That worked pretty good but it’s an on going battle. My next thought to take it a step further is:

-clean the hub again and put some waterproof grease on the hub
-or, clean the hub again, prime it and coat it with some rustoleum paint. Maybe clear it as well. I’m concerned the paint might just chip away from mounting the heavy wheel making a bigger mess and also concerned that putting primer and paint might be too thick and the wheel will just end up scraping it all off anyway.

Thoughts?


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[andrewwynn]

I think a layer of decent grease might be better than paint. My rear rotors are powder coat painted but I don't know about hand spray painting. A thin coat of Rust-Oleum should work well though

[sidneyj]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

I think a layer of decent grease might be better than paint. My rear rotors are powder coat painted but I don't know about hand spray painting. A thin coat of Rust-Oleum should work well though

I wasn’t planning on doing anything to the rotors but it’s the hub I’m talking about. Or maybe that’s not the right name? It’s what the rotor mounts to, that part the wheel mounts to and centers the wheel. That part gets so rusty.


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[wpoll]

I'm not sure we are talking abour rust here - sounds more like brake dust. Different compound brake pads affect dust levels.

The brake rotors (not the hubs) can rust up, as the are make of materials that rust very quickly. Most brake rotors will have rust on the edges - this is normal and doesn't transfer to the wheels.

Some rotors also have bare metal centres, which rust very qyuickly and look nasty but once again this is normal and once they have a layer of surface rust, they stop rusting adn this rust doesn't normally transfer to the wheel.

I recently installed new rear rotors and pads and the new rotors did not have painted centres, so I painted them before installation.



I have also removed, cleaned up and re-painted existing rotors in the past.

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by sidneyj

I wasn’t planning on doing anything to the rotors but it’s the hub I’m talking about. Or maybe that’s not the right name? It’s what the rotor mounts to, that part the wheel mounts to and centers the wheel. That part gets so rusty.


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Oh, that hub... yeah, these rust quickly too (but it doesn't normally get on the wheels).

As you can see in the image above, I've coated my hubs centres in silve (zinc) anti-seize grease. Sort of works.

It's all hidden behind the wheel's centre-cap.

[sidneyj]

Originally Posted by wpoll

Oh, that hub... yeah, these rust quickly too (but it doesn't normally get on the wheels).



As you can see in the image above, I've coated my hubs centres in silve (zinc) anti-seize grease. Sort of works.



It's all hidden behind the wheel's centre-cap.

Yes that part! Even though it’s hidden behind the center cap the rust gets transferred on the center of the wheels. Do you also put a layer of that grease on the back of the wheel or front of the rotor?


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[andrewwynn]

The hub is inside the rotor you aren't getting rust from that on the wheels that's why I figured you were talking about the rotor. Also as mentioned above almost certainly any discoloration on the wheels is from brake pad dust.

There is an new style of brake pads that are low dust. They don't brake quite as well and specifically don't have great modulation ability (where you can slightly relax the braking with Precision). If you don't push your car very hard you should look into the low dust ceramic mix pad.

[andrewwynn]

The center hub I put anti seize but it's rust colored I can't tell you how much it prevents rust. I do know my wheels come ofd nicely vs using 10# sledge.


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[sidneyj]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

The hub is inside the rotor you aren't getting rust from that on the wheels that's why I figured you were talking about the rotor. Also as mentioned above almost certainly any discoloration on the wheels is from brake pad dust.

There is an new style of brake pads that are low dust. They don't brake quite as well and specifically don't have great modulation ability (where you can slightly relax the braking with Precision). If you don't push your car very hard you should look into the low dust ceramic mix pad.

This part is rusty on mine where I circled in yellow. It transfers to the wheel. I have low dust brake pads.


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[andrewwynn]

That's the hub center:
I remove the rust with a wire wheel and apply thick grease or anti-seize. There will likely always be a little rust on the hub there but once greased it won't be enough to bind the wheel to the hub anymore.