Sand and wheels

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 20 Jan 2011, 05:44

I have an 04 XC70 that I bought back in October so this is my first winter with it. When I drive in the snow, somehow the snow gets sucked into the wheels and packs in there along with the sand and salt. I park in a heated garage so all the snow melts out leavinf the sand and salt to cake in the inside of the wheel. This of course throws the balance off requiring me to remove the wheels and clean out the sand every couple of storms. Anyone else have this issue? I have pics I'll post up later.

Post by **JRL** » 20 Jan 2011, 06:24

It happens.
However, this should not happen with every snow storm to the point your wheels and tires are going out of balance!
Must be some odd salt/sand/grit mixture your area uses, of it's just the style of wheel on your car.

Try this:
The next time you remove your wheels, spray some PAM or cooking spray where the sand is collecting, it should allow the stuff to fall right off.
If this works, do a super wheel cleaning in the Spring.

If nothing works, complain to your township.
My township uses a lot of sand in their mix, but in 23+ odd years I have not encountered this

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 20 Jan 2011, 07:43

I'll give that a try! I have lived in the same area for many years and this is the first car this has happened to.

Post by **JDS60R** » 20 Jan 2011, 09:32

You can clean and wax the wheel . Some non salt ice melts bond quite well to the rims. Your city may have changed to a new brand

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 20 Jan 2011, 10:45

I will look into wax as well, thanks. We use sand and salt (NaCl), I live in a very small town, it is as low budget as it gets.

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 14 Feb 2011, 06:16

Well I continue to have this problem, nothing seems to be working. I will try to post some pics...

OK, how do I post pics? I have in the past, has it changed?

billr99 · Post by **billr99** » 14 Feb 2011, 08:29

I had the same problem with the alloy wheels on my XC and an 850R that I had when I live in Northern Ontario where they use a combination of medium grit sand and salt, mostly sand. Never solved the problem with the R and that was with stock and aftermarket 17in rims. Other than to try and get the hose out on rare days when the temp was above freezing so I could blast the crud out with a stream of water. With the XC, I have found that using Volvo 16 in. steel wheels with wheel covers minimizes the problem. Still gets in there now and again though. I've never had the problem on any of my other cars so I wonder if there is something with the design of the rims or if it is a function of rim width and offset. That is, providing quite a shelf for that stuff to sit and re-freeze. The rims I have had problems with tend to be fairly open and the Volvos don't heat the rims up with brake heat much especially in -15C+ weather. Swedish car so you would think that they would have sorted something out, right?

Cheers,

Bill

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 15 Feb 2011, 08:07

The car sits in a heated garage over night so the ice melts and the sand dries on inside the rim before I take it out the next day. I guess I am just going to live with it, its never happened on any other car I've owned.

volvolove · Post by **volvolove** » 11 Mar 2011, 12:10

I live on dirt roads that get really muddy. They also have sand on them. I don't understand the need to take your tires off though. I just use a hose with some sort of spray nozzle or another (sometimes power washer in the summer when mud is really caked on.) You will want something dry to lay on (big piece of cardboard) so you can aim under the car from the opposite side. After you do all 4 rims, then move the car about 10-12 inches, so the wheels have turned 180 degrees. (use the stem on the tire to make sure you went about 180 degrees. Wash all four wheels again, and you should be good.

Post by **Fish stick88** » 11 Mar 2011, 12:46

its hard to understand. do you leave your garage and drive into snow or does it storm a lot and build up? because as you leave your garage the alloy wheels will become sticky to snow. once a small layer builds up it will just keep building. Last time I had this problem, I actually put a Thin layer of Pam on the Wheels, that didnt work for me either. so i adverteded to actually putting a thin layer of ice on the wheels.