here is a few pics, of one of the rims/wheels i picked up today to get the tire fixed.
these are, well were nice rims. as you see time and lack of care has nearly ruined them.
they have a kind of clear coat plastic thats flaking off them all, and the ally is dark, corroded and in places even lightly pitted.
Is it possible to restore these rims? what do you use to strip the alloy back to its bare metal?
or I was thinking just go at them with a fine brass brush till they are more or less smooth again then shoot them with a nice color paint.
I'm not a real fan of chrome or mag rims anyway, but if there is some way to just "strip" this crud and stuff back to the nice clean metal, I might do it.

on the upside, between both trucks I have 8 of these rims, so maybe I can pick the 4 that are not to bad.

so whatcha think? :cry:

 

Wow! They're pretty nasty looking! I'd take the worst of the 8 and just start experimenting with various chemical, non-abrasive then abrasive cleaners. I doubt you could do more damage to them... I'd like to THINK that, if you do get them cleaned up, you can reapply some sort of clearcoat to them. I haven't checked, but I'm sure there's been some discussion around minor repiars to the clearcoat on the wheels. Try a search and let us know how you make out.

 

IF you unmounted the tire you could probably have them sand-blasted. Then clearcoat them before they get nasty again.

 

i thought i had saved a post i found regarding wheel maintenance, apparently not! try searching for 'alloy wheel maintenance' or similar. the post should show your alloy wheel in to top header and detail nicely how to restore them to their original condition. be forewarned, this is a labour intensive operation!

lee

 

Powder coat those suckers!

There is a silver metalflake that's not too far from the original aluminum color, and powder coating is the most durable and corrosion resistant thing you could possibly do- at any price.

Fast Frank

 

I did a long long search for such info.. I found a few ideas.
I could have them sand blasted as was said, then paint them or re coat them.

the more i think about it the more i like maybe a nice paint job on them once the surface has been stripped.

I have a good while before that stage comes around, so i will experiment on this one and use it for a spare or a door stop or something.

 

I thought I had the post that Lee was talking about too but can't find it. Ask Corey about it, I'm pretty sure he'll have it. Looks like quite a bit of work, but the wheels looked great afterwards.

 

There was an article in Popular Mechanics last year about refinishing wheels that the clear coat had come off of.

The author specifically said NOT to have them sandblasted as this would result in more stress cracks in the wheel.

Just my .02

 

If you can find an aircraft type paint stripper try that, I've had good results on other wheels I've had some issues with

 

Here ya go...

http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/S...l/SR5Wheel.htm

 

I bought 4 off of eBay and the clearcoat was coming off of every one. Some had curb rash too. Just like the info in the link above, I used paint remover, steel wool, and automotive sandpaper to get them looking good. You can probably do this on yours depending on how badly pitted they may be. If the pitting is minor, you can sand it out. It was a lot of work for me though, and I probably won't do it again. Here's a pic of a wheel when I got done.

 

thanks for that link!

ya know, a paint job is sounding better all the time...

 

I'll tell ya, I did one to see how it would look - I didn't even complete it. I'm painting mine. SEM Trim Black over some black self etching primer.

Check these out:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...8&postcount=35

The whole thread:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...729#post647729

 

X2

 

Don't sandblast aluminum wheels, you would want to bead blast them...or another softer media. My aftermarket wheels look bad as well, I will eventually prep them and paint them.

 

cebby to the rescue!

thanks man, now ive got it saved in my favourites for future reference!

lee

 

Yes, sandblasting pits metal, so you'll have to bead blast them for sure.

 

shhhhhhh! Don't tell my wife but this is what I use to clean my wheels up. Great assortment of abrasive attachments. If she finds out she is going to .

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...tchen&n=228013

I have heard of people using it but have never tried it myself, but what do you think Oven Cleaner would do?

 

That website sure has made its rounds. I think I wrote that in 1995.

 

Props to you! I didn't know it was written by a current YT member! Obviously prior to YT days...