DSDP Don wrote:
"FIRE UP".....I wish you would quit posting pics of my wheels, that's plagiarism!
My previous coach had uncoated wheels and once polished out, they were easy to keep nice looking. It was made even easier by keeping them covered when stored at home.
My new coach has a tag axle, adding two more rims to polish. The good news is, they're coated and don't require polishing. The bad news is, they just don't shine like my old rims.
I think the OP is in for a tedious job to remove the coating that is going bad. A call to the manufacturer might produce some ideas on how they would go about stripping them. At minimum, pulling the wheels off would probably make life easier, but is a big job with 22.5's.
I'm with Dennis regarding cleaning the clear coat wheels. It says not to polish them, but they just never look good, except when wet. If someone has a way to make the clear coat wheels look a little better without destroying the coating, I would be glad to hear what you do.
"Plagiarism", heck I thought it was "WHEELISM".
And you're absolutely right. It will be seriously easier to remove the wheel and get it to workable, comfortable level (ergonomically) so he's not straining, to do a strainfull job anyway. There are many folks on here that think you'll IMMEDIATLY destroy the coating on alloy wheels if you even touch them with the same polish you'd use to polish the aluminum underneath it. Hog wash.
I've put some Semi-Chrome (paste) on a friends wheel, attempting to polish the aluminum and noticed within a few seconds that, there was no traditional "Black" on the tip of the cloth that anyone would get right off the bat when do an alloy wheel. I buffed off what paste I'd applied and, there was no damage what so ever. I've said it before, that stuff is way tougher than most people think.
It's built and has the chemical make-up to last. It's not meant to be removed but, it can be if one chooses to. It's only work.
Scott
FIRE UP wrote:catldog wrote:
Anyone have any experience with aluminum wheels that have the coating that is bad and unable to polish the wheel properly.I had a manufacturers rep with a product called Nuvite tell me that the coating had to be removed before their polish will work, that was their experience with Airstreams,any thoughts? Thanks jg
catldog,
The topic of polishing aluminum wheels has been discussed just a FEW times on here and other RV forums. I've been polishing aluminum for decades. It started in '70 when I purchased my first "Norton" (British) motorcycle. I've been polishing aluminum ever since. There is no magic elixir to getting aluminum to shine like chrome. The answer is, LABOR, PERIOD! It takes lots of labor and effort to get the results one wants.
And, as you've found out, the factory will apply a coating on some of its wheels and, on some it won't. That's all based on who's purchasing them and their requirements. Now, if yours does have a coating on them, then it will be just a tad bit of work to get it off so that you can then move forward in obtaining the polished look you'd like to see.
Most of the time, the coating that is used on most wheels is a clear Urethane. It's a pretty darn hard substance. It can be chipped but, not all that easy. Now, I personally have only removed one coating, from one wheel, in my lifetime. And that was on an actual "chrome" steel wheel. I used Lacquer thinner for that task, way back when I did it. It took quite a bit to get that coating to loosen up.
But, if I were you, I'd maybe make two phone calls. One would be to Accuride which, is the maker of many of the aluminum wheels on many of our RV coaches and see what they would recommend for the removal of the coating that THEY applied to them in the first place. The second call might be to a Professional Auto Paint supplies establishment. They are some of the best on chemicals to be used for what purpose, in the auto industry. They have paint strippers, which would include paint from steel, fiberglass, aluminum and more.
Now, once you've found out what chemical to use, and have used it, now you're ready to start the process of polishing. If you're lucky, the condition of the wheels will be such that, you won't need much work to get them to where you'll be happy with them. If the coating removal chemical did not do any cosmetic damage to a somewhat polished surface, you're in great shape.
If, that's the case, then you can simply get some good microfiber cloth and, one of many Aluminum polishing pastes/liquids/compounds on the market. Every body has there top choice. I've used probably a dozen different pastes, compounds, rouges, liquids and more. I've got that many sitting on the shelf now. To date, with all the products I've used so far, Mothers is close to the top rank in leaving the shiniest results.
This is kind of, a matter of preference. I've used Semi-Chrome, Mothers, Brown and white rouge bars, Zephyr 40 (a Costco on line item only) and more. But, that's enough information for you to get started with anyways. Good luck. Remember, it's only LABOR!
Scott
Great looking wheels, if I ever get to AZ. I will look you up so you can show me on our rig how you do it! Just to let you know I'm a slow learner.
catldog wrote:
Anyone have any experience with aluminum wheels that have the coating that is bad and unable to polish the wheel properly.I had a manufacturers rep with a product called Nuvite tell me that the coating had to be removed before their polish will work, that was their experience with Airstreams,any thoughts? Thanks jg
catldog,
The topic of polishing aluminum wheels has been discussed just a FEW times on here and other RV forums. I've been polishing aluminum for decades. It started in '70 when I purchased my first "Norton" (British) motorcycle. I've been polishing aluminum ever since. There is no magic elixir to getting aluminum to shine like chrome. The answer is, LABOR, PERIOD! It takes lots of labor and effort to get the results one wants.
And, as you've found out, the factory will apply a coating on some of its wheels and, on some it won't. That's all based on who's purchasing them and their requirements. Now, if yours does have a coating on them, then it will be just a tad bit of work to get it off so that you can then move forward in obtaining the polished look you'd like to see.
Most of the time, the coating that is used on most wheels is a clear Urethane. It's a pretty darn hard substance. It can be chipped but, not all that easy. Now, I personally have only removed one coating, from one wheel, in my lifetime. And that was on an actual "chrome" steel wheel. I used Lacquer thinner for that task, way back when I did it. It took quite a bit to get that coating to loosen up.
But, if I were you, I'd maybe make two phone calls. One would be to Accuride which, is the maker of many of the aluminum wheels on many of our RV coaches and see what they would recommend for the removal of the coating that THEY applied to them in the first place. The second call might be to a Professional Auto Paint supplies establishment. They are some of the best on chemicals to be used for what purpose, in the auto industry. They have paint strippers, which would include paint from steel, fiberglass, aluminum and more.
Now, once you've found out what chemical to use, and have used it, now you're ready to start the process of polishing. If you're lucky, the condition of the wheels will be such that, you won't need much work to get them to where you'll be happy with them. If the coating removal chemical did not do any cosmetic damage to a somewhat polished surface, you're in great shape.
If, that's the case, then you can simply get some good microfiber cloth and, one of many Aluminum polishing pastes/liquids/compounds on the market. Every body has there top choice. I've used probably a dozen different pastes, compounds, rouges, liquids and more. I've got that many sitting on the shelf now. To date, with all the products I've used so far, Mothers is close to the top rank in leaving the shiniest results.
This is kind of, a matter of preference. I've used Semi-Chrome, Mothers, Brown and white rouge bars, Zephyr 40 (a Costco on line item only) and more. But, that's enough information for you to get started with anyways. Good luck. Remember, it's only LABOR!
Scott
