2001 Factory Alloy Wheels - What do you use to polish?

[kylek350]

I rotated my tires tonight and noticed that my wheels could use a good cleaning. What types of polish and or techniques have you guys employed? I don't know if these wheels are clear coated, so I'm hesitant to do anything too course for fear of "burning through" and committing myself to much more frequent polishing.

[Sticker Monster]

this thread is useless without pics. but your wheels are likely chrome plated, so be careful with the abrasives.

SM

[Zaairman]

Factory wheels are clear coated aluminum, not chrome plated.

[dieselcrawler]

if the clear coat is in good shape, treat like any automotive painted surface... wash and wax accordingly. if it's coming off, like the wheels on both our Excursion, and the factory wheels for the red truck, that's a diffrent story. I'm not sure what to do, I've yet to deal with it.

[kylek350]

Okay, makes sense. My wheels are generally in good shape, but looking like they'd benefit from a good cleaning and "waxing". If wheels like this ever go chaulky (meaning the clear coat has failed and the aluminum is oxidizing), the only option left would be polishing with a series of rouges and applying a new clear coat. Otherwise you'd be polishing the aluminum almost constantly to maintain the luster.

[Sticker Monster]

Originally Posted by Zaairman

Factory wheels are clear coated aluminum, not chrome plated.

my factory aluminum wheels are chrome plated. I know because it is peeling on a couple of them. I will get pics later.

SM

[dieselcrawler]

Originally Posted by Sticker Monster

my factory aluminum wheels are chrome plated. I know because it is peeling on a couple of them. I will get pics later.

SM

Let's see some pic's, because I have to respectfully disagree with you on this... Our Excursion has the same style wheels as yours show in the pictures you'd posted, and the peeling I've seen on ours is just the clear coat coming off, and the aluminum oxidizing under it. The clear coat is quite thick, and rather stiff like chrome plating is, but clear coat none the less.

Reguardless, if it be clear coat or chrome, if it's coming off, and there's bare aluminum under it, it's gonna oxidize and look like crap.

[Zaairman]

Originally Posted by dieselcrawler

I'm not sure what to do, I've yet to deal with it.

Honestly, I'd strip the clear coat and just polish the wheels. I've had uncoated polished aluminum wheels on my F-250 for 2.5 years now. I polished them once when I first got them. While they don't look as great as they did then, they still look very good and not worth the effort to polish. Just keep a good coat of wax on them and keep them clean.

[Sticker Monster]

Originally Posted by dieselcrawler

Let's see some pic's, because I have to respectfully disagree with you on this... Our Excursion has the same style wheels as yours show in the pictures you'd posted, and the peeling I've seen on ours is just the clear coat coming off, and the aluminum oxidizing under it. The clear coat is quite thick, and rather stiff like chrome plating is, but clear coat none the less.

Reguardless, if it be clear coat or chrome, if it's coming off, and there's bare aluminum under it, it's gonna oxidize and look like crap.

you may be right. it was too dark when I got home to see it well. but yeah it looks like crap when the stuff peels off and it oxidizes.

SM

[dieselcrawler]

Originally Posted by Zaairman

Honestly, I'd strip the clear coat and just polish the wheels. I've had uncoated polished aluminum wheels on my F-250 for 2.5 years now. I polished them once when I first got them. While they don't look as great as they did then, they still look very good and not worth the effort to polish. Just keep a good coat of wax on them and keep them clean.

I have the same thing on my red truck at the moment, I sanded them down with wet/dry sand paper, from 220 to 400 to 600 grit, and then polished them with a polish wheel in a drill... they looked great at first, and still look decent after a year of no maintnence other than a few washes...

If you do decide to remove the clear coat from the factory wheels, I'd try some type of chemical stripper to remove it, rather than trying to sand it off... then once it's removed, sand/polish as needed.