Cleaning Chrome wheels

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crab daddy

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I have stock 17" chrome wheels. They have some sort of funk on them.I dont think that they have ever been cleaned before I just bought it. I have tried using meguires rim cleaner and the dupont teflon stuff... along with rubbing them with a rag while soaked in the stuff. Nothing seem to be helping.

I have never had chrome rims before. Is there some easy way to clean these? And if not easy, is there a right way to do it.

Has anyone used that FLITZ polishing thing? I saw an info-mercial and have considered tring that.

Thanks in advance.
 
crab daddy said:
I have stock 17" chrome wheels. They have some sort of funk on them.I dont think that they have ever been cleaned before I just bought it. I have tried using meguires rim cleaner and the dupont teflon stuff... along with rubbing them with a rag while soaked in the stuff. Nothing seem to be helping.

I have never had chrome rims before. Is there some easy way to clean these? And if not easy, is there a right way to do it.

Has anyone used that FLITZ polishing thing? I saw an info-mercial and have considered tring that.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

The general approach will be to clean the wheels (and tires) really well the first time, and then subsequent cleanings will be much easier.

The rim cleaners are good for removing brake dust, but you're problem is a bit beyond that. Can you better describe the stuff on the wheels now ("funk" is useless). Is it hard or soft? Greasy? Black, white, gray? How much is on the wheel? After we've determined what the "funk" is, we can decide what products to use to clean it off.
 
I apologise, I took this pic last night and I thought that I had attatched it.

I am planning on keeping up with it once it is clean.... but first they must be cleaned.

DSC01994.jpg
 
looks like ur polish is eaten up... i know u can repolish the rim.. btu thats expensive. i have that on my rim now and i havent figured anything out
 
Wow, it looks like burned on brake dust. If the wheel is not cleaned for a long time, the accumulated brake dust actually melts from the heat of the wheel, and attaches to the finish (sorta like powder coating). This happened on my Infiniti, and it was really tough to get off.

I would first try a good chrome polish to get that stuff off. You can try Flintz, but it is designed as a multisurface polish (works on plastic and fiberglass too), so it may not be strong enough.
 
thanks for the responses. looks like I will head to my local advance and see if they have anything for chrome polish.


Anyone have any suggested brands or techniques?
 
crab daddy said:
thanks for the responses. looks like I will head to my local advance and see if they have anything for chrome polish.


Anyone have any suggested brands or techniques?
Click to expand...

Try Mother's Liquid Chrome Polish or "No. 7" brand.
 
I try mothers, the chrome polish that comes in a silver can... it does work..


i asked someone at a place what i can use on my chrome rims.. he said use some eagle one.. so i used it and it ate the polish on my lip.. i know thats what happened to mine.. not sure about u.. anyone got any help for me?
 
The only thing that my local parts store had was Eagle1 Nano Polish w/Anticorrosion (for Mag, Chrome & Aluminum Wheels). Well, the only thing that didnt specifially say not for chrome. I spent some time, but I only have done 1 wheel so far (my hand is cramping up)... this is not exactly an easy fix.

Here is a before and after of that wheel.

DSC01994.jpg


DSC01995.jpg
 
looks good im actually impressed, i thought it was a goner...
 
Thanks:D

I am actually really pleased with it. I wish it wasn't so much work, but I figure that once it is done... It will never be like that again.

Thanks for everyones help.
 
crab daddy said:
Thanks:D

I am actually really pleased with it. I wish it wasn't so much work, but I figure that once it is done... It will never be like that again.

Thanks for everyones help.
Click to expand...

What an improvement! You should submit those photos to Eagle 1 for use in an ad!

I hope the results will motivate you to do the other wheels. Put in the effort, then you can do simple upkeep to maintain the wheels!

Congrats!
 
i bought the wheel nanopolish. because of your thread i have the same problem but not as bad. and it worked wonders on my rims i'm sold untill i find something better. i highly recomend this product.
 
the easiest stuff to use is called dlr corrosion remover, i used it on a set of my friends wheels, the bolts were getting rusted. he had the plastic inserts with about 25 little allen screws that would get rusted. also the inserts caused them to be very hard to clean, so the break dust built up on them. simply soaked the bolts and rubbed the wheel down, five minutes and then bam, clean as can be. they also have dlr rust remover if you ever need it. bought mine at autozone or advance
 
I had to use Steel Wool and Simple Green to get the same type of corrosion off of the chrome wheels on my Mountaineer when I bought it. It worked well. They were steel though, I am not sure how the chrome on alloy would do.
 
chriswells78 said:
I had to use Steel Wool and Simple Green to get the same type of corrosion off of the chrome wheels on my Mountaineer when I bought it. It worked well. They were steel though, I am not sure how the chrome on alloy would do.
Click to expand...

Steel whool might scratch the chrome. I know I was scrubbing my chrome with a wheel scrubber and noticed tiny scratches where I did it. So I use a sponge now. I'll have to try this product. Has anyone used steam on their wheels?
 
I have also used 0000 steel wool with great sucess and no scratching. It is very, very fine.
 
^^^yeah if you use it with a mild detergent it really doesn't scratch chrome. Chrome is pretty tough but like I said, I have never used it on an alloy chrome wheel, just steel ones but it did a good job with minimal elbow grease.
 
Crome Cleaning

I used Mothers Crome Polish on crome wheels on old 96 gmc truck.

Were oxidized and rusted,, 2 coats of Mothers and cleaned them right up,, was very immpressed.
 
Looks so much better, I'm gonna have to pick that stuff up when I go back to update my supplies, my wheels have some unsightly spots here and there I would like to get rid of.
 
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