Polishing Alcoa Wheels

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

My wheels are looking pretty shabby.  While at Redmond last year I failed to get info. on the PDQ product recommended by Alcoa.  I haven't found any available in any case.
Today I was introduced to "Mothers mag and aluminum wheel polish".  We tried a small area on one wheel and it looks brand new.  Doing all the wheels will take an hour or so but wow what a difference.
Just thought to share this info.  I am probably the last one here to find this out. 
Keith

[Richard And Babs Ames]

As long as you do not have a coated wheel any good polishing product will work well.

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Just FYI
I have used Turtle wax bug and tar remover on my wheels with good results.

It is not polishing but it does remove the road grime easily.

[Phil Sales]

A trick I learned while polishing USAF, VIP planes in the 60's will make the job quicker and easier. Sprinkle a small amount of flour into the cloth you are removing the black residue with. The flour will absorb the residue so you are not just pushing it around. A good shaking will let the flour and residue fall off the cloth. you will be amazed how much easier it makes this job.

[Steve Jewell]

We found that if we clean the wheels with CLR before polishing it makes it much easier.  It also makes the plastic chrome parts look like new. You may want to wear rubber gloves.

 Steve J

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

So, at long last I got around to polishing our wheels.  What seemed to be a fairly straight forward job turned into an all day project.   I feel like I just flew into town, boy are my arms tired.
I bought a "Power ball" polisher thinking it would cut down the work...ppppfffftttt!  They probably work if your wheels ar in good shape but ours are worse even than I thought.  I used 'Mothers' polish which with enough elbow grease works quite well but does not remove the scratches.  I can only assume that the pits are there to stay.  
1) how often do you polish your wheels, anyone out there?
2) Is there a better process than a rag and elbow grease?
3) What polish do you use?  I didnt try the CLR as I had just scrubbed the wheels.
4) My wheels look pretty good now but need alot more work, any suggestions?
5) Do you seal or wax after polishing?

Thanks, Keith

[Jay and Raylene Todd]

Keith,

There are lots of companies that specialize in professionally polishing aluminum truck wheels - try a Google search in your area. It will not be inexpensive, as I recall I paid ~$100.00 per wheel for my '02 Thunder. The wheel is taken off the coach and the tire must be de-mounted. It is then stone ground using finer grades until the polishes take over, again using finer grades. You will love the result but you will also need to maintain them with the mothers poslishes so you don't get the scratches. Mine were scratched, deeply pitted, stained and dull and they came out looking like new.

Must admit I like the ones on the '06 Thunder better. Just keep them clean, no polishing necessary.

[Tim Bentley Co-Admin]

I also had my wheels polished professionally, after 135000 miles they needed it. The wheels were removed from the coach for the polishing and now  look brand new.  

The polishing company suggested I use a polish with a sealer, and recommended a product called White Diamond.  This has worked well for me. White Diamond is much easier to use than the paste products, and lasts a long time because it polishes and seals the wheels in one step.

I think that this is the same product packaged for the motorcycle market.  The bottle and description is identical except for the name.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HR2H0W/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=beavambaclub-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B005HR2H0W

I have also used Zephyr Pro40 metal polish.  It is also much easier to use than the Alcoa paste and other paste products.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SS5ZCU/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=beavambaclub-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002SS5ZCU

Both of these products have made my polishing chores much easier, I can never go back to the paste.  They are now in our RV Store.

I have tried the Alcoa Al wheel sealer and finds that it duals the finish.  

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

What is the difference with the 06 wheels?  Plastic coat?  Thanks Tim, I will give that a try and order off our amazon page.

[Joel Weiss]

I have also used Zephyr Pro40 metal polish.  It is also much easier to use than the Alcoa paste and other paste products.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SS5ZCU/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=beavambaclub-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002SS5ZCU
 

I've been using Zephyr on all my chromed metal for the past year; it is far superior to the stuff you buy at the "big box" stores.  I bought my bottle at a Pilot center.

[Jay and Raylene Todd]

Keith,

Yep, the '06 wheels are factory coated.

[Carol Moffett]

I'm posting this for Keith!   

Hi all!  I have found the "White Diamond" metal polish and am in the process of applying it to the wheels on our "new to us" Marques.  This is my success so far...

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

So, I used Mothers paste on the old coach and decided to try the White Diamond liquid this time.  I hoped it would save some elbow grease.  It takes less work but still serious effort.  What is better now is that it does it in one treatment where the Mothers helped but needed more.  White Diamond is the way to go but use very small ammounts because it goes a long way and can get tough to wipe off if you use too much!

[JimNCheryl Domenoe]

I'm surprised to hear that the PowerBall didn't work well for you.  I used it after trying the elbow grease method first, and had good success.  I used Blue Magic metal polish with it.

Mine has some pits that won't come out using this method but they look much better than they did.

[Frank Towle]

Good topic.

Watched a truck driver polish TWELVE Alcoa wheels to mirror finish at a lay-over.  Six one afternoon, then the other six next morning before he got back on the road.  Asked to see what he was using:  'Heavy Metal' Medium Metal Polish.  Was impressed with result, even though his wheels weren't bad to begin with.  He said product leaves good polish finish, and no ammonia or other etching products.

OK, dealer not far away so picked up the 16oz (could have used just 8oz for the four wheels), cotton t-shirt rags and towels to buff after polish hazed. 

Here's the first wheel:  top (easy part) has been done, still have the bottom to do...


All four wheels took about an hour+ each.  Mostly oxidation over 10+ years.  Did use some bug&tar & scotchbrite in holes to remove most of the tar - be careful of scratching wheel surface with scotchbrite, although Heavy Metal will remove scratches with some additional elbow-grease.

Hope you can see the difference.  Now wheels match the stainless steel rocker panels and exhaust tip.  Will use on brass front door grab handles next to remove oxidation and put the original shine back on.