Roughness on Wheels

L

La Porta

New member
Hey guys, name's John, and I am new to the forum. I've got an 06 Mustang GT. My wheels are the 18" clear coated aluminum ones that Ford sells as add-on options. I have noticed, during the last few washes, that the wheels have not looked quite as shiny as before (this part could be in my head). But what isn't in my head is that some areas of the wheel feel somewhat rough to the touch, and some areas in the corners where the spokes contact the rim are looking a bit duller for sure. I have used Meguiar's Hot Rims on there a few times, and I was wondering if that may be responsible. The car is a week and a year old, always garaged, only driven in sunny weather, and has about 3800 miles on it...so I don't think excessive bad conditions applies. Any idea how to potentially fix this issue (not even sure what it is yet)...or do I just go to Ford, feign ignorance, and try to pull some warranty action?



Attached is a shot of what the wheels looked like when the car was virtually new.
 

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Do you have any pictures of the wheels as they are now? Do you protect the wheels with wax/sealant? You can consider claying the wheels to remove whatever roughness is on the wheels.
 
since they are clear coated treat them just like the paint

wash, clay, polish & wax/sealant



the clay should take care of the roughness

the polish will make them look better

and the wax/sealant will make them easy to clean
 
I will get a picture this weekend. I am in Med school, and don't have all the time in the world to do anything with my car unless it is the weekend:grinno: . So you guys are thinking it is more something on the wheel rather than me somehow eroding away the clearcoat? That is what I am most afraid of.



Mike, whre are ya from on LI? I just moved from Suffolk to here in Arkansas for med school.
 
Nah. Hot Rims won't do any damage to your wheels. Just do a good claying, polishing, and waxing, and they will be nice and shiny again!
 
waxing wheels? how hot does a wheel get? how many shards of metal brake pads go onto a wheel(aka brake dust), how agressively do most people wash a wheel as opposed to the rest of the car? what wax holds up to that?
 
beachcities said:
waxing wheels? how hot does a wheel get? how many shards of metal brake pads go onto a wheel(aka brake dust), how agressively do most people wash a wheel as opposed to the rest of the car? what wax holds up to that?
Click to expand...





the point of using a wax or sealant on the wheel is so you don't have to

wash them any different then the rest of the car



also less brake dust will stick to a sealed /waxed wheel



I use the Klasse twins a max of three times a year so they hold up preaty good!
 
I just had my wheels completely re-painted, re-clear coated due to damage caused by my dealer ( simple tire rotation). The job was perfect, but I did need to do some claying to make them smooth again. After claying, I resealed using my favorite sealant. The wheels are back to smooth. Plus I noticed there was also over spray on the paint. The clay took care of that as well. I think that is your secret weapon to getting your wheels back to smooth.
 
Sergei said:
I just had my wheels completely re-painted, re-clear coated due to damage caused by my dealer ( simple tire rotation). The job was perfect, but I did need to do some claying to make them smooth again. After claying, I resealed using my favorite sealant. The wheels are back to smooth. Plus I noticed there was also over spray on the paint. The clay took care of that as well. I think that is your secret weapon to getting your wheels back to smooth.
Click to expand...





you should have let the clear cure

it is going to be soft and swirl easy now!
 
beachcities said:
waxing wheels? how hot does a wheel get? how many shards of metal brake pads go onto a wheel(aka brake dust), how agressively do most people wash a wheel as opposed to the rest of the car? what wax holds up to that?
Click to expand...



What the heck are you saying?! I don't even understand your question. If you're trying to say that carnauba waxes cannot hold up to the hot temperatures, then you are quite wrong. Collinite holds up as well as any sealant out there.



Slightly offtopic, but why is it that all of your posts are pompous and arrogant?
 
I've never had a problem with "durabilty waxes" holding up on street-driven vehicles (and some of our street-driven vehicles get run hard ;) ). For something that sees a lot of track use I'd go with a sealant though, and some waxes hold up better than others; e.g., Collinite will beat Souveran every time, especially on the front wheels, but I used Souveran for years on the Jag's wheels, and its front brakes really get exercised.



Note that, like anything else, you shouldn't let wheels go to the point that you have to use extremely aggressive methods/products to clean them. But even on my "cars known to have brake dust issues", once they're clean and protected it's just not a big deal even when they're *black* with brake dust.



And a quick once-over after every wash with something like FK425 can make cleanups a little easier too.



La Porta- Welcome to Autopia!



While I'm not familiar with your wheels (they look really good though, like the old Torque Thrusts :xyxthumbs ), I'd be *very* surprised if the clay/polish/LSP doesn't fix 'em up just great. The clear on wheels is usually pretty thick and tough.



Everything's been covered except this: once you get them all cleaned up and waxed/sealed, clean them with regular car shampoo (maybe mixed a little stronger than normal) instead of a wheel cleaner; the wheel cleaner will clean off the wax/sealant and force you to reapply it all the time.



A few layers of a good sealant (I usually use KSG) or a good wax (I usually use Collinite) oughta last a long time on something that gets used infrequently. My infrequent-use vehicles usually only need their wheels done (i.e., start-to-finish done) once or twice a year.
 
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