anyone know of a good brake cleaner that won't hurt my alloys or my painted brake calipers? my brakes are getting quite dirty and rusty but the brake cleaner i have says not to use it on painted surfaces.

 

Did you try doing a test. If you still have some of the paint left maybe you can spray something, let that dry for a few days and test the cleaner on it.

Also, normally when I am cleaning the calipers with the spray cleaner, the rims are usually off.

 

well........ can't do the test with the paint i used. i used one of those caliper painting kits. it brushes on and has a hardener in it so you have to throw out what you don't use. good thought though.

 

I'd remove the wheels for brake cleaning if you want to use an aerosol cleaner.

If you don't want to do that, dishwasher detergent and a wire brush works okay for me.