What you have here is the classic problem that comes with polished / uncoated aluminum wheels. They look awesome - until you actually drive your truck. This kind of finish will eventually drive you to one of three places; 1) postal, 2) OCD, or 3) learning to live with crummy looking wheels.

I had a set of wheels with this (lack of) finish for 3 long (OCD) years. I eventually ended up taking them off once a month to polish them with a buffer - to avoid the swirls from polishing around the lug nuts. I wish you all the best of luck. My new wheels are chrome plated and I'm much happier.

 

06flamefx4...I would reply to RPs requests to help you, he is the best detailer on this site with a wealth of knowledge that some people wont learn in a lifetime...I would get his help and stop ignoring his questions and attempts to help you it could save you ALOT of time and money....just an FYI you will probably ignore this too...

 

Like many have said before, RP has probably forgotten more than most will ever learn about detailing. Very true.

 

I sent him a pm and hope that he gets back with me! I wasnt tring to ingore him, I didnt see his post. Any suggestions on what type of wheel cleaner to use??

 

Got your PM... no problem.

What I was asking was if you had previously used some type of wheel cleaner...

 

once again, he already answered that he did

 

Jut caught your thread this morning and thought I'd chime in. I've had the same problem w/ my wheels for the last 18 months I've had them. Couldn't find a cleaner or polish to shine them up, and I really let them get bad too. Never washed them or cleaned them to the point that they looked pitted, and brake dust was on them permanantly. I tried the Eagle One stuff, Turtle Wax and so on but nothin' worked. Last week I tried some Mothers aluminum wheel and mag polish and man was I impressed. I'd swear by the stuff. Really brought my wheels back around to a good shine and was pretty effortless. Just take your time w/ the stuff and rub repeatedly on your wheels and it will take care of those run stains on your rims. You really don't have to rub real hard into the wheels, just a light repeated motion. If you still have problems w/ those stains, you can always try the Mothers powerball or similar buffing ball. Hope this helps

 

Hmph... my bad. Skimming posts while sitting at my workstation yields less effective comprehension.... that or I need another hit of meth.

My hunch is that the wheel cleaner that you used yielded this problem.

From the looks of it, it appears that all of the runs are in the same direction. they start light -- like gravity has a hold on the driplets. Towards the end -- when the chemical would be more concentrated as other constiuients within the matrix have evaporated and/or flashed off, the more harsh and chemically aggressive components remain. Hence, the reason that the drip is worst near the bottom.

My suggestion... first and foremost, drop the wheel cleaner. Do not use that product on these wheels. It looks like some of the chemical didn't get washed off and was allowed to dry and, my suspecion is that the Eagle One product caused this problem.

So, here we are with the problem... what to do?

Hmm... my hunch is that it will not likely be removed without making an incredibly shiny spot on the wheel that doesn't match anything else or that you'll not be able to fully remove it depending on how far this acid etching extends.

While you may or may not want to try to buy a few new products, I'm going to tell you that I don't have a silver bullet to remedy this one... The first 'go to' products that I'd pull out of my bag of tricks would consist of NXT Metal Polysh from Meguiar's and maybe Heavy Metal Polish heavy cut paste/cream(LINK.

Using a light overlapping motion, apply the product with a 100% cotton terry towel. You may want to remove the ring to do this as you'll be able to deal with it easier than working around all of the bolts.

If that doesn't work...

I'd probably move to a dremel tool with a polishing bit on the end. Be SUPER careful here and don't get carried away. Work on it VERY lightly and then wipe off to see where you're at... the last thing that you want to do is totally ruin your chances at fixing this problem -- although, I'd totally admit that this chance is a very real one and that you may end up having to get new rings.

If that doesn't work...

Consult a machine shop that does polishing. Many of these shops may be able to set your ring up on a lathe and machine polish it.


If that doesn't work....

I'd buy new. In fact, I doubt I'd go much beyond step one to really try to get it out. There's no chance that the other side is identical to this damaged side? Could you just flip it? Seems like an elementary suggestion but, maybe it'd work.

Sorry bud... looks to me like a wheel cleaner has claimed another victim. Trust me, you're not alone... I've seen it on oodles of wheels and most of the products companies out there (like Mothers, Meguiar's, Eagle One, etc) have bought several sets of wheels for people because of claims made on their bottles like 'SAFE FOR ALL WHEELS'. While I wouldn't condone fradulent use of these companies for items beyond what they may have caused, it sounds to me like you may have a legitimate claim if there is such a statement on the bottle of 'stuff' that you used. Luckily, you can probably get by with new rings.

-RP-

 

Was it this one?

 

Looks like glycolic acid might be the kicker in the mix... or maybe ethanedioic acid. Both of these acids are present in that product.

Both of those acids are considered to be fairly good at 'etching' metal... one article that I skimmed specifically referenced aluminum etching to be done with ethanedioic....

Here's a pretty good read...

 

Never, ever, ever use anything on bare polished aluminum wheels but normal soap followed by an aluminum polish.

You just learned a very valuable lesson.

Find yourself a polish that you like... you're going to need it for the life of your wheels. Flitz is good for spot polishing and may actually remedy your current problem.

I had one set of raw polished aluminum wheels and I will never own another. Unless you wash them 3 times a week and polish every other, sooner or later they are going to pit, stain or swirl on you.

Even Fido coming by to relieve himself in the middle of the night is going to leave you a nice stain that has to be polished out.

 

I'm tellin' ya use this stuff. It will take care of it. I have polished aluminum rims. AND I BOUGHT MY RIMS FROM A JUNK YARD. They were freakin' underwater when I bought them. I know because I had to take them off the junkyard truck myself.