don't know what got on my wheel, but my back pass looks like crap

tried alum wheel cleaner and a few other things, can't get it to look like the others

what can clean/restore alum wheels good

 

Is it a stock painted L wheel ? what exactly got on it ?

 

BEEF - be careful what you use, you may be doing more harm then good on your billet wheels... Ive always had good luck with Mother's Billet & Mag Wheel Paste. You could also always give their new produt line that works with the PowerBall a shot too..

 

it's a polished aluminum wheel

 

How's about a can of Black spray paint then?

 

Is it a coated polished wheel if so you have to use the same method to clean it as a painted wheel. I have used a product called Flitzer and a mothers power ball on both polished alum wheels and also painted wheels with good results. Hope this is of some help. Artie

 

If it's to far gone might be time to hit it with some tripoli and white rough. Try some white rouge with a loose buff first. Tripoli gets used with a sewn buff and is more abrasive. You can buy all this at Sears.

 

If you posted a picture I'd have a better idea what you are talking about. Do you have factory polished aluminum wheels or something else. The factory ones, and most newer aftermarket polished aluminum wheels have a clear coat on them to protect them.

That is why you have all the warnings about the type of cleaner to use. Because of you damage that clear coat you are SOL.

But I ran into a similar problem a while ago after I had a break job done on my truck. Break fluid had gotten on the wheels and eaten into the clear coat. This is what it looked like.


The shop originally spent about an hour trying to scrub it off. Then wanted me to come back after they got some polish. In the intervening days I did some research and learned about the coating on the wheels.

The shop ended up replacing my wheels, so in the end I came out ahead in the deal.

Doug

 

Northern Tool sells a package with 4 grades of Rouges as well if you have one nearby... White being the finest, like TpaBlack said go from finest to heaviest. You may find out that once you use the rouges with the buffs you might find yourself polishing the whole wheel to get it even again though.

If you don't have a local source send me a mailing address and I'll ship you a few pieces of each, I have a lot of it.

I've had good luck with Simichrome Polish as well cleaning billet and polished aluminum

 

I used mother's stuff on my welds when I had them... always worked good. Thank god I don't have to ever polish those again though.

 

One other thing that can happen is if you reach a point (heaven forbid !) that you have metal to metal contact ,brake pad to rotor. Small metal fragments actualy are hot enough to melt into the clearcoat. It usually happens on the inside of the wheel. If this happens there is not much that you can do to clean it up. You need to strip the clearcoat, polish the bad spots, and re-clear the wheel.Just a thought.

 

I guess it's up to me now.

 

I got something you can polish J/K.....That was bad, Sorry.

 

Yep, I'll miss them. Take good care of them!!

 

I will, just ordered new center caps, lugs and narrower, slightly taller front tires.