Dummie In Distress On Cleaning Alum. Wheels
 

I just got a set of eagle alloys rims for my truck and yes they are aluminum. They are not as bright as they should be. I have used a mothers power ball,diamond bright on them twice, and eagle one wheel cleaner. Please help! Dummies in distress!
:ouch::ouch::argh::sos:

are they coated or non-coated???? power balls are for wheels on show cars that never see the road, if they arent coated get some 1000 grit sand paper and do the whole wheel, then some 2000 and then if possible some 3000 and then polish them with a buffer then do it by hand, those puppies will shine like the north star.........

Another trick is to remove the clearcoat with paint stripper like the "Airplane" brand from auto parts stores the use a blue buffer pad and jewelers rouge polishing compound.Some wheel polishers use a large buffer but a smaller blue pad on a smaller grinder works well too. I used a Dewalt 4 1/2 grinder with the smaller pad on my 93 Bronco factory aluminum wheels after the paint stripper and they are almost as bright as the Chrome wheels on my Dodge and I didn't have to worry about snapping my wrist when it caught an edge.You may have to find a business that specializes in 18 wheeler wheels or something similar to this to find the best pads to use for aluminum polishing.

Once you get them shning you might want to either plan to do this on a recurring basis or you could apply a clear coat after they are where you want them.

Rick

Powerballs Suck ! ive had 3 of them before i realized there junk , they get packed full of old Compound in about 30 seconds then are worth less , Wont touch anything on a cordless if you really want to do something use the powered drill , but then it throws stuff all over your truck :D

THis is what i do , BE WARNED this is ACID and you should do a test area !!

https://www.dieselbombers.com/cleani...-write-up.html

Ill find out if they are coated or not, because they are used rims, and i will give some before and after pics on my truck,THANKS ALOT

I use the power ball and some sort of polish, can't remember. Just clean the power ball with soap and water when done and it does not get all the packed in compound. Never tried Dm's way yet but I am planning on it.

not sure if you have cleaned you wheels yet but take them to a truck wash that does 18 wheelers. most of them offer aluminum brightining. they use acid and it pulls all the tarnish off of them. makes them look like new. after that polish then a few more times them coat them with car wax a buff them out.

billet wheels are not clear coated. If they are real bad, you can buy a buffing wheel for your angle grinder and some jewlers rouge.Take your time, you can make them look like chrome.

DO Not Use Acid ON ALUMINUM WHEELS!

maybe theres a differance between the acid wash and alumiun brightning that blue becon offers.

either way ive done it to all my 20" boyds and my 22" centerlines and they turned out great.