Hello, my rims are in pain and i was wondering if there was anyway to fix them or stop them from getting worse?

Heres some pics of the damage.




Also one of my fender flares has paint peeling away. Should i just paint over it or will it keep peeling?


Thanks.

 

Holy crap!! I'm guessing that the salt and muck up there is what caused that rim rot? <<<< Boy that sounds like a nasty desease, doesn't it?

I'm not sure there is anything you can do to repair that. You could try sanding those spots down as smooth as you can get them and then polishing them. It will still stand out as a "spot" that doesn't look like the rest of the rim but it wouldn't look as bad as it does now. From the pictures it looks like the rims are corroding. If so, it isn't going to stop until you get rid of the corrosion that is already there and keep the corrosion-causing substance off of them.

As for the paint, you have any idea why it decided to peel? Looks like you are going to have to have a professional strip that area and repaint it. If they prep it right and maybe even use an adhesion promoter, it won't come back off.

 

Well, what you have there is classic clear coat compromise, followed by oxidation of the base aluminum. You're probably going to get a number of different opinions here, but I'll give you mine - from somebody who lives in a somewhat similar environment.

First of all, you can refinish you wheels and make them look quite a bit better - but it's going to take a ton of work. You need to strip off all of the clear coat, wet sand / polish / re-machine the surface to remove the oxidation and resulting damage, then re-coat the wheels. If it sounds like a lot of work, it is. Remember, under that ugly white stuff, some of your wheel has disappeared. How much work you're in for depends on how much oxidation has already taken place. Oh yea, and when you're done, you have to use the right clear coat. The stuff used on wheels is completely different from what is used on your body panels.

A while back, another member posted up pictures of the same wheels you've got - before and after he restored them. They actually looked great. I'd reserve judgement for a year or so though because many folks either don't completely remove the oxidation or use the wrong clear coat.

As for the fender flares, I'd recommend sanding, re-priming and the whole nine yards. The paint is flaking off because it hasn't adhered to the base material. Simply painting over it will just lead to more of the same problem.

 

See if you can find a replacement rim on ebay or the bone yard.

 

Looks like you had wheel weights in those locations? That's compromised the finish and looks like it's even eaten into the metal, so you can only rub it out so much... You can smooth out the blemish, but it's there to stay now.. I don't think that even a total refinish job will make it totally disappear?

It'll be cheaper to find some used OEM's that don't have that problem or buy some aftermarket wheels... Or clean it up as best you can and live with it....

I found my used aluminum OEM's at a tire store for $30 each! There were in great condition and I replaced the stock steel wheels and stupid plastic wheel covers with them! Best $120 I've ever spent!

As far as the paint on the flare goes, you need to refinish the entire piece for it to look right... You could get away with a patch job on it, but you will still see it, but it'll be better then what it is now!

Good luck!
Mitch

 

And you wonder why I wanna use stick-on weights JP?

My guess is the repetitive pounding of weights onto those wheels in those locations helped to compromise the clear.

 

Could you not get them blasted & then get em powder coated, that would cover up marks etc.

 

Thanks for the info.

For the paint i think ill just sand the edges and do a patch job, unless i feel like doing the whole thing.

For the rims i think ill sand em down to try and get rid of the oxidation. Can i do some clear coat over the sanded parts? I dont really care all that much how it looks i just want to stop it from getting worse.

As for finding a replacement rim, those pics are from 3 of 4 rims, not the same one!

These problems where there when i bought the truck a little over a year and a half ago, theyre just twice as bad now.