How to make me Stock 20s SHINY again!?

[baddohtentahoe]

hey guys,
right now i have my 24s on but i took my 20s to the car wash and gave them a real good scrubbing and pressure washing, i have always kept my wheels clean so avoid those ugly yellow stains i see on that style wheel when people don't clean them, luckily i don't have those, but they do look kind of dull. they have light scratches from trying to polish them with "eagle one never dull" for aluminum. how can i make them shine like new again?? i like to keep my wheels looking nice and clean even when not installed. piece of mind.

 

[skippy737]

I hear ya brotha! Damn things look amazing when clean and crappy when dirty. Just like onyx black!
Its even worse if u have hard water and get spots.
I use mequiars chrome cleaner ( red spray bottle). Works great dont have to scrub hard at all- spray on when wet and wipe off and dry. U can get an amazing result.
Regards,
Aj

 

[JimmyKGB]

are they the polished aluminum or the chrome plated wheels??

 

[LuSe4]

If you have the polished ones, they are clearcoated. Hope you didn't use metal polish on those.

 

[HOE-N-IT]

If you have the polished ones, they are clearcoated. Hope you didn't use metal polish on those.

I was thinking the same thing as I was reading his post. They may have to be stripped, cleaned and clear coated again.

I see a lot of these wheels and they do seem to get dull as they age. I'm glad I ordered the chrome option. No problems yet.

 

[JayXSP]

If they're polished with the clear and you used mag/aluminum polish then the clear is scratched to hell. Try getting out some heavy cut compound and a little rotors buffer with a foam pad...go slow and light. Don't wanna burn an edge. If that doesn't take it out your pretty much gonna have to wet sand the clear off and re-polish weekly just to keep the shine.

Before you start with the buffer I'd get some compound on a soft towel and see if you can get the scratches out by hand. If they start to come out then buff away...if they don't then your wheels are probably powder coated clear and now your really up the creek without a paddle.

Good luck

 

[ec07z71]

if the clear is just a little dull what would you guys recommend to remove the cloudiness? - thanks

 

[26slate]

some one might have used to harsh wheel cleaner like chrome mag cleaner and screwed up the clear coat..take them to a polishing shop and buff out the clear coat and make them look like chrome after polishing i know places in so call will do it without removing the tire...better yet powder coat them black

 

[LuSe4]

You treat it just like paint on a your truck.
Some rubbing compound and tons of elbow grease. Do you have a close up pic of "scratches"?

 

[HOE-N-IT]

If you can't get your wheels cleaned up and polished one option might be to get chrome wheels like your 20" wheels. I have seen several places in the past on the net and Ebay where you buy the same 4 chrome wheels for about $850 plus core charge and send your wheels back for a core refund. I paid $700 for the chrome option from the factory so not too bad of a cost especially if yours are to messed up to sell or put back on at some point when you sell your Tahoe. Just a thought.