Safety and security are paramount for your car, and the brake rotor plays a vital role in ensuring that the two are met. To ensure that your car is in good condition, it is essential to clean your car's brake rotors. Getting the brake rotor clean can be challenging, especially if you are not removing the wheels, and it is best to remove the wheels for a thorough clean. However, removing the wheel of your car each time can be irritating. In this article, we will look at the tips and methods of how to clean brake rotors without removing wheels. Read on!
What Are Rotors?
A brake rotor is a circular disc connected to your car wheel, usually two in the back and two in the front. The brake rotors are usually designed to change motion/ kinetic energy into heat/ thermal energy. The rotors come in different types, and each time you want to replace your rotors, you can choose from the four types. However, when purchasing new brake rotors, you should choose according to your needs. The four types of rotors are; Blank & Smooth, Drilled, slotted, and Drilled & Slotted.
The blank and smooth-blank are rotors usually smooth with a blank metal surface around the rotor, and it is mostly used in passenger vehicles. The drilled rotors have holes around the metal to provide better braking power. The slotted rotors have long slots or lines on the metal surfaces, improving brake output. Drilled and slotted rotors are usually a combination of drilled holes and slots, and it offers outstanding performance.
Now, let's take a look at how to clean brake rotors without removing the wheel.
How to Clean Brake Rotors Without Removing Wheels
If you want to know how to clean disc brakes without removing wheels, then we got you covered. The procedure of cleaning brake rotors is pretty simple, depending on your car's wheel design. Here are the few methods you could use:
1. Inspect the Brake Pads
One of the important steps and methods to clean the rotors would be to clean and inspect the brake pads. The pads are part of the braking mechanism used to clean the rotors while driving. If you have a big brake pad, it will cover the entire rotor, and you will not need any tools to clean individually. However, if you notice that the rotor has rust and dust, you must clean them.
2. Leaf Blower or Air Blower
You can also use an air blower to blow off brake dust and dirt from the wheel. An air blower or a leaf blower is an electric device usually used to clean your yard garden edges. The good bit is that you can use this machine to blow dust from the brake rotors effortlessly. Again the blower's air will reach the entire rotor, ensuring that the whole rotor is clean. Plus, you can use the air blower even with the latest wheel rim designs.
3. Brake Cleaner
Thrid you could purchase and use a brake cleaner. The good thing is that various products are available in the market that will get the job done. Essentially you want to purchase a brake cleaner to clean and degree any metallic surfaces. A brake cleaner usually comes in a liquid form, and you can place it in a spray bottle for easy use.
After spraying the brake cleaner, you should wait for the brake cleaner to sit for a few minutes before cleaning with normal water. The best part of using the squirt bottle is that you can easily reach the hard-to-reach areas of the rotor. Also, a brake cleaner can be used to clean brake linings, drum brakes, brake calipers, brake pads, brake shoes and other braking mechanism areas while the wheels are still intact. If you see that there are still some rust remains on thr rotors after cleaning, you could apply more brake cleaner and repeat the process.
4. Daytona Brush
You could also use a brush to clean the brake rotors. For example, the Daytona brush is a small brush used for cleaning brake rotors, brake pads, brake caliper units, and even the steering wheel. Basically, you can use this brush, steel wool or a wire brush to remove dirt from disc brakes and help remove surface rust from the surface. Sometimes, when your rotors are not stained, you can clean them using the wire brush or steel wool and soapy water without necessarily using a brake cleaner. However, if need be, you will first apply the brake cleaner, let it sit for a while Prince with water, then use soapy water and th brush to clean stubborn stains.
The advantage of the Daytona brush is that it is flexible nylon with a plastic handle. The flexibility allows the brush to reach the depth where a cloth or stiff brush can not. Plush, the Dyton brush would be best if you have hard or complicated wheel designs. If this method does not remove rust completely, consider using a brake cleaner and a wheel cleaner.
5. Soapy water
Using water and soap is another great tool for cleaning rotors. This is one of the most economical methods that does not need much. All you need to get the rotors clean is to prepare a solution on water and soap and then spray or apply the solution to the brake rotors. You could also use a hosepipe to apply pressure on the rotating rotors; this way, you will be able to blow away any soap and brake dust particles. With this method, you need to let the rotor dry, and you could use a clean, dry rag to remove excess water to prevent rusting. If this method does not remove rust completely, consider using a brake cleaner.
6. White Vinegar
Using vinegar on the rotor is another method of cleaning the brake rotors without removing the wheel. You will only need to make a solution of water and vinegar and use a spray bottle to spray the solution on the rotor. Let the vinegar sit for some minutes, and then use water and a clean rag to rinse it off. If there are more stains, you could spray more vinegar on the rims, saturating the entire area, including the brake calipers, brake pads, brake caliper units, and even the steering wheel. Then wait for a while and rinse off. If that does not remove rust completely, consider using a brake cleaner.
How Do Brake Rotors Get Dirty?
Most people who own cars do not know that they need to inspect their brake pads and rotors frequently. However, every car owner should know how dirty or clean their braking system is. Consequently, they should know how the rotor gets dirty:
- First, when your brake pads wear down, they will produce brake dust that will settle on the rotors. Therefore you need to ensure that the pads are in great condition at all times.
- The dirt may stick to the rotors when you drive on extremely dirty, road grime and dust roads.
- Oil and brake fluid that your car emits can drop to the rotors and mix with brake dust or other impurities making the rotors dirty. Also, you must check the brake fluid to make sure that your car stays at its best performance.
- The other reason that makes your rotors dirt is rust. Again, this will mainly occur if you are driving during the winter.
Signs That The Brake Rotors Need To Be Cleaned
Ther are a couple of signs that will let you know when your brake rotors need to be cleaned:
- Strange sound or the squealing of the brakes. The sound usually occurs once the drum brakes or brake pad wears down. Therefore you need to make sure that the brakes and pads are in good condition at all times.
- Pulsating brake pedal or Vibration when you brake or steering wheel. If you notice that your car vibrates excessively whenever you apply brakes, you should clean rotors.
- Vehicle pulling to one side whenever you are braking. If you are riding and you notice that your car is pulling to one side, it could affect foreign materials in the brake rotors. In most cases, when impurities get to the hydraulic system, they will compromise the braking pressure. This will then affect the braking system, which causes uneven braking causing the car while braking.
- Poor responsiveness of the braking system. If your brake pedal is responding slowly or is not responding well to braking, it is a sign that your rotors need to be cleaned.
Why Is It Important To Clean Your Brake Rotor
Checking and cleaning your robots regularly is essential to keep your car in great condition. However, you should note that cleaning too much is never a great idea, and you only need to make sure they are clean. Usually, it is ideal for checking and cleaning rotors using a brake cleaner each time you are maintaining your car or wheels. There are a couple of benefits of maintaining and cleaning the brake rotor:
- Reduces the chances of the brakes squealing.
- If there are other problems with your brakes, cleaning the rotor will make it a lot easier to detect any issues.
- Cleaning rotors help prevent your pads from getting grease whenever installing them.
Conclusion
Cleaning and removing rust from the brake rotors, especially without removing wheels, is not a simple task. However, we have provided different ways you could use to make the process more straightforward. The good bit is that you could perform this procedure at home, which will save money and time for your car maintenance.
Image credit: i.ytimg.com