Cleaning aluminum wheels *update with pics 3/35/09*

I thought the powerball was marketed as a product that works great on wheels, not removes clear. Chip Foose wouldn’t lie to me!

I used the powerball of my GF’s subaru wheels… looked great for a month… now they’re worse than ever. my conclusion is it burnt the clear coat off.

my roush wheels were fine for 2 months after i did mine last year

if they were in better shape and didn’t need as much work then that would make sense. but you still probably removed a lot more than was needed of the clear coat.

Have you ever thought of using one of those steam buggy things on the wheels?

I always wondered if that worked or was just bullshit.

you want to use a steam cleaner for wheels? I think I’ve heard it all now.

word

Oh a steam jenny will work, it will remove the paint too if you are not careful. lol

Is 3/35/09 = 4/4/09???

You quoted and agreed with yourself??

Happy birthday to me 3/35/09!!!

lol, yes! Because it works.

I’m actually midway through the process of doing this with my wheels as well. Mine looked a little worse to start though, curious to see a final result. I am currently sanding the wheels down and then painting them.

I guess there can be funny stuff thats on topic… I lol’ed a bunch

I wish there was a way to get aluminum back to looking like it came originally? I am talking about the rims and swingarm on my dirt bike. I used some adhesive cleaner (wd40 works too) and a gray scuff pad and it made it look decent enough… Paint wouldnt look right I dont think, and I dont want to polish them to a mirror finish

Mark that type of gunk on the wheels looks like a prime candidate for a chemical cleaner and some light scrubbing with a brush. If you want to keep the purity of the coat (that includes the coat itself :P) use something like this Megs:

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+G9524

Its easy to get in local stores and does a pretty good job. Wet/clean the wheel and spray this on. Agitate with a brush for 15 to 20 seconds and spray off.