All four of my rims are severely corroded. I knew it for a while, but didn't worry about it because I'd bring it in before the warranty was up. Well, that got away from me so I'm on my own. I haven't seen pics of this type of corrosion before although I've searched. Has anyone remedied this themselves? Now is the time, since I have four new tires i my garage. I can remove the old tire, work on a rim, put on the tire, without the truck being out of action by rotating the spare around.

I see some people saying refinish at $100 per rims but I'd like do it myself if feasible; it's what I do. I have a blast cabinet; I also have a lift so I can work on it while standing. Any recommendations?

 

That doesn't look very deep to me. I think I'd try rubbing compound before sandblasting. And, if that didn't work, I'd try 400-600 grit sandpaper followed by 1000 grit, 1500 grit and then rubbing and polishing compound.

- Jack

 

That looks like damaged clearcoat to me. If you have a blast cabinet, blast them, polish them, then fresh clearcoat.

 

The nooks and crannies are intimidating to me. It's easy to sand/polish flat spots with machines but crevices like this may take some time and effort. I think I'll try the polish ball with some rubbing compound first. If that doesn't work, I'll blast a part of the inside barrel and attempt to polish. Blasting will remove any damage but leaves a rough finish. I've not yet tried to polish a blasted piece of aluminium before. I need to do more research.

 

You might try aluminum polish too.

My suggestion about rubbing compound and/or sanding was for you to do it by hand, not by machine. If the corrosion is not deep, it should come off quickly.

I had a few scratches/gouges on my right front wheel that I didn't notice when I bought the truck last April. They were removed with a grinding wheel that left much finer scratches and these disappeared by my using progressively finer sandpaper (by hand on a sanding block) followed by rubbing compound and polishing compound. Now, you can't see where the damage was, and, I have not needed to clearcoat the areas either, which was a surprise to me.

Aluminum is a soft metal and it doesn't take a lot of work to remove a layer of it. Clearcoat would be even easier to remove, in my opinion.

- Jack

 

The factory Platinum wheels are aluminum, polished in fact, but they are 100% clearcoated from the factory. What you're seeing is the clearcoat being compromised. As another poster suggested, your only real way is to strip the clear coat, have them re-polished and recoated. They are currently beyond the point of repair with polish and compound since the clearcoat is damaged.

 

I agree that it's corrosion under the clear coat that's causing the uglies. A couple of options. Replace them with refinished wheels. I did this with a damaged wheel on our Elantra Touring. Detroit Wheel IIRC. Second option is to sand blast and paint. With paint, when and not if, the uglies return a little surface prep and recoat. I blasted and repainted the wheels on my Tacoma and liked the results and the money I saved.

 

Blasting and painting is a decent DIY option as mentioned. Also, powder coating is another option I would consider myself in that situation but, cost more $.

 

Well, I put he tires on this Sunday and the new tires draw my eye away from the terrible looking rims. I probably think about fixing hem for a while but then get less interested in doing it as time goes by. Bead blasting a rim is effortless, but takes an amazingly long time.

Let's see if the cold winter months get be me some initiative to do this though. Thanks for the suggestions.