Cleaning brake rotors, in traditional ways, need to take the wheels off. But some of us often try to clean it without removing the wheels. So, it is possible in some cases. But in our observation, it’ll be a light clean.
You could compare it to dusting a park seat before sitting down. It may appear clean for a time but eventually becomes dusty. However, this is quite helpful for routine cleaning. Check out our expert’s suggestion on cleaning brake rotors without removing wheel.
Our Suggestions!
1. Use The Brake Pads to Clean the Dust and Soil
Well, as you know, brake pads are closely connected to brake rotors. And whenever you press the brake, the pads apply pressure to the rotors. And here, you may clean the brake rotors using this pressure. Simply drive down a highway while softly using the brakes to slow down rather than halt your vehicle. Your rotors’ dust will be removed.
[Note: one of brake pads’ functions]
2. Clean The Dust Using an Air Blower
You can use the same air blower that you use for cleaning mirrors or removing dust from curtains. Simply keep the blower on both the exterior and interior sides of the wheels. It will work, but not as well as brake pads.
3. Rinse With Clean Water
If you want a more detailed cleaning, you can apply the water rinse technique. It’s not so tough if your car’s wheels have regular rims. Otherwise, you may not be able to reach your brake rotors.
4. Use Soapy Water
Similar to cleaning with fresh water, simply mix some mild soap or shampoo into the water before using it to rinse your brake rotors. But you must remember to rinse the rotors with clean water after using soapy water.
5. Use Brake Cleaner
It might be challenging to use brake cleaner without taking the wheel off, but you can try. However, check to see whether your brake cleaner has a blower pipe first. If not, it could harm your matte-wrapped rims (if wrapped).
So, these are some suggestions from our experts. However, we would like to remind you once more that cleaning brake rotors well without removing the wheel is difficult but not impossible. Future technologies and equipment could make it unquestionably possible.
Important Thoughts
Well, if you notice clearly in the earlier part, there we talked only about dust. But, dust is not the main concern about brake rotors. There is RUST, BRAKE FLUID, GREASE, ROAD GRIMS, and so on. Now, think, is it possible to clean these things properly without removing the wheels?
We don’t think so. For deep cleaning, you need to remove the wheels. In fact, without taking off the wheels, we doubt that you may unable to identify the dirt type. So, if the mentioned suggestion does not seem useful, just go for deep cleaning.
When you should think of a deep cleaning!
Many of us often clean the exterior of our cars but forget to clean vital parts like brake rotors. Though these parts don’t need to clean often, there are some signs that will alarm you about the urgency of cleaning your brake rotors,
It will require a little more time than usual stopping distances. Brake squeal is another warning indicator. The major cause of brake dust is squealing brakes. On occasion, when applying heavy brakes, the car pulls to one side, and the steering wheel and brake pedals tremble.
Final Tips
Regular cleaning is good for maintaining a sound car. However, interior cleaning is not always done. So, light cleaning on a regular basis may keep the parts safe. In our blog, we tried to compile all the possible ways to clean brake rotors.
We hope it’ll be helpful to you.