Like many of you, my 4runner is adorned with the factory alloys:

On the visit with the tire shop, I viewed a display with my choice tire and an aftermarket rim:

Have any of you sanded, polished, and painted your stocks to look similar to the a/m? I think I am gonna give it a try...

 

Interesting a/m rim lync...

I recall a member did something like you were asking about... but that was like 6yrs ago? maybe more.. did'nt look bad as I recall... I think he'd polished up the smooth [shiney] face parts and the rougher finish indents and inner rim surfaces he'd painted with an aluminum friendly paint then clear coated the whole thing...
It looked good but I think he reported an issue with the paint flaking off long term...

you might try a powder coater... I think there is a process where they can coat some areas and not others... which would leave the smooth parts untouched... and may last longer than paint...

 

There used to be a write up somewhere but I can't find it.

You have to remove the clear coat and the polish them down. I remember reading that this was VERY time consuming.

 

I have all the necessary tools and chems to do it, I think I am gonna try it.

 

Those are some fancy shiney wheels, but the first time you had to wheel and scratched them it would be crying time...for me anyway.
When your buddys are out wheeling you would have to stay home to clean your wheels. LOL
I so much prefer steel, we have salt here and just eats the crap out of alloys after 10 years, steel too but is so much easier to maintain.

BTW my Lexus wheels are factory painted/coated silver, I know most people think they are clear-coated but one is scratched.

 

Remember to take lots of pics and do a write-up if you do... this question comes up every now and then...

 

I used paint stripper to get the factory clear coat off, then polished the machined surfaces by hand with some aluminum polish. Wasn't a mirror chrome finish but that's not what I was after.

 

I have the thinners, sanding disks and rouge wheels to buff them out, I just want it to look a little different than everyone elses. Plus, I dont have to spend the extra 700$ for the near exact same look. I will do a write up with pics once I decide the proper paint for it. I dont want to go the powder coated method because if I was gonna do that, I might as well buy the a/m rims.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/200102100...l/SR5Wheel.htm

The pix will show if you click on them. He describes how he did it. I bookmarked the page because they turned out great- very shiny. He had the same wheels you (and I) have. I'm going to sand/polish mine one day.

Here's the final product:

 

That looks nice! I think blacking the parts between the "spokes" and the "inset" within the spokes would make it stand out even more. But then I wonder how it looks on the front wheels after 10K miles....

 

Agreed. I wouldn't paint the small indentations on the wheel face, but blacking out the inner openings (sides of the spokes) would look good. I may email the guy to ask how they look now, if that email address is still active.

 

Here is what the wheel looks like after blacking out the insides.

 

i sanded prepped and polished mine. the clear coat was flaking when i bought my truck 12 years ago. you can see them in my youtube clip in my sig that was taken after my 3.4 swap.
there is maintenance involved just like paint. got to go over them with metal polish.
i would do it again though, looks much better imo.
probably got a full day per wheel. go for it!

 

let me ask a potentially bone head question here..... I am not going for the polished look, I am simply going to paint them as close to stock as I can. Do i need to use the paint stripper to remove the clear coat, or just sand it and paint?

 

stock is clear over partially polished surface.
if your clear is flaked and pitted, you will need to strip or sand then repaint the clearcoat. if your clearcoat is in good enough condition to simply scuff and repaint you should be good.
remember the surface prep will show in the end result. ie smooth or pitted surface.
hope that answers your question.

 

another thing is if you sand the surface it will have scratches that will show through the paint (clear). i do not know how stripper will affect the aluminum either stain etc.
best easiest case scenario just scuff the clear and repaint.

 

I like. Now if they had that rim in a 10" wide....

 

I'd suggest a clear powder coat, if you can afford it. Talk to the powder coater and see what they would recommend, but don't sand blast any of it. You may have to strip the clear coat off, powder coat the rim, remove the powder coat from the parts you want more shiny, bead blast those then clear powder coat... not cheap, but definitely more durable that any other method of clear coating.