Washing my 05 today and the the brake dust won't wash off the chrome rims. It dosen't feel like the wheels are pitted but you can just barely feel the worst spots. Any ideas as to whats best to remove the discoloration?

Thanks

Kenny

PS: I did search and found a couple of posts but not exactly what I needed.

 

Magic Eraser and windex

 

Yup, windex works wonders!

 

S.O.S. pads are your friend. The only thing I have found that works. I thought the braked dust had damaged my chrome clad wheels, but it was just that the metallics in the brake dust had baked onto my wheel. Take a wet S.O.S. pad and lightly rub the chrome clad and it comes right off, no scratches, and the wheels look brand new. I did this from approx 3000 miles to 26000 miles and the wheels still look great. I just replaced them with some FX4 wheels just beacuse I like those wheels better, but my chrome clad ones always looked great because of the S.O.S. pads.

 

SOS pads also called brillo pads while scratch/destroy the finish of you wheels!!!!

DONT DO IT!

 

Ftruck05

Works like a charm - thanks a lot for the tip.

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner but had to play electrician yesterday at my sons. It seems the Direct TV gut clipped a wire on installation. Took us a while to find out why some outlets quit working.

Thanks again
Kenny

 

They don't scratch the chrome clad wheels. Any other finish, then yes I would not recommend them.

 

Treat it just like paint. It is chrome, but Factory chrome wheels are also clearcoated...so you can clay them, clean them, polish, and wax them just like your hood/talgate/etc...

But Simple Green is a personal favorite of mine.

 

Hey there Kenny... f-150sport03 is exactly correct. Your factory wheels are clearcoated just like your factory paint and, as such, you should treat them like paint.

While you may have removed the problems with the windex and magic eraser, I certainly wouldn't recommend making this a habit.

You see, the magic eraser is very abrasive and, as such, will eventually yield hellish results on anything that is clearcoated -- you probably wouldn't want to try this method on any painted surface, right? I wouldn't do it on my wheels either.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and it sounds like it worked out this time... for the future, I'd attack them like you would your paint. Let me know if you need anything, Ken! Good seeing you again a few weeks ago at Mike's!

--RP--

 

I use Mothers Chrome Polish. I don't think my chrome wheels are clear coated. Here is a pic from today after I polished them. I will be posting pics from my G100 experience shortly.

 

Man, my wheels were a pure mess RockPick. I tried everything I could think of to get that mess off the wheels. I didn't think of Simple Green so I will pick up a small bottle and give it a whirl. I had an idea the chrome may be clear coated but I also had the fear that that mess (brake dust) would pit the finish.

Thanks for the reply

Kenny

 

Dont forget, that the 04-on chrome 17's are actually plastic or thin tin.. They are a perfect fit "hub cap' that covers the steel wheels. There is nothing to really polish. Once you scratch it, they are scratched. A true chrome steel wheel you could actually polish scratches and dirt out of. Not on the wheels pictured above.. If you want to make sure, just pop off the center cap. You'll see what I mean.

 

Did I read that right in that you're saying that the wheels are tin or plastic? Maybe you meant the center cap?

The wheels that Silverfish posted aren't plastic or a hubcap.

 

I think those wheels are for sure plastic hubcaps, I have the same ones on my truck. They are about an 1/8 inch thick, you can flex them with your finger.

 

Hope you got them cleaned up. Now, you should go right to the source of the problem; replace stock pads with Akebono or another ceramic, and you'll be done with the dust! Most worthwhile mod I've done (besides the Maggie exhaust!).