choate

Hey guys I have some like white spots on my factory aluminum wheels and my dad said he used to use brillo style SOS pads to clean them up. He said to try it on a little spot first like on the back side and it might make it look a little darker and scuffed looking but he said it would work. Has anybody done this? Would it even help? Here is what it looks like. I've tried aluminum cleaners/polish and it doesn't touch it.

Thoughts?

Jus Jim

Don't try that yet. Go to Autogeek forum. Search for a fix, sign up in the forum if you need to. They have a lot of knowledge to share.

choate

Good idea. I don't want to ruin them. According to this it works though. They do mention to re-clear them which I could see being a good idea. I might try it this weekend

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/s...s-woot-532086/

VickMacky

Have you tried just using some good metal polish? That looks like it would be cake to remove. I just did this with some Mr. Metal polish.

ETA: Sorry I just noticed you said you've tried polishes. Which ones? Hopefully not Mother's. That stuff never works for me. If polishes don't work (even with a dremel and polishing bits) than a sanding and reclear might be in order.

choate

Thanks for the info. The guy at Autozone put me onto this wadding type stuff. Can't remember the exact name but it to me is basically just like wd-40 in a kind of little bit rough packing type material. It did dull the spots some but no I haven't used a "real" polish I guess and I don't have polishing bits. I do have a rotary tool but no polishing adaptor bits. It's kind of pitted but mostly just discolored. I know it could be restored easily. I'm reading that aluminum foil and diet coke might work! Here is what I tried. It did nothing

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/e...content=704004

EDIT: Wow I just looked at the pics on my phone since I'm unable to see at them at work. WOW that is amazing how clean it got them. All you used was that metal polish and a microfiber towel?

VickMacky

Yea that eagle one stuff works good to keep metals looking dog but doesn't do a while lot to polish them.

Yep all I used was this stuff and a microfiber towel. There are still a few spots that are going to need more than a hand to get out but it's leaps and bounds better than it was.

johnday in BFE

iTrader: (1)

Are those the original wheels? I had some American [made in china] Racing wheels that are almost identical to the Ford wheels like yours, admittedly lesser quality though. After running those for 13 months, mine started doing the same as your almost 20 year old ones. The dealer told me they were pitting, and wouldn't cover them because I'd had them for over a year.
Well, anyway, your wheels are clearcoated after they were polished. By using a Brillo, SOS, whatever on them, you're just going to scratch up whatever remaining clearcoat you have. The only two things I know to do, is have them reconditioned [not cheap], PlastiDip them like I did, I used black, or even better yet, not on the wallet though, buy new ones.
Likely nothing you wanted to see typed, and only from my experience, but whatever, by using anything abrasive, you're just scratching them up. Would you use a Brillo on your hood? I didn't think so.
In the "goode olde daze", we got away with using abrasives on our polished wheels because they weren't clearcoated. And most of us had two sets of wheels, painted steelies for winter, and polished aluminum for summer. And lots and lots of waxing and polishing when they were on our vehicle
Good luck man!.

choate

Hey man thanks for the reply. I appreciate your honesty and you are exactly correct. Not much is going to help at this point. That sucks they would warrenty your wheels. I have a set of their wheels on my Mustang and they are Chrome plated and I keep them meticulously clean b/c I'm afraid of that happening. I've had it happen before from winter salt. Not a good feeling.

Yes, they are the factory wheels. I was pretty sure they had clear coat when new but wasn't sure b/c it's long gone now. Before I found this truck, I expected the truck I bought would be cheaper so I was going to buy the exact AR wheels you are talking about. Outlaw II style? I'm not super concerned about the wheel but was trying different stuff to see if I could make it look better. Friday evening I rubbed them down w/ tin foil and diet coke. It did shine up the other ones but that wheel I put a picture of is the worst of them and it still basically looks the same. I think I might wet sand them at some point, then clear and see what happens. They don't look bad now but you can tell it abrased them but it's not all that bad but the wheel isn't shiny like the center caps. I kind of like a brushed aluminum look anyways so I'm just going to keep wax on them for now.

choate

Do you think that Mr Metal works better to clean off grime that the Eagle One stuff I used?

VickMacky

In my experience yes. For me it's just easier to use a traditional polish than those hairballs dipped in ammonia lol. Those worked good on metal that was relatively clean to begin with and you just wanted to keep them polished up. For getting tough grime off a wet polish works best I think