Cleaning Salty Winter Wheels

by **LatinDragonXJC** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 4:37 pm

I went into the garage to uncover my 19s and they look like crap. Salt stains and no shine whatsoever.

Those of you that are used to winter weather do you have any ideas on how to clean wheels that have been stained by salt? Any special solutions or products?

*and as you can see below, I didn't take them off until it was snowing already *doh* :oops:

Sorry for the huge pictures

by **Ilovemylara** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:34 pm

Salt is a corrodent so it "ate" into that metal surface. well I know this sounds crazy but take some tooth paste and try buffing a small area with a terry cloth (rag), it will do the trick, if this yields little to no results, then your other option would be mothers wheel polish, a drill and a buffing ball. (or a polisher, whichever), just buff that crap out.

by **LatinDragonXJC** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:13 pm

That seems to be the consensus, everyone is telling me to use a powerball...I'll definitely try it. Thanks

by **Ilovemylara** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:31 pm

by **JamesT** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:44 pm

Your best bet would be to ship them to me :wink:

I'd agree with what Ilovemylara said. I've used that method with good results.

by **r0w** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:23 pm

I'm pretty sure you are SOL like ilovemylara said but give that stuff a try, up here in Canada as soon as I see the first snow flake drop I change to my winter set.

by **LatinDragonXJC** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:28 am

JamesT wrote:Your best bet would be to ship them to me

I'd agree with what Ilovemylara said. I've used that method with good results.

lol I wonder why?......nice wheels.

I did some searching and found this video on Youtube using 220 grit sandpaper to clean pitted rims.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm2UqenJzug

by **JamesT** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:24 am

I ended up resanding mine (220 grit and worked my way up to 2000) on the lip as they were really pitted.

by **LatinDragonXJC** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:27 am

JamesT wrote:I ended up resanding mine (220 grit and worked my way up to 2000) on the lip as they were really pitted.

Does it look like it used to? Got pics of the "after"?

by **JamesT** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 9:26 am

I'll take one for you...

I think it looks good - it definately got rid of all the pitting. However, I also wanted to redo the clear coat on the entire lip so I removed all of it. I don't know if you want to go that far.

by **LatinDragonXJC** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:09 am

JamesT wrote:I'll take one for you...

I think it looks good - it definately got rid of all the pitting. However, I also wanted to redo the clear coat on the entire lip so I removed all of it. I don't know if you want to go that far.

thanks, it's going to take alot of elbow grease from what I hear.

by **JamesT** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:21 am

It does. Have you looked into any places that do rim repair? They would probably respray the clear coat for you.

by **LatinDragonXJC** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:50 am

I haven't because I was planning on selling these and getting 18s or something lighter.

by **Solorange** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:29 pm

That looks permanent. Hope the powerball/toothpaste works for you.

by **LatinDragonXJC** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:50 pm

Solorange wrote:That looks permanent. Hope the powerball/toothpaste works for you.

Most likely...but it's worth a try.

Cleaning Salty Winter Wheels

Cleaning Salty Winter Wheels

Who is online