Just did a tire rotation at 10K miles and the OEM 18" rims were corroded to the axles. I removed the lug nuts and observed some corrosion under them. The rims would not seperate from the rotors and substantial force was required. I could have drove her with no lug nuts, it was that bad. I dont drive her in the rain and cannot for the life of me figure out what type of Galvanic corrosion is going on here. The rims are white as chalk where they contacted the brake rotors and the lug nuts were a ball of corrosion where they contacted the rims. I have removed the surface rust/corrosion and went back with some grease on those surfaces. But the rims are also starting to corrode past the center cap and out to the front face under the clearcoat. The underside of the plastic center caps were all brown from the rust. Geeese, no grease Dodge? Those in the costal area will probably face this problem in the future.
How old is your chally? Were you the first owner? Is that the first 10k on the car? Any snow driving? That's weird if the car has only 10k miles and that bad of corrosion.
2009 SE First Owner Purchased 6/09 4 filter/oil changes. First 10K, first flat, first tire rotation. Never driven in rain or snow. 07 Mustang takes the brunt of the weather, now. The Mustang was babied until I got the chally. The only thing I can think of is it gets washed a lot with a high pressure washer. Maybe thats forcing the water in behind the wheels and then parking her. I will take her out for a long cruise after every washing to see if that will get the rotors heated up and the water slung out. I have enough corrosion preventitve (cosmolene) on there to stop what was happening. Now to keep an eye on that lug nut torque over time.
Do you use any type of wheel cleaner to remove the brake dust? Take a look at the chemical make up in the product if so. I started noticing problems early on after using ICE products and swithced to Maguires All Wheel cleaner. Stuff works and have not noticed any further problems.
Nope, no wheel cleaner used at all. There are just not enough miles between washes to have brake dust build-up. I think I am going to Plast-Dip soon so water getting behind the wheel cap will be a thing of the past.