Factory wheel with hard/rough deposits?

[larry0071]

I got the wheel brightener and had hoped for great results, but it didn't seam to help at all. The only thing that touches this stuff is time and heavy mechanical abrasion. I got a very stiff bristled tire cleaning brush and spent time with that trying to wear through and I'm getting some slow progress.

This deposit coating appears to be something that can not be chemically defeated. It's going to require a great deal of time, but the good thing is that underneath is a smooth and shiny silver wheel.

[Jarhead0754]

Did u try the ironx. That would prob yield great results followed with the wheel brighter!

[larry0071]

Well. I have up on Chemical help for this wheel and decided to take extreme measures. I did go buy a gallon of Maguire tire and wheel cleaner. It didn't do anything more than the nothing that the Maguire wheel brightener did. Even with gray 3M scotch bright it was really not moving any of the sediment. I also tried Royal Purple at first diluted per the container for wheel cleaning and then full power. It with scotch bright and hard brushes did nothing against this black stuff.

So, after wasting another couple hours today with both products and some new ultra stiff nylon brushes as well as the Scotch bright.... I went to the tool box and got some dental picks and steel hooks. I used an AmsOil product similar to WD40 for lube and started scraping and picking at the layered crud.

This was what I used that finally got through the stuff.



And this is the finished product as of now. I did damage some areas where I accidentally pooled into the silver paint. I was actually trying to use the side of the hooks, laying them flat and using the round side of the metal to abrade the stuff. A couple times I got careless and gouged the sharp end into the paint and it removed paint. There was a great deal of scratching so I followed with hand rubbing Maguire Medium Cut Cleaner to minimize the observed surface damage and then sealed with Ultimate Paint Protection.

Close up of damage I inflicted.


This is the finished wheel. I knew that I was going to buy another wheel if I couldn't get this one to look reasonable. I'm satisfied with this wheel, they are the winter wheels after all. I have a set of nice 20" wheels for after the snow season. This will work and I don't have to spend another $150 for a reconditioned wheel.


Note: this will be the last time I buy a salvage yards wheel. I've got about 20 hours spread over 4 days into this single wheel. It's just not wroth the $75 they charged for this poor condition wheel.

The Battle is over. I started with the least aggressive approach and ended up at the complete extreme end of the spectrum. The only thing I could have done harsher would have been to pull out the sand blaster and Dewalt grinder! At least I beat it and got satisfactory results.

[juliom2]

Re: Factory wheel with hard/rough deposits?

I have the same effort into renewing surfaces but many times I end up refinishing.
That's the "its time to let go" lesson. Learned the hard way.
Thanks for sharing the crusade.

[Daniel Kinder]

Re: Factory wheel with hard/rough deposits?

Glad you finally got it, and I've got as good of luck as you buddy. Every time I try to save a few bucks. it cost me more time and money.