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Alloy Wheels - Cleaning Them

Superman TNT

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Superman TNT Enthusiast

Superman TNT

Posted
Posted

Hey guys,

My 2500HD came with the nice Al alloy wheels. I bought an extra set to mount snows on and I run them in the winter.

 

It is spring now and I'm changing back over to my nice, virgin summer alloys and before putting them on I want to polish them. My local parts store says that they have a plastic coating on them and that aluminum mag polish won't do a thing for them. I ignored him and bought some nice Mothers Al Alloy polish and got to it.

 

He was right, it isn't doing a thing. He said the only way to actually polish the aluminum is to strip the plastic coating off with a stripper product and them polish them.

 

1) Does anyone recommend doing this?

 

2) Has anyone tried it? If so what did you use?

 

3) How do you guys polish and clean your wheels?

 

Thanks,

 

TNT

TimTim Enthusiast

TimTim

Posted
Posted
Hey guys,

My 2500HD came with the nice Al alloy wheels. I bought an extra set to mount snows on and I run them in the winter.

 

It is spring now and I'm changing back over to my nice, virgin summer alloys and before putting them on I want to polish them. My local parts store says that they have a plastic coating on them and that aluminum mag polish won't do a thing for them. I ignored him and bought some nice Mothers Al Alloy polish and got to it.

 

He was right, it isn't doing a thing. He said the only way to actually polish the aluminum is to strip the plastic coating off with a stripper product and them polish them.

 

1) Does anyone recommend doing this?

 

2) Has anyone tried it? If so what did you use?

 

3) How do you guys polish and clean your wheels?

 

The wheels are clearcoated, so maintain them just like the paint on your truck.

 

You can strip the clear off and polish them but I don't recommend it. Waayy to much work to keep them looking nice. If you want the ultimate shine with low maintainance has them chrome plated, would be quite $$$$$$$ but would look great!

Thanks,

 

TNT

 

 

 

Daubs Enthusiast

Daubs

Posted
Posted

I agree with Tim (above). Would not take the coating off those rims. Buddy of mine has aftermarket alum rims and spends a lot of time polishing them with toothbrush and fingers. Sucks-@$$

 

Love my standard GM Alum-HD rims. Very low maint.

921500Z71 Enthusiast

921500Z71

Posted
Posted

Last summer I stripped the coating off my aluminum wheels with aircraft stripper. I do not know if the HD wheels have that gray portion inbetween the spokes like on mine. However if they do, DO NOT get the aircraft stripper on it. I tried it on one of my wheels to see if it would work and it made the wheel look like crap. I then taped the wheels off and applied the aircraft stripper and all the other wheels look great. However it takes alot of time (1 1/2 hours) to get them looking real good. And your gonna do it by hand. I use blue magic polish every week on mine. Hope this helps

Superman TNT Enthusiast

Superman TNT

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks everyone for the info.

 

Daubs I knew it would be a lot of work to keep them looking great but I'm not overly impressed with the shine I get from the factory finish. I do agree that the OEM finish is very low maintenance however. The only problem is on the inside of the wheel, brake dust and other crap eats away that clear coat and then the entire wheel turns to crap. This takes a few years but I have been through it on my last two Chevy trucks.

 

Tim, I had never considered having them chrome plated. Intersesting idea. I am very sure there is no one here (Vermont) that does that. Do you know someone that does? I'll do a Google search and see what pops up.

 

921500Z71, what you said is EXACTLY what the guy at the parts store told me. He used "aircraft" stripper also. His comments echoed yours, it took him a long time and a ton of hand work to get them stripped off and now he spends time weekly polishing them. He did say his rims look killer.

 

Thanks everyone for the info. Since I don't have the time required to maintain the shine after a strip I think I'll leave them alone fo now. I'll either by after market Chrome or look into the plating.

 

TNT

timk49 Enthusiast

timk49

Posted
Posted

DON'T STRIP EM.

I use Der Real Stuff twice a year to posish them it is easy to applyand doesn't need elbow grease.and the dirt and brake dust washes off easily with water and a soft cloth.

I've got 69,000 on my 03 and the wheels still look great.

oldredhat6 Enthusiast

oldredhat6

Posted
Posted

I just use the eagle wheel cleaner on them. They still look good. Not a mirror finish, but they look good to me. It is a truck. Like ti to look good, but stripping the clear coat ad polishing the aluminum truck wheel for me is a little too anal.

Sorry, my 2 cents.

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