Kyle Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 I'm currently using Meguiar's Ultimate Wheel Cleaner to clean my wheels and then dressing the tires with Opti-Bond Tire Gel. I'm pleased with the results. But I'm wondering if there is a better process or set of products that will also protect the painted finish on the wheels? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMDG75 Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 I'm just an amateur who likes to keep my cars clean. I'm sure the pros on this site may have better suggestions. I've been using Sonax products for deep clean of wheels; ONR with Wheel Woolies works fine, but for deep clean, have used Sonar wheel cleaner for years. Find that the Optimum Tire Protection and Coating lasts much longer than the Opti-bond Tire gel. As for protecting the finish, my wheels were ceramic coated and I use Hyperseal now and then (not sure if that's appropriate), but it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 On 1/1/2025 at 8:16 PM, AMDG75 said: I'm just an amateur who likes to keep my cars clean. I'm sure the pros on this site may have better suggestions. I've been using Sonax products for deep clean of wheels; ONR with Wheel Woolies works fine, but for deep clean, have used Sonar wheel cleaner for years. Find that the Optimum Tire Protection and Coating lasts much longer than the Opti-bond Tire gel. As for protecting the finish, my wheels were ceramic coated and I use Hyperseal now and then (not sure if that's appropriate), but it works. Thanks for the comments. I've been reading about TPC. Frankly, for me, the tire prep is too tedious. So for now, I'm going to stay with Opti-Bond Tire Gel. I'm thinking that Opti-Seal might be a good product to protect the wheels themselves. Somewhere in the back of my mind I recall that it is not recommended to wax wheels. So I'm thinking something like OCW would not be appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron@Optimum Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 For wheel/tire cleaning there is a new Optimum product that is easy to use and very effective - Power Wheel & Tire Cleaner - a foaming spray-on product. For conditioning Opti-Bond is OPTs best option for durability and ease. Wax and sealants do not bond well to rubber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PNW hobbyist Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I use opti bond on the tires and hyper seal on the wheels. Both products make the next cleaning easier - ONR and done! If it's been a couple of muddy weeks, I'll use power clean. I used opti seal up until I got hyper seal - hyper is "the same thing, but better." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoseG Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 While prep is a bit more time consuming for Tire coating, it’ll be completely worth it a few months down the road when tires are still easy to clean. I find Opti bond to be great, but with any dressing, over time it can start to cake on a bit and is a pain to get perfectly clean. TPC provides a great base layer for Opti bond to lay on while making it easy to remove dressings after. For wheels, I highly recommend coating them. Gloss coat works perfectly on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 Ok guys... I've got TPC on order and will give it go. As of now, I plan to apply the product by hand. I don't have a HVLP spray gun and, even if I did, I don't have a suitable air compressor to power it. Nevertheless, I still want to reach out to the community to see if there is something like a Wagner (translate that as cheap) sprayer that would work. Fortunately, and I never thought I'd be saying this, the tires on my Mercedes AMG typically last 20k miles or less. So I'll probably only need to install TPC once. 😀 Good luck to all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setec Astronomy Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 I don't think anyone ever suggested that the coating be applied by sprayer, that'll clog right up, IMO. It was Opti-Bond that used to recommended for a spray gun. I usually use a regular cheap tire dressing applicator for the coating, and rinse it out well after use; if you let the coating dry in it, you'll have to throw it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron@Optimum Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Actually a sprayer is an option to apply TPC (have attached a youtube video showing several ways to apply). There have been questions on the amount necessary and I've found that tire specific...some tires (those with grooves, for instance) will take more for complete coverage). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Thanks for the comments guys. I was heavily influenced by this video... I was thinking the spray gun might improve the chances of a novice like me achieving a thin, even application. But even if I had the right compressor, I'm not buying a $800 SATA sprayer. So I'll use a microfiber sponge and apply as thinly as I can manage. Wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setec Astronomy Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 I can't imagine what kind of production environment you'd have to be in to be able to use a gun like that without it clogging up between cars or make it worth flushing that out with water between cars/uses. Not to mention the overspray. Kyle, it's really very simple to apply the tire coating, I don't need to wish you luck. The only advice I'd give is to try to keep a "wet edge", you don't want to go back over an area you've done after a minute or so because it will already have started to get tacky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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