Removing rust/dirt off aluminum wheels?

[CJM]

Got a nice set of aftermarket mickey thompson wheels, I cannot for the life of me get off the small rust specks that formed or the dirt thats on the wheels. I bought 2 different wheel cleaners made by meguiers that are for (1) uncoated AL and (2)coated and other AL wheels. Neither did a thing. I also tried meguiers wheel polish you rub and buff on/off.

Any other ideas, products people used that didnt damage the finish? Ive heard of using AL foil, and also very fine steel wool and metal polish. Im about to go get some fine steel wool and some real metal polish and go to town.

[DHC6twinotter]

I had the same rims until about 5 months ago. They are a pain to clean. I had the same problem, and I used some aluminum polish with a small polish wheel on my dremel. It worked ok, but took about 6 hours. They still didn't come out like new, but it was an improvement.

I also tried using one of those scouring pads (like what's used for washing dishes---the one that is yellow on one side and green on the other). It was quicker than the polish wheel, but did leave some light scuff marks. I figured oh well, and thought the barely noticeable scuff marks looked better than all the dirt. :hillbill:

But to be honest, I haven't found anything that worked really well. A friend had suggested taking it to a truck shop, and supposedly they have some sort of acid they can dip the rims in to clean it. I never got around to it though.

If I were to do it over again, I might of tried putting a layer of clear coat or something on the rims when I bought them.

I've seen people paint or powder coat these rims, and they actually look really good. I had considered doing it to mine, and I may still do that if I get a LC.

[CJM]

Yea, I bought some turtle wax chrome wheel polish and im gonna try that and some very fine steel wool.

Also gonna try using a scouring pad and see. Otherwise I might powdercoat them or paint them a light metal color thats close to the original.

[Crinale]

would brake cleaner do anything to help get rid of the dirt and crap?

[CJM]

Ok, i actually got them about 80%.

I tried brake and carb clean-wouldnt even remove ANYTHING. I had bought this turtlewax chrome polish and man it worked wonders on the centercaps removing rust and crud, but on the wheels it was tough.

First wheel I used a scouring pad, that was a mistake ask it kinda scratched it a bit. I switched to steel wool 000 and 0000 to finish after this. It worked pretty well, they wont ever be perfect, but pretty dang good.

I dont understand why they wont truly come clean, they are uncoated as far as I can tell and man oh man whatever is on them (basically sitting outside) is tough.

So I hit upon EXACTLY how to do this if you run into this situation. Clean with the turtlewax stuff using 000 and then 0000 steel wool, then wipe as clean as possible. Then take some metal polish (I used mothers) and go to town, spray with some simple green to clean it all off and wipe down. Then take some spray or whatever was you like and wax them so they wont get crap on them as easy.

If I could find some kinda buffing wheel that fits into a drill I could die happy, saw one at home depot but it was more of a cloth type wheels than an abrasive.

[RobG]

To take my knockoff MT's from oxidized to looking like new I use mothers power ball with the mothers polish. http://www.mothers.com/02_products/05140.html

Requires a fair amount of effort and time but they look great. Doesn't do much for the rock rash though.

[CJM]

I dont think the powerball is gonna help, I say this b/c i was scrubbing profusely and it didnt do much good till I got some scouring pads and steel wool and I was using mothers polish.

Gonna go buy this stuff called noxon, its a metal polish and should do wonders apparently according to the net.

[corax]

. . . . they are uncoated as far as I can tell and man oh man whatever is on them (basically sitting outside) is tough.


Since you don't have to worry about paint, get some professional grade wheel acid - when you spray it on you'll know if if it's gonna work or not (if it burns your nostrils, it'll work) - let sit fot 10-15 minutes and rinse off

You should be able to buy something comparable at most parts stores, just make sure it's acid by sniffing the bottle before you buy it

[AxleIke]

Aluminum doesn't rust :D :D :D

[CJM]

Well see heres the thing ^

The center caps are chromed aluminum, they rusted. Apparently the rust that was on the one wheel was just on it and wiped off with a clean cloth. No idea where it came from other than leeching off the center caps.

Bought the noxon, cleaned one wheel right up better than all the other crap. So FYI, dont spend big bucks on this cleaners and polish, just go buy some noxon metal cleaner at your local homecenter/grocery store and be done with it. Now, one of the wheels I got a little over zealous with and if you look closely its scratched (not bad) but you cant see it unless your 6 inches away so I dont care.

[DHC6twinotter]

Marc, did you use the steel wool when you cleaned with the noxon, or just a rag?

[CJM]

Just a rag, but that was on a clean wheel already. It did remove some of what the other stuff wouldnt get off too.

[Brunoski]

CJM, I also have a set of MT classic II, as well as the same problem with caked on brake dust in the pits. One thing to remember about these wheels is that they are uncoated because they are polished from the factory. Which is good on one hand as you can take out gauges just by wet sanding in one direction using 2000 grit paper. And finishing with 4000 grit. I did it once with 1/16th deep gauge. Then you can get into polishing to bring out the shine. Check out this link.

http://www.s10forum.com/how_to_polish_aluminum_wheels

I will give the noxon stuff a try a clean it some more.
There is a product that I heard about called zoopseal, a synthetic ceramic sealer for metal. It is suppose work wonders, and you can only get it in the US, lucky you.

Other than that you will have to paint them, which I am considering as well.
Enjoy

[CJM]

Thanks for the excellent link Brunoski.

The Noxon worked well and removed what the turtlewax stuff left behind. I think sanding them will be the best thing-but for now they are acceptable enough.

This is why I still have my old set of wheels/tires, got my summers and winters.

Ill look into the zoopseal stuff.

[Brunoski]

Here is another cool link I forgot to add:

http://englishcustompolishing.com/usca/aluminum1.html

[CJM]

Thanks, gonna give it a shot when I got some time.