need help with wheel cleaning

T

Thomas Dekany

New member
I hope that you guys/gals see what I am asking about.



these wheels are on the silverado pick up. Can't get it shine - he was told by the dealership that they can't do anything about it, but they just probably don't want to deal with stuff like that.



I tried simple green, mother's chrome polish :confused: AIO ....



what do I need to do the get them back to life?



thanks in advance.



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Assuming they're not clearcoated, I would start with a good metal polish like Mother's. If they're polished aluminum, keep the simple green as far away as possible, as it will corrode aluminum.
 
They look like polished aluminum wheels, not clearcoated or chromed. Ya may want to ask American Racing about the finish to be sure.



Anyway, I'd remove them from the truck, take some Mothers Mag Polish and go to town by hand with some #0000 steel wool and the Mothers.
 
brake dust usually comes off with a SMR, you can polish them up with some heavymetalpolish. or liquid lustre
 
These appear to be badly stained clear coated wheels. After thoroughly cleaning them with a spray on hose of wheel cleaner that is safe for clear coats...and in this case I do recommend an acid cleaner....then you can try some Clear Coat wheel Polish. That may not be agressive enough...if not you can try some Mag and Aluminum Polish...very lightly....to see if you can brighten them up....but dont rub a lot...you are removing clear coat.



If these steps fail...you can remove the clear and have them polished or get them re-cleared...or...buy new wheels. I have no idea what up with the center caps...unless that is where the coating is completely gone...



any one else have any ideas?
 
A friend of mine had the same rims, and the same problem. He said he used Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish on his, and I saw that they shined up nice. He also said it was time consuming, and it will be a while before he does it again (he's not an Autopian).

I've used a PC with 4" pads on aluminum rims before with great success. There'll be spots you'll have to get by hand, but it does speed up the process quite a bit. Not to mention saving some energy. I used DACP and Mother's Mag when doing it, and noticed the Mother's Mag did the best job, so I finished with it. If yours are clear coated, DACP may be an option, but I'd start with something a little less aggressive like #82 SFP first.

Like always, I'd try an inconspicuous test spot with different products to see what works best. But judging from the pics, they look like they're clean, just badly oxidized. So I'd start with polishes (Mother's Mag), leaving cleaners like Simple Green, Orange Blast, and other APC's out of it.



Hope this helps.



Dave
 
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