Polish Aluminium Wheels

I've got a 2nd gen 4R and the stock Aluminium Wheels are in pretty bad shape. Anyone have suggestions on how to clean them up to near - new looking condition either by polishing them, or something else? Thanks

 

Polish 'em, people polish wheels every day. The wheels on my dump truck are polished, they require maintenance, yours will too. Good luck.

 

What's " bad shape"? Really high grit sanding and polish does aluminum wheels miracles.

 

Mother's aluminum polish. Either by hand or with a buffer.

 

Bad shape as in they haven't been cared for in years. They are scratched, pitted, oxidised, and just worn. My hope was to restore them to almost brand new. I was watching some videos on how people polish them and it does seem they use really high grit sandpaper and finish with aluminium polish.

 

I found this today on Amazon.

$180 Flitz Professional Detailers Choice Car Detailing Kit - USA-Made Car Care Kits for Vehicles - Includes 1lb Polish, 16oz Pre-Clean, 8oz Sealant, 2 Scuff Pads, 4 Buff Balls & 4 Towels for Restoration

https://www.amazon.ca/Flitz-Detaile...ds=flitz+polish+canada&qid=1764296348&sr=8-11

Anyone have experience with this or know if it is actually worth it?

 

Don't tell me you don't have those wheels polished yet! lol I have experience with the Flitz polish, not the entire 'kit'. It's basically pick a polish and start polishing, watch a couple of YouTube vids, pick up some pointers and git er done, you'll do fine. If you already polished those wheels... show us some pictures!

 

No, I haven't polished them yet. Its getting too cold and we are getting lots of snow. That'll be a spring project. But I'll for sure post pics when I do it!

 

Same here. Flitz polish is good stuff.

 

You mention that they are pitted and depending on the extent of the pitting and the contours of the wheel style, trying to polish them may be frustrating at best. Unless these wheels have sentimental value, it may be worth replacing them. I don't wish to discourage or doing nothing. Please keep in mind that if and when the pitting is removed, the wheels need to somehow be sealed either by powder coating, or a finish that effectively adheres to aluminum and for this to be successful and either way, the aluminum needs to be extremely well prepared.

 

I opened this thread thinking the wheels would be square or something

because they are Polish

 

Some of the finish that you see that is dingy is actually the clear coat that they put on the wheels to seal them. You cant just use standard aluminum wheel polish on them and expect them to shine because the wheel polish isnt actually getting to the aluminum to clean them. You must first sand off the clear coating in the areas you want to polish and after you have sanded the wheel down to bare aluminum then you can start polishing them.

There are special buffing pads and aggressive cutting compounds that some wheel polishers use but i have seen them leave deep scratch marks in the aluminum after the job is done. I would start off with sand paper somewhere around 800 grit and then work your way up to 1500 grit wet sand with a soft backing pad and then start polishing them. My personal favorite is Blue Magic aluminum polish. I can get nearly a mirror finish out of them. The outer lip of these wheels was also clear coated. I had to sand it off, then polish them out using the steps above.

 

Its funny how you meat challenges like this in you're life where some of the words we use are spelled the right way, but sound the wrong way when you pronounce them the right way.

 

As long as I didn't brake the thread for OP

 

Thanks for the tips. I bought a rim for the spare tire that is a stock 2nd gen 4Runner rim, so I can mess around with that one first and do my best at cleaning it up. I can't wait to start!

 

I was originally looking at doing aftermarket rims, but I've completely changed plans and I want to keep my 4R as original as possible.

 

lol




Goodluck OP