BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Keith Moffett Co-Admin on August 10, 2011, 11:27:06 AM
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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
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As long as you do not have a coated wheel any good polishing product will work well.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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What is the difference with the 06 wheels? Plastic coat? Thanks Tim, I will give that a try and order off our amazon page.
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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.
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Keith,
Yep, the '06 wheels are factory coated.
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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...
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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!
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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.
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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' (http://www.originalheavymetalpolish.com) 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...
(http://kc1aaq.net/Beaver/HeavyMetal.jpg)
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.
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So, while sitting in this very same RV park last year, a new friend came over to our new to us and "absolutely perfect" new Marquis. He said hey let me show ya something. He dug through his cleaning products and got some polish and a rag. He walked over to our dually which was perfect right? He wiped this stuff on in one small area of the wheel and about one minute wipped it off. No more effort than that and it looked new. Ok so it wasn't perfect before but my eyes were still full of new Marquis. This fella managed to fix my eyesight. He then tells me that he can no longer find this product (I have since lost the name). We have spent the last year looking for his polish.
Every minute I spend out here polishing these really nasty old wheels on this old Marquis I remember Mike. I'm really gonna get that guy!
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Just a further heads up. When using the White Diamond polish and a power ball, the cone wants to climb off the wheel onto the rubber tire. This stuff leaves a bleach mark on tires so do the edge by hand.
Met a fella today who uses the Zephyr product and that also works very well. I dont know if it bleaches the tire.
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Ed, looks a bit bleached. See attached.
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We went to Eloy, AZ yesterday afternoon and had our wheels polished at one of the three polish shops there. It was amazing! They had two guys doing it and we were only there about 30 minutes. All 6 wheels now have a beautiful mirror finish! I am super happy with the results. They use rouge and a high speed polisher. The best part is they only charged me 5 bucks per wheel. $30 bucks total and we were on our way! I will get some pictures sometime this week and post to show you how nice. It was well worth the trip from Chandler to Eloy to get this done. I will get this done every 6 months from now on.
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Keith,
That does look a bit bleached but you cannot be the first to have gotten some on the tire so if it was any real concern that would have surfaced with big cautions on the container....if it concerns you call the maker of the product and see what they have to say. Tires see a lot of exposure to many things on the road and I am sure that the manufacturers are formulating the materials to be as impervious as they can be.
Later Ed
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Hi Dan,
What is the name and address of the shop, I live in Tucson and it sounds like a smokin Deal.
Regards Fred
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Hey Fred ... The shop we ended up at is called M&M Polishing at 518 Sunshine BLVD right across from the Pilot Truck stop in Eloy. The one I intended to go to is called Show Truck Polish at 526 Sunshine BLVD. I missed the Show Truck Place because it is in the same yard as a massage parlor and doesn't have a really big sign advertising the wheel polishing. Either place is the same price. I'll try and post some pictures.
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Here are the pictures
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You guys got me motivated so I broke out the unused Mother's Wheel for my drill/screwdriver and bought some Mother's Aluminum Wheel Polish. The wheel, yes I said wheel because that's how long my motivation lasted, 1.5 hours and it is about 200% better and about 30% as good as it should be. So...Does anyone know of polishing shop like Dan found? Only in Central Florida? Guess not. Anyway another month and I might start on wheel #2. Happy Camping!
Jerry
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Fred,
The Petro truck stop at the Sunland Gin Rd exit also has a polish service. Last time I was there it was $5/wheel. They are located just beyond the semi fuel pumps.
Steve
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You guys got me motivated so I broke out the unused Mother's Wheel for my drill/screwdriver and bought some Mother's Aluminum Wheel Polish. The wheel, yes I said wheel because that's how long my motivation lasted, 1.5 hours and it is about 200% better and about 30% as good as it should be. So...Does anyone know of polishing shop like Dan found? Only in Central Florida? Guess not. Anyway another month and I might start on wheel #2. Happy Camping!
Jerry
Jerry, Dans wheels look great and I would be happier for them had I not just worked so hard in 90 deg. heat getting ours looking nearly that good. LOL Your mistake and mine a while back was the Mothers. This time I used White Diamond but that is hard on sidewalls if it gets on them. Zephyr was mentioned earlier in this thread and works very well too but I hear that it doesnt bleach the tire. I havent used it myself so I cant say for sure. All that said, had I the chance now I would have it done like Dan did but don't tell him I said that! They sure look good!
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Thanks Dan and Steve,
The pictures look Great, Thanks for the address. Looks like I'm headed west to make my wheels Happy!
Regards, Fred
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Hi Guys,
Well thank you very much Dan, Took a cruise this morning up I-10 to Eloy. Stopped at M&M polishing as you suggested and had them polish my wheels. (I think they were original from the factory) Any way it took them 5 minutes each and cost me 5 bucks each. Awesome job! Best 20 dollars i've spent in a long time.
BTW the Pilot across the street has diesel for 2.19 so I filled her up. Thanks again to Dan. enclosed are before and after pix
Regards Fred