what are some good techniques and products to keep these babies looking great?

i want to protect them too, is there a wax or something to keep the brake dust from getting caked up in the small crevices?

im already thinking about getting the woolies and using sonax wheel cleaner on them. just need some more ideas and products.

 

A good synthetic wax like you use on the paint should protect as good as any specialty product. I use NXT 2.0 on mine.

 

Yep! That wheel of yours is probably most likely not chrome, but highly polished and/or a coating of some type. Treat it just like any painted surface you care about. Stay away from metal/billet/aluminum polishes because if it's truly a coated wheel, those will just swirl them up.

 

ok, good to know, i already use NXT 2.0 on the paint.

so can i just use a quick detailer to get water spots off of them?

 

sub'd. Im in the same situation as str8t

I have bought the mothers chrome polish and I will say that my rims have baby swirls in them, but they have helped in keeping the brake dust off. Alway in search of the better products out there. Any one have experience with flintz polish?

EDIT just re-read galaxy's post. So its a wash and wax deal?

 

Please do not use chrome polish on anything but chrome. And most of the time, if it's truly chrome (like our truck bumpers), it doesn't even need chrome polish. I don't know how much of a perfectionist/detailer you are, but I'd much rather deal with some dust every once in a while than have micro-swirls in my shinny wheels!!

Yes, str8t, wash and wax like you would paint. If they get spotted to where soap and water won't take it off, use a good paint cleaner and re-wax. Absolutely use a QD for in-between jobs. And one thing you'll get from people on here is to use glass cleaner...absolutely not! Glass cleaner is for…wait for it….wait for it….GLASS! QD has the right lubricants to allow you to wipe off dust and spots and not strip waxes, plus enhancing shine.

And to re-cap…unless you know for certain what the surface is from talking to the manufacturer, stay away from metal polishes. The absolute safest thing you can do is treat your wheels just like paint. That for certain will not hurt a thing nor induce any unwanted swirling. Only after you've consulted with the manufacturer about what type of wheels you have, then you can use the appropriate type polish.

 

I used to run the 2 to 3x times per year remove and scub the snot out of the wheel and use wheel sealant ( and wheel sealant is different than paint sealant - a manufacture that has both, for the same price, will tell you this ).

I gave that up a few years back, and went 100% PoorBoy's world Spray & rinse.

If you follow the directions, you will not have an issue with any wheel finish.
- This means ALL the directions, 2 biggest violations using on hot wheels that get a "splash" of cold water and not rinsing fully.

SIL's new to her ( used ~'03/02 ) Mustang ( who knows the last time the wheels were cleaned ).

No brush or mitt ( or bare hand ) touched the wheels.
Hose down a cold wheel with water, spray on.
The dwell time was what it took to walk around the car spraying all of them, and then pick up the Power Washer to rinse them off. Maybe 7 min total ??

Before
Front


Rear


After
Front


Rear


There were some spots that could have used a bit of scrubbing, but not bad for wheels that i would guess never saw a real cleaning.

It was just here last night getting the 2nd section of Opti Coat 2.0 applied, and all I used was a Tork soft towel and ONR mixed at 15:1 / QD ratio with a wipe down, and the rim came clean as the day I did this.
I can say ( at 90% ) that they have not been really cleaned since I did the above cleaning in MAR-2012, so ~ 5 months of use and nothing stuck.
The inside I did not go after, I was not dirtying my wheel woolies on them ( did not have all the stuff out, just did this quick in the garage.
This is a SWAG, but once you get them clean, they will be easier to keep clean. I have not tested Opti Coat on wheels to see if it makes a difference, that is a project that I do not think is going to get done this year.

If you are going with a wheel sealant / perm paint coating, be careful of the dilution ratios on SnR or APC. You will need to dilute further, else you will weaken / remove the sealant that is on there ( and I guess perm paint coating like Opti Coat ).

 

yeah i really want to keep these hostages looking like new and dont want any build up on them. im pretty sure they are just coated wheels too. i used to use class cleaner on my old polished wheels, good thing i waited, i almost used it on my chrome ones, but i thought a QD would work best.

that poor boys spray look like it works great! i wonder how it compares to the sonax cleaner.

 

Thanks for the outlook gentlemen

 

If they are coated wheels, you can try a clay bar to get water spots off.