help! chrome tarnish? chrome failure? hmm...

[barrman]

i started cleaning my wheels today... chrome split spoke boss 304 wheels. sprayed em with meguiars all wheel cleaner, used the spoke brush to agitate, then rinsed off. when drying my wheels, i noticed two areas about 1/4" by 1/16" occuring along the edges of two of the spokes. The patches were a brownish/copper color. I was able to use nxt metal polysh and one dissappeared completely. the other one looks better, but i can still see a copper discoloration in the area.

what is this!? is it the chrome tarnishing? what might cause it? could the wheel cleaner be causing it? is it something that will spread, or get progressively worse? is it the chrome plating coming off?

any thoughts would be appreciated!

[black240sx]

A picture would help.

[Desertdawg]

I think what your seeing is just normal rust seeping up from the the seam, or crack in the chrome. if left untreated it could permanently stain the chrome layer.

Using NXT Metal Polish on the spots is a real good idea. As well as the rest of the rim to help prevent more stains...

I would also like to see a picture or two of it also just to be sure this isn't something worse...

[barrman]

ok i'll get some pics asap. there's no seams on the spoke edges, so i dont think its that. i've heard two other suggestions; heat discoloration, and areas of thin chrome plating. thoughts?

[Desertdawg]

If the edges are kind of sharp, there could be a gap in the plating where the leakage is occurring.