Damage to Wheels

[tcope1]

Any opinions as to what caused this damage? Appear to me to be alloy wheels. Any ideas if they are clear coated?

Owner states he drove through a slurry of cement and water. I'm wondering if it's salt damage.

[speed3blackmica]

Re: Damage to Wheels

based on the pictures and the way that the stains and contamination formed, it looks like polished aluminum to me...and im pretty sure about that. pick up a can of mag and aluminum polish and start rubbing it in to the wheel, your cloth should turn dark black from the oxidation and contamination its removing and soon you will see the gloss mirror like finish underneath

[ColonelCash]

Re: Damage to Wheels

There is no way that is from a slurry of cement and water, unless he works in a cement factory or something (which is possible). The dispersement of contanimation is too uniform for it to be a one time thing. Looks like road grime / salt / oxidation / brake dust to me.

[Still Learnin]

Re: Damage to Wheels

yah it looks like its just lack of keeping the wheel clean so whats stuck is now stuck and will take more to remove. you can try a clay bar them if they are clear coated then use a metal polish then go at it for a while trying to buff it back to new... just something i would try first. let us know how it turns out

[Golden]

Re: Damage to Wheels

based on the pictures and the way that the stains and contamination formed, it looks like polished aluminum to me...and im pretty sure about that. pick up a can of mag and aluminum polish and start rubbing it in to the wheel, your cloth should turn dark black from the oxidation and contamination its removing and soon you will see the gloss mirror like finish underneath

I'm willing to be banned if speed3 here is wrong. I had polished aluminum wheels on my old Silverado, and the wheels looked the same after nasty weather. Get ready for some elbow grease!

[tcope1]

Re: Damage to Wheels

Very good info and I tend to agree based on the info posted. They are not something I have to working... the owner states that he drove through some cement mix that had be mixed with a lot of water. He says that damaged the wheels. I saw no damage to his paint. The workers in the area say that they drive through the same cement slurry all of the time and it does not damage their wheels. The owner of this truck says that the brake dust mixed with the cement and embedded itself onto the wheel. I'd think it would take some time for this to happen.

I'd agree that this looks like it's happened over a long time and it's a good point that it would not be as uniform if this was a one time thing. The owner says that these rims cost about $250 each. I think he just bought cheap, unfinished rims and he's not taken care to keep them treated in the salty conditions.

[MDetail]

Re: Damage to Wheels

My friend had these exact rims. I will try to find some pictures of the finished product for you. I washed, clayed, washed, and then polished and sealed the rims. With all of the grooves, dirt and brake dust gets stuck in there. It took me about 4-5 hours just on the rims (but he never had his truck washed but once a year or so)

[roushstage2]

Re: Damage to Wheels

It's called someone being too lazy to actually clean the wheels they spent some money on.

[MDetail]

Re: Damage to Wheels

Here you go (unfortunately no after polish pics, but still came out great for what they were.) This was something I did about 3-4 years ago.



After wash+ clay, before polish.

[tcope1]

Re: Damage to Wheels

Good photos. I rubbed my finger over the damages and it felt raised. I could not see any pitting but I don't know what was under the material I was feeling. From what I see here, I'm really starting to think that the wheels might be able to be cleaned. The owner said that a friend tried to clean one of the wheels with some Mothers polish but this did not work. As mentioned, I'm thinking that he'd need to really put some muscle into it and probably repeated applications before he saw any results. I was also thinking that clay might be better then a polish.

[MDetail]

Re: Damage to Wheels

Yes, clay then polish. I used a soap + water mix for the clay lube. Then polished with mothers chrome polish on one of their fluff balls. Make sure you show us some after pics, I want to see how they came out. Now im starting to think I spent closer to 6-7 hours on the wheels, because claying was a tedious process.

[tcope1]

Re: Damage to Wheels

Yes, clay then polish. I used a soap + water mix for the clay lube. Then polished with mothers chrome polish on one of their fluff balls. Make sure you show us some after pics, I want to see how they came out. Now im starting to think I spent closer to 6-7 hours on the wheels, because claying was a tedious process.

Sorry if I mislead... I don't need to detail them (which is why I put this in off topic). This person claims that the cement slurry damaged the wheels. I'm not so sure. It's only a guestion of it being likely or not that the wheels were damaged by this slurry or perhaps by something else like salt.

But I am flying to Florida and detailing two cars.... I can take picture of those!