Brake Drum Rusting onto Wheels

[Monaro Joe]

The weather finally got nice enough to wash my truck. Unfortunately I discovered that the rear brake drums are rusting so bad that the rust has caked onto the finish of my rims. It is not the rim itself rusting because it is only on the rear rims and I can scrape it off with my fingernail.

 

I have attached a picture that shows where I scraped some of the rust off with my finger nail. How would you guys go about getting the rust off these rims without damaging the wheel finish? 

 

I have already attempted to use Deep Wheel Cleaner twice and that didn't do much to the rust. I tried a clay bar and all that does is turn the clay orange. 

 

Any help is appreciated!

 

[TheBurninator]

That looks more like the wheel itself has pitted and is rusting.

 

The rust from a brake drum wouldn't transfer like that.

[Team Adam's]

If you have exposed drum hats you're going to get rust, unfortunately.

 

The best, and really only, fix is to pull the wheels, wire brush the surface to remove the scale, then shoot the drums with some high temp paint. Not a hard process, but a little time consuming. In the long run it'll save you from having to do these kinds of cleanups. I usually just paint mine black so it blends better.

[Chris@Adams]

After you paint your drums you can paint your rims too...they are steel rims aren't they?

[Monaro Joe]

I am replacing the brake drums so the new ones will be painted and hopefully prevent this in the future. 

 

Using a wire brush on the wheels will further harm the wheel finish, won't it? As I mentioned before I can scrape the rust off with my fingernail as you can see in the picture. If this rust can be scraped off the surface without harming the finish, why repaint the wheels?

 

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions like a rubbing alcohol, rust remover or something along those lines. 

 

Thanks

[Team Adam's]

I am replacing the brake drums so the new ones will be painted and hopefully prevent this in the future. 

 

Using a wire brush on the wheels will further harm the wheel finish, won't it? As I mentioned before I can scrape the rust off with my fingernail as you can see in the picture. If this rust can be scraped off the surface without harming the finish, why repaint the wheels?

 

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions like a rubbing alcohol, rust remover or something along those lines. 

 

Thanks

 

I was recommending the wire brush for the DRUMS not your wheels. Should have clarified. If you were going to paint them you need to remove the rust and score the surface slightly for adhesion.

 

For the wheels: There are dedicated rust removers out there on the market, but I'm not terribly familiar with them. To a degree our deep wheel cleaner might be effective as the rust is iron based and DWC will dissolve metallic contamination. Its worth a try at least.

[Ricky Bobby]

^^^This.  It may take multiple applications but you should be able to get most if not all of the rust off the wheels with DWC, a wheel brush, and some dwell time and agitation.

[Monaro Joe]

Dylan, it makes perfect sense now that I read it again. Thanks for the tips guys. I'll keep trying with the deep wheel cleaner.

 

If anyone else has any tips, keep them coming!