HotLap, CometFlash, Barritia, Steve, and all other Platinum owners-

How are you folks washing and cleaning your wheels? I just washed my wheels today with my Meguiars soft wheel brush and a little car wash liquid. They are now clean, but look dull. They just don't seem to have the flash they did 1400 miles ago. Do you guys use any specific product/method to give them back their new shine? I'm worried that if they look like this after only 1400 miles, how will they look after 30,000 miles? I searched the forums and found a couple interesting posts, but none that definitively answered my question. After reading the posts, I'm guessing that our wheels have a clear coat on them so a regular wheel polish product probably won't work.

Please, help me out. I'm bummed that my wheels look like crap

Thanks.

Ozzie

 

I sprayed some Meguire's wheel cleaner on them, as well as some Westley's bleach white on the lettering, and then scrubbed the lettering clean with my hard bristle brush, and then cleaned the inside portion with a softer bristle brush and the long bristle brush for the skinny inner areas. Then touched it up when dry with a rag to get those pesky water spots out of the shine. Lastly hit the center cap portion with a bit of chrome polish.

I thought mine came out perfectly, and didn't use anything different than I had on my '04 Lariat wheels. In fact, I found my Plat wheels to clean a lot easier and shine a lot more than my '04 wheels ever did. This was the first time I ever cleaned them, truck about 6 weeks old at the time. Look like new again.

That prob doesn't help much, not sure why yours didn't shine up. I honeslty didn't do anything different than I've done for the past 5 years on my '04 Lariat wheels, although those never came fully clean of brake dust no matter what I did to them.

 

I've only been using regular car wash soap, but I know what you mean about looking a little dull. I got 1100 miles so far. I haven't thought of trying any type of polish yet, as I never did on my old 04 FX4 rims.

I don't trust using a bristle brush on them, I wash them by hand, and boy it is a pain due to all the spokes, takes a long time!

 

Yep as far as i know they have a clear coat on the wheels and regular car polish should give them back some of the shine they had. I don't put alloy wheel cleaner on them because of the clear coat finish as it's pretty powerful stuff to be putting on a clearcoat. You wouldn't dream of putting it on your body work so it shouldn't be going on your wheels clearcoat. Try some very mild polish like scratch x then apply a wax or synthetic wax.

I done a 8 hour wash the other day and done a pressure wash, soap wash, rinse, claybar, Lime prime (Pre wax cleanser), Synthetic wax, then a 2 stage high end wax. Looks better than the day it come from the factory and is lasting smooth as silk. Was amazed at how much crud the clay bar removed.

 

Steve, how about each little cubbyhole in our Plat grille? Aren't those fun to clean?!!

 

^heck yeah, my wife gets mad for how long it takes me to wash my truck!

 

You know the trick to that! air compressor with blower nozzle. Also use it to blow the water from around the window seals and handles.

 

I use a soft wheel brush. Have used it on the wife's Explorer Limited wheels for 5 years. Works good, not stiff at all.

Have waxed wheels with Turtle wax paste wax.

Anyone know if we can get brake wheel dust covers like for some cars. You know the thin metal shield that goes between the rim and hub. Supposed to cut down on brake dust on outside of wheel.

 

I just have my wife polish the rims every month when she cleans my Platinum. This method seems to work the best.

Of course just joking. I use Mothers polish and rims look great

 

i use sprayaway window cleaner works great used many years i even use it to clean the chrome bumpers

 

Must be nice to have the time. I have a guy come by my work and he does a $40 wash/wax detail job. I would never have the patience it takes to do the job he does as well as he does it. I'm afraid someday he is going to figure out his rates are too low.

 

Your wheels are clearcoated. As such, you should treat them like paint. If they have bonded contamination or road film, you can utilize clay. Once you have them where you want them (after claying, polishing, etc), utilize a quality synthetic wax (it'll have a higher heat tolerance than a standard carnauba or cheap-based wax). Repeat frequently ...

Use only high quality towels and be very careful to stay away from grungy areas with your towels as the grit and grime that you can pick up around a wheel well can scratch/mar your wheel.

Lastly, avoid highly caustic cleaners like Westley's Bleche White. While it works quite well and could be used on occasion, the problem is that it can exploit metal in a jiffy -- by that, I mean that a tiny scratch or other failure on the clear coat could serve as a pathway for the chemical to attack the metal and cause oxidation (remember, they're chrome clad - not full chrome).

The key is to repeat. Don't let it get away from you as it's a lot of work to get it back to par.

 

The platinum wheels are not plated but are infact polished alloy. It would have been nice not to have the clearcoat but most people would never polish them or treat them so for these people the clearcoat is a good idea.

 

Ahh.... my bad. I was reading through some literature and I would've sworn that it was 'clad'.

Either way though... with the clear coat, I'd stick with the above-described prescription and avoid the high-caustic / acidic cleaners...

 

Def avoid acidic cleaners.