maintaing wheels
 

Hi guys, just to let you know I have no information on this topic what so ever and this is my first stop, well maybe second in my search.
Anyways......
Does anyone know how to maintain painted wheels. I got a real good deal on a set, through them on the car with some pretty nice kumho tires. Winter has gone and pass, and i look at my wheels and i have all these real fine spots( looks like water spots or something that a lot of corrosion could have done ) on the outter and center region of the wheels. The spooks are fine, there not painted but rather buffed to a real fine finish. However the center of the wheel where the bolts are and the outer edges of the wheels are just spotted up something firce.
(Mind you these are really fine spots, you can only see it if your within 1/2 a foot of the rims). Is there anything i can do to get that fixed.
:damn:
I've just been thinking about buying a different set, prolly going with a nice chrome finish and hopefully that wont have any problems.

first tried washing it with Car soap, if that dont work tried wax it out and if that really dont work someone will come up with another solution,

The white stuff is aluminum corrosion. You're going to need to get something like scotchbrite and scrub it off, or get a chemical that can inhibit and remove it (acetone might work).
Chrome isn't better, its worse. It corrodes much easier and is much more visible. Thats why you don't drive on good rims in the winter. There's nothing you can do about the salt, so use shit wheels or stock wheels.

:nono: :_doh: :_doh: :_doh: :_doh: :nono:

Yea... Ur not supposed rock your rims in the bad weather.... Even though u may want to jock em.. You shouldnt... I bought mine, and I only kept them on for 2 days because of the winter weather, I will be putting them back on at the end of april.

Dido :_doh: :_doh: :_doh:

I know this is an old thread.... but after a search, I find that some ppl leave their rims on year round and many switch to cheap rims or steel wheels for thw winter. Now, I prefer not to have to change back to the steelies when winter comes around. I dont have the best set wheels but they certainly arent cheap. Just wondering if it would be safe to wax the rims to protect them and wash them whenever I can instead of changing them? I am kind of nutty, and the slightest chance it gets above the freezing mark, I wash the car.

I do it too... I've also been known to do it in the garage (I have drains in the floor).
Wax only does so much. You should be waxing your rims anyways. Its just a cost vs. effect thing. If its worth it to you to keep your rims looking good, then don't do it. If you don't care that they'll get a little messed up, then do it. The thing is, its not just the salt that causes problems.... Ice does too. I'm on the verge of not caring. My brakes have done in my OZs and sooner or later, they're going to need a refinishing job, but the wheels were still almost $300 a piece and I don't want to chance sliding into a curb or something... I'd rather trash a $130 Honda wheel.

Chrome is 20 times harder to chip off then paint.
Therefore it's 20 times less likely to corrode

I had chrome on my probe for 5 years and 4 winters, and never had problems.

hmm... everywhere I have read says chrome is more difficult to maintain

Chipping is TOTALLY different than corroding. Therefore, its not a give and take type of thing. The chrome itself corrodes... Thats why you see cloudy looking chrome wheels because people can't take care of it. The chrome plating also weakens the strength of the wheel... its just overall bad news.

whats a good wax to wax the wheels? can i use the same wax i use on my car? and how do i wax the wheels properly, srry for jacking ur thread

this is becoming an informative thread so it's all good!

I also have another question:
Do damaged rims damage the car? I have a set of crap rims that cause the steering wheel to vibrate after 60MPH.... but I'm never going to go 60MPH in the snow anyway.... but does the vibration cause damage in the long run?

http://www.webelements.com/webelemen...t/Cr/chem.html

http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=916

Chrome does not corrode.

Come to think of it, the Chrome wheels that use to be on my Probe, Are now on my Dad's 3000GT, I should check on em and see how they're doing.

How does Chrome Plating also weaken the stregth of the wheel?

Any chemically or electrically applied coating will weaken the fatigue strength of whatever it is applied to.

Chrome plating is porous by nature. Brake dust and road salt get in it, and lift the plating off of whatever its substrate. Thats why you can't wax chrome, it just traps in whatever gets in it. Oxygen helps the cause, which is why you need to keep it clean. The wheel still corrodes, leaving shit all over the chrome, so the plating may be fine, but its separating from what's underneath... now you've got a wheel thats corroding, you may not have any idea.

i never thought that my wheels will be in trouble during winter, i got a 5zigen fighter Ti finish wheels, but my stock wheels are not usable because my tires are old & weared & i dont want to buy new tires for my stock wheels

anything i should do??

I'd just break down and buy the tires, I made the same mistake. But one day when a snow storm came, and I had to drive the 30 miles to work. I drove nice and slow, very careful all the way to work, then as I was pulling in to the road, the turn lane wasn't paved and I curbed a rim really bad.

So it's cheaper in the long run.

Okay, sorry it took a while but I thought you might want your answer from a Professional Engineer, since you don't believe me.

Chrome plated Wheels do not absorb water, and the loss in fatique stress is insignificant. Once again Chrome Wheels do not corrode.

http://www.finishing.com/321/08.html

I was pretty sure that chrome plating was impervious, you have to remember for most materials porosity is almost always directly related to density, and the nickel chrome plating is much denser than the alloy of the wheel. And with the coating processes that they use, It makes no sense that the coated material would be affected in anyway.

But anyway the link is to a forum for metal finishing engineers.

Yeah when I had my Enkeis off in June for a rotation the guy saw the corroding starting so I went through the summer and this winter I am forced to remove them which is cool. Been working on getting the rust from the hub off and I just painted the rust parts on the hub so we'll see what happens.

Maybe it is a matter of semantics. Chrome may not "corrode" but it certainly pits, flakes and loses shine over time. That is indisputable. Go look at the bumpers on any old MG, Triumph, etc.

Can we lock this stinking thread ?!?!?!?!

We were talking about Maintaining Chrome Wheels, and we've gone into all the properties of Chrome Plating... I've sited a Professional Engineer.

Just lock this gosh darn thread!!!

Stlblues13, you're talking about chrome that is 20+ years old. That is not the life expectancy of ANY Wheel. If you compare Chrome WHEELS to Painted/powdercoated/alloy Wheels. It's easier to clean, that's all I'm saying.