I'm looking for some advice. I had new tires put on, Conti DWS, and I want to clean the old adhesive off the wheels where the old balancing weights were. Any advice on what I can use to get the rubber product off?

Thanks.

 

Here's what I've done:
Scrape the excess weight adhesive off with a popsicle stick.
(I bet careful use of a razor blade would work too)
Then clean it up with Goo Gone.

 

you can use body prep, wax and grease remover or mineral spirits

 

3M general adhesive remover. it's in an aresol can, and much faster than goo gone.

 

that adhesive remover is stronger but i'd be careful as it may be too strong on water based paint on some wheels.

 

I used simple green and a ton of elbow grease. There has to be a better way.

 

I have a quart can of the 3M Adhesive remover purchased at a NAPA store, easier to get where you need it, works well.

I use plastic trim tools to scrape it, not any metal.

 

I always take the weights off and clean off the rubber and adhesive BEFORE I get the new tires mounted and balanced. I figure having the wheel in its clean, "virgin state" can't hurt the balancing procedure. I give the installer the wheels and tires off the car (the one time I let the installer torque the lug nuts on my SUV, he cross-threaded two of them, ruining the lugs.) And if they're not cross-threaded, they're torqued to about 1000000 ft-lbs.

 

Thanks for the help guys

 

Simple Green + Aluminum = highly discouraged.
Corrosive to aluminum.

Just me - I have banned this stuff completely around my cars and bikes.

 

I have always used a plastic razor then Lacquer thinner. The wheels are powder coated and are not affected by Lacquer thinner. Try a small amount in an inconspicuous area to test.

 

what a great gold nugget of a post! what do you recommend as a general purpose auto degreaser?

 

This is from the Simple Green website:
"Aluminum - Is it safe to use Simple Green® on aluminum?

When used with caution and according to the instructions, Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner has been safely and successfully used to clean aluminum. Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, Crystal Simple Green® Cleaner/Degreaser, Simple Green Pressure Washer Concentrates, and Pro Series™ Simple Green® Automotive Cleaner have been used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times for unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green® product residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation."

 

I read that some time ago. It essentially lays out the ways in which you can mitigate damage caused by the product.
Hence my post.
Apparently the AOPA (pilots association) and certain military maintenance departments have discouraged / banned it as well.
BTW - "Purple Power" has the same problem.

I've got nothing against either product. Anybody's free to use what they like.
But there are such a huge number of products specifically designed for cleaning aluminum. For me: known corrosive=bad idea.

terpsred - Moe or the guys on the detailing forum have tons of experience with degreasers. Way more than me. They're great about sharing tips.

 

I use 3M general adhesive remover (liquid in a can from Napa) soak a cotton ball and let it sit over the adhesive for about 5 min. It will come right off with a little rubbing.