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I moved back to the coast three years ago and here is what has happened to my rims: car stays outside.
The rims appear to have a buildup of salt and there are portions of the rim that are bubbling up.
What should I do with the rims? I have thought about having them blasted back down and re-coated but that might be as expensive as a new set of rims. The other option is to have them painted vs re-chromed.
Where the chrome is bubbling there really isn't anything you can do. The hard water spots may come out with the right chrome cleaner/polisher. If the car is going to continue to sit outside, I would stay away from chrome.
Where the chrome is bubbling there really isn't anything you can do. The hard water spots may come out with the right chrome cleaner/polisher. If the car is going to continue to sit outside, I would stay away from chrome.
The hard water spots come right off using the Flitz polish but the rest doesn't. Painted wheels might be a good way to go..
The hard water spots come right off using the Flitz polish but the rest doesn't. Painted wheels might be a good way to go..
Thanks
Flitz is some good stuff. I used that on the CCW 505a wheels I used to have. When I bought them (used), they needed some attention. I prefer working with raw aluminum wheels myself. You really can't mess them up. If you do, just start sanding and work your way down to a less aggressive method. Polish with some good stuff and you're good to go. My daily driver Yukon Denali has chrome wheels and there are a few spots like what you've show in the pictures. It was more on the inside of the wheel, so I peeled it off and so far it's been okay.
Flitz is some good stuff. I used that on the CCW 505a wheels I used to have. When I bought them (used), they needed some attention. I prefer working with raw aluminum wheels myself. You really can't mess them up. If you do, just start sanding and work your way down to a less aggressive method. Polish with some good stuff and you're good to go. My daily driver Yukon Denali has chrome wheels and there are a few spots like what you've show in the pictures. It was more on the inside of the wheel, so I peeled it off and so far it's been okay.
Humm.. I wonder if the entire rim could be blasted back down to aluminum then brought back up to a nice polished look.
Thats one of the drawbacks living near the ocean. I had a sinilar thing happen to my TT2s that had a clear coat on it when i lived on the west coast. It is a form if corrosion snd the only way to fix it is to have it stripped if it has a coating and then polished back out. Mine still have some hints of that damage still.
It happens more if the car sits outside without a garage and you dont keep up cleaning them.
I contacted a local powder coating company to inquire about having the rims coated and they wanted 110.00 per rim which I suppose isn't too bad. However, after factoring in the cost of having the tires removed plus the coating costs, the blasting down to aluminum route sounds like a better alternative for sure. Plus, as Jake and Phoenix mentioned, aluminum is much easier to work with and maintain.
While living up in Oklahoma for 20 years, I had tools that were 5 plus years old without a spot of rust on them. Since moving back down to my salty home town, I am having to add a tablespoon of rust preventative to my orange juice in the morning so I don't rust!
04-04-2017, 03:32 PM
How Screwed are my Rims 
