How Hard TO Maintain: Polished Alum Wheels
 

May be switching from chrome MotorSports to CCW poished aluminum wheels (No Clearcoat)

How much work is it to keep them looking good?
How often do they need to be polished?
What products.....can I use something like Rejex between polishings?

Thanks for any help or thoughts....

:cheers:
DH

Alot depends on the environment but a general rule of thumb is, in an effort to keep them looking nice I would polish them every 8 to 12 weeks.

I guess it depends on if you enjoy polishing your wheels or not. A good coat of Zaino or Zoop Seal may help keep them nice.

There is nothing like polished aluminum when it is kept nice. It is kinda like black, you really need to enjoy keeping it nice or you will be sorry. JMHO.

Having them on my Vette, Iforged polished uncoated, I can tell you it gets old quick. I would suggest springing for clear coating (which will dull the finish) or chrome option. I have not found a single sealant (including all of those listed) that lasts more than a couple weeks. Heat, wheel cleaners, and aluminum naturally oxidizing all seem to take its toll much faster than paint prep.

And mind this, you need to polish before sealing meaning its two step for each wheel monthly. Zoop Seal has not been tried simply because pricing (over 100) seems steep if its just another sealant. My Mothers Powerball and alumium polish are quite well used recently but I prefer wheels to look new.

Just an added note, Mothers Billet and Simichrome are 2 excellent polishes.

Thanks for the replies......

I use Mohters Billet every week on my Z06 Ti tips :thumbs:

And I remove brake dust 2 times a week with detail spray on the chrome wheels and polish them 2 times a year.

I put on over 300 miles per week and take my car to road racing (HPDE) every month or so.

I'm not too worried if all I gotta do is hit them with Mothers every other month on the external (showing surfaces)......but how about the barrels??? Are these going to corrode away... :willy:

:cheers:
DH

Not if you throw a good coat of polish like Zaino on them and try to keep them clean when you wash the car. I use a foam coffee pot cleaner on mine. If you let them go and do not clean the brake dust regularly they will pit.

mothers power ball and power metal polish.got chrome wheels on the vette, but i got aluminum on my truck (dd) and my '34 chev.i polish the wheels on the truck every couple months,30 minutes max to do all 4.the wheels on the '34 get it a couple times a year,they never get dirty unless i get caught in the rain.i was never going to buy aluminum wheels again because i was tired of polishing them.then the power ball came along,this thing ROCKS :thumbs:

Ok.....I am new to the alum wheel scene.....what is a power ball ??

:cheers:
DH

So do you want to get rid of you iForged wheels............ :)

:cheers:
DH

i had ccw's and got rid of them because they were too hard to take care of. got iforged with black centers now. the lip is much easier to care for than the entire wheel.

I have polished alum, non-coated on my daily driver, no garage.
I use Mothers Power ball and polish to get most if not all of the rims looking good and then follow up Mother's Billet. I wash my vette every 10 to 14 days, depending on the weather, at which time I will clean the wheels with the same soap as the car. Every month or so I would attack the barrels with a green scrubie. I know its a PITA, but they look great after the work.

I'm going to see if I can get just the the inside and the barrel of the wheel clear coated. Then just maintain the outer polished surface. This should drastically cut down maintenance time.

:cheers:
DH

I had aluminum polished uncoated wheels on my last car....BIG MISTAKE!

Save yourself a WHOLE lot of trouble and get them powder coated in clear.

a red foam type ball that fits on your cordless drill. pour some power metal polish on the ball and start polishing the wheel. low rpm at first to spread the polish on the wheel and not fling all over the place.polish wheel for a few minutes and wipe off black residue with a clean cloth ( i use microfiber ) and enjoy the shine. like i said earlier i spend 30 minutes max to do the wheels on my truck and they look GOOD when i'm done. :cheers:

Some of you guys are definately scaring me into rethinking geting the polished wheels....... :willy:

:cheers:
DH

http://www.autogeek.net/mo5140.html

and no quite ready to get rid of the Iforged yet. In truth there look far outways the work, but having to do over again I would splurge for chrome. Pricing was right on par for CCW (I didnt like their General Manager, seemed insulted at my many questions) so I went with Vince and Iforged. Seeing them both here locally, I made the better choice. :cheers:

I have Chrome MotorSports right now......and the chrome looks great and is easy to maintain.

BUT......I am looking for light weight wheels since I road race the car too......and chrome plating I believe adds 2-3 lbs per wheel.

I did see on the iForged site that they are soon to have a light weight wheel but there is no information as to what they look like or weight.

What do you think of my idea of clear coat or pwder coating the barrels so only the visable part of the wheel needs to be polished.

.....and polishing once every two months is not a problem for me :thumbs:

:cheers:
DH

If you drive 300 miles per week the you will be spending a ton of time polishing wheels. :crazy: IMO polished (and non-cleared) rims are best reserved for show cars that live inside, don't see weather, and aren't driven much.

Well I guess I am going to spend some quality bonding time with my wheels from now on.......... :willy:

Ordered the CCW SP500 mirror polished:
http://www.ccwheel.com/files/gallery...e/sp500/3l.jpg

Guess I better reread this post and others so I can order the right supplies... :crazy:

:cheers:
DH

be prepared to do some sort or polishing every time you wash the car. at least with the sp500's you can get to the inside to clean them. with the sp20's, i had to take them off to get them really clean and then water would settle on the inside after every wash and leave nasty spots.