So, what works best? I'm talking dull, grey oxidized rims back to full mirror finish...
CK5
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Bringing aluminum rims back from the dead
- Thread starter tRustyK5
- Start date
Ask Zimm
EXJAY
1/2 ton status
I did a set a few years ago and turned our pretty nice for what I started with. Scotch brite pads work good ,started with the grey ones then red then ended with green. Finished off with a buff ball loaded up with some Flitz metal polish.
are they cast aluminum old school ?
or newer use to be clear coated or polished ?
makes a huge difference .
pics would help .
or newer use to be clear coated or polished ?
makes a huge difference .
pics would help .
If non clear coated, polished wheels the Teck is your man.
chicken joe
1/2 ton status
i have aluminum centerlines, and i killed two mothers power balls and a can of mothers aluminum polish. im far from done but its working
two of them i got to shine but still pitted
two of them i got to shine but still pitted
This guy's voice tone will put you to sleep... but its a good tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-9X8TbbJ88
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-9X8TbbJ88
wetsand until your fingers bleed and a full size buffer with a 2+2 pad... I made the pebblegrain, nasty backs of my Super Singles look like the fronts..
here's an in-process shot before compound on the lower left..
here's an in-process shot before compound on the lower left..
A guy I know had some really grungy aluminum slotted mag wheels soda blasted with baking soda,then he used scotch brite bads and a drill powered buffer with Mothers compund on them,they came out real nice,but maybe not quite mirror finish..considering what they looked like before its a 150% improvement...
These are 22.5" Alcoas on my garbage truck. We have a craptastic tire policy at work. Unless I "down" my truck and make prior arrangements when I need tires they will swap on new tires on whatever rims they had around when the tire guy was there. My mirror polished front rims are now gone, replaced with some pretty gray, dull rims. 
I have one other crap rim on the back, had a flat and I swear they looked for the sh1ttiest rim in the rack for me. That one bothered me, mostly because it was so mud caked and grungy there is no way anyone could have checked it properly for cracks.
Anyways, some good ideas, I have three to polish up with sandpaper, and compound...then hit the rest with a mild polish to have them all the same again.
I have one other crap rim on the back, had a flat and I swear they looked for the sh1ttiest rim in the rack for me. That one bothered me, mostly because it was so mud caked and grungy there is no way anyone could have checked it properly for cracks.
Anyways, some good ideas, I have three to polish up with sandpaper, and compound...then hit the rest with a mild polish to have them all the same again.
depends alot on whether they are cast or forged as well...Forged is much harder to polish than cast, but in a HD application forged is needed.
I paid a guy to do mine...he owns a small business and did them as a side job....once he found out they were forged he knew he was screwed...he had to buy a bunch of different grit wheels to sand the wheel to get it smooth, then he had to polish it....he had power buffers set up on a stand, and holding the wheel he would work the different bars of polish to achieve the resulting final finish. I actually helped him with the last wheel as I was tired of waiting on him to finish them (5 mo.) and we worked the last wheel through 3 compounds of rouge and took an easy couple hours to do that....in all I would say he had over 100 hours in refinishing the set....I felt bad that he worked so long and bought a bunch of different finishing bars and wheels I give him and extra $50 I think....it is a job that is time consuming and laborous. Your hands will probably ache afterwards too!
Forged wheels stripped chemically to clean them....
This after about $300 in labor and materials by the polisher for all 4....as it turned out he made about $1/hr on these. But he's got more materials in stock now!
I paid a guy to do mine...he owns a small business and did them as a side job....once he found out they were forged he knew he was screwed...he had to buy a bunch of different grit wheels to sand the wheel to get it smooth, then he had to polish it....he had power buffers set up on a stand, and holding the wheel he would work the different bars of polish to achieve the resulting final finish. I actually helped him with the last wheel as I was tired of waiting on him to finish them (5 mo.) and we worked the last wheel through 3 compounds of rouge and took an easy couple hours to do that....in all I would say he had over 100 hours in refinishing the set....I felt bad that he worked so long and bought a bunch of different finishing bars and wheels I give him and extra $50 I think....it is a job that is time consuming and laborous. Your hands will probably ache afterwards too!
Forged wheels stripped chemically to clean them....
This after about $300 in labor and materials by the polisher for all 4....as it turned out he made about $1/hr on these. But he's got more materials in stock now!
Yeah, they're forged...not gonna find a cast wheel on a heavy rig like my Pete.
I'll snap some before and after pic's when I do it. I've had to bring a couple back, but they weren't quite as bad as these. I was hoping there was one particular brand of polish anyone had great success with. From that vid it appears 3M cut polish and a powerball might be my best bet for now. The rear rim I have to do does have some pitting...that's probably gonna be a problem.
I'll snap some before and after pic's when I do it. I've had to bring a couple back, but they weren't quite as bad as these. I was hoping there was one particular brand of polish anyone had great success with. From that vid it appears 3M cut polish and a powerball might be my best bet for now. The rear rim I have to do does have some pitting...that's probably gonna be a problem.
if your buffing serious wetsand stuff, ya know, heavy cut 320, than say a ton of 600 grit, finish off with a bit of 1000, ya really can't beat a heavy cut orange lacquer compound like 3M's Super Duty for an initial cut....
once buffed up with that, a finer white clearcoat compound can follow up, or even a polish such as Finesse it...
once buffed up with that, a finer white clearcoat compound can follow up, or even a polish such as Finesse it...
Got a link to any of these polishes?
available in qrts and gallons..
http://www.starmarinedepot.com/3m-m...ompound.html?gclid=CMXewP6XkLoCFdSY4Aod5ygAag
and finesse it in qrts..
https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...4.7&ei=TKtYUu7YJvDk4AORk4HIBA&ved=0CHEQpiswAQ
http://www.starmarinedepot.com/3m-m...ompound.html?gclid=CMXewP6XkLoCFdSY4Aod5ygAag
and finesse it in qrts..
https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...4.7&ei=TKtYUu7YJvDk4AORk4HIBA&ved=0CHEQpiswAQ
That would be enough to piss a guy off? Bad policy at a trucking company for sure after you put work and pride into what you drive!These are 22.5" Alcoas on my garbage truck. We have a craptastic tire policy at work. Unless I "down" my truck and make prior arrangements when I need tires they will swap on new tires on whatever rims they had around when the tire guy was there. My mirror polished front rims are now gone, replaced with some pretty gray, dull rims.
I did some years ago and it was mentioned earlier as to the acid wash, found it at a truck stop, pretty sure it's available at auto parts stores now to. This alone takes away half the work!
Then the scotch brite pads and polish! Depending on how bad the wheel is course, if the wheel is pretty good after the bath then fine.
Sooooooo you're going to kill yourself making your work truck wheels look awesome just so the next time it's in the shop for a tire issue they can swipe them and give you some crappy wheels in exchange? 
Well, I get why the company does it that way. We don't have enough trucks to justify a tire guy on site, or all the tools/gear he'd need. Easier to have a tire shop come in once in a while to do flats and stuff, fill a rack and see ya later.
I bitched at the shop manager, especially about the fronts. He has promised he was gonna get a brand new set of fronts mounted on some brand spanking new rims he has on the shelf, then bolt em on my truck. Been three weeks...
I just had 8 tires installed on the rear. Had a specific conversation with the shop manager about keeping my current good rims, and swapping out the one ugly rear rim in the process. I ended up downing my truck for two days before the tires finally got done. First thing I notice is a brand new tire mounted to the sh1tty rim. That had me seething...
So, screw it...I'll polish.
Yeah, it's a garbage truck, but I got it with less than 500 hours on it. At $4K a month I want it clean and I'm willing to put in the time and effort to keep it that way.
I bitched at the shop manager, especially about the fronts. He has promised he was gonna get a brand new set of fronts mounted on some brand spanking new rims he has on the shelf, then bolt em on my truck. Been three weeks...
I just had 8 tires installed on the rear. Had a specific conversation with the shop manager about keeping my current good rims, and swapping out the one ugly rear rim in the process. I ended up downing my truck for two days before the tires finally got done. First thing I notice is a brand new tire mounted to the sh1tty rim. That had me seething...
So, screw it...I'll polish.
Yeah, it's a garbage truck, but I got it with less than 500 hours on it. At $4K a month I want it clean and I'm willing to put in the time and effort to keep it that way.
Sooooooo you're going to kill yourself making your work truck wheels look awesome just so the next time it's in the shop for a tire issue they can swipe them and give you some crappy wheels in exchange?
Nope, making arrangements to buy a 9th new rear rim and tire for my truck only. That way when I get a flat (about once a month) they swap my spare on, and get my flat repaired and tagged with my truck #.
