Chrome Clad Wheel Polishing

[caudleej]

Decided to polish the wheels today. They are clear coated chrome. They are hazy. I tried my mothers power cone with some Meguiar's ultimate polish with no result. I then went to M105 which left these swirls that I cannot remove.

Please help. 405004050140502

[Rsurfer]

Why would they clear coat over chrome? Owned a lot of chrome wheels and never found any with clear coat over them.

[Lt1xL82]

If your wheels are what I think they are, they should be maintained like paint, not "metal". A quick way to verify is take a very small amount of fine metal polish to a very small area of the wheel. If it doesn't turn black, than treat the "chrome" like paint.

[swanicyouth]

What's done is done. But, whenever you are working on strange surfaces like this - you should always do a test spot. Did you do ALL 4 wheels with 105?

I'm guessing your tried 205 to clean up the swirls?

Was 105 fixing the defects or making them worse?

[caudleej]

Only did a small test spot on one wheel. A lot of manufacturers clear coat there wheels now. They are not pure chrome I verified that with some chrome polish.

[Brody]

Those F150 wheels are clear coated polished aluminum, not chrome. 99% of the polished aluminum clear coated OEM wheels I deal with look slightly hazy, they aren't intended to have a mirror finish like chrome, at least from the manufacturer. Polishing the clear coat isn't going to take away any of the haziness or make them more reflective.

[caudleej]

Brody, thanks for your input. Through some additional research I realized that they are aluminum bit chrome. A friend of mine told me that the reason they look so shiny at the dealer is because they put some sort of oil on there like tire spray. I noticed that if I get tire shine on them they shine better. I don't like the thought of TS or oil on my wheels.

[Lt1xL82]

I'd shelve the power cone.

Try a small test spot with a paint glaze. Use a really fine hand foam applicator to apply and a quality microfiber towel to lightly hand buff. No machines. If the surface is not clean to start, use a seriously mild hand paint polish first...keeping in mind what Brody shared about them looking slightly hazy...sounds like Brody as a good understanding of the issue.

[hoyt66]

Those F150 wheels are clear coated polished aluminum, not chrome. 99% of the polished aluminum clear coated OEM wheels I deal with look slightly hazy, they aren't intended to have a mirror finish like chrome, at least from the manufacturer. Polishing the clear coat isn't going to take away any of the haziness or make them more reflective.

^^^this^^^ I have the same thing on my wheels. Like other posters have said, treat them like paint (because they are cc'd). It's hard to tell how much your corrected the cc

because its clear and you can see the polishing marks in the aluminum under the clear. Polish them, coat them and move on. Here's minehttp://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=61130&size=1
Kinda hazy but I live with it for now

[Setec Astronomy]

Yeah, so there is less chrome plating today than their used to be because it's environmentally unfriendly. Not sure if that's also the reason for these "high polish" wheels today, but a lot of people mistake them for chrome.

What I have found is the same as some others have mentioned, that when they polish the aluminum prior to the CC, they don't exactly do an Autogeekian job, I spent a long time trying to polish some swirls before I came to the conclusion they were UNDER the CC.

But it's ok, after too many winters of road salt, I had the wheels refinished and clear powder coated. The wheel shop sent them out to be polished, and then proceeded to powder coat over some etched spots that the polishing guy missed AND some black polishing residue.

This will be fun when my wife tries to get me in for dinner and I yell back "I'm just trying to get this brake dust off, but it almost seems like it's under the clear..."

[hoyt66]

Yeah, so there is less chrome plating today than their used to be because it's environmentally unfriendly. Not sure if that's also the reason for these "high polish" wheels today, but a lot of people mistake them for chrome.

What I have found is the same as some others have mentioned, that when they polish the aluminum prior to the CC, they don't exactly do an Autogeekian job, I spent a long time trying to polish some swirls before I came to the conclusion they were UNDER the CC.

But it's ok, after too many winters of road salt, I had the wheels refinished and clear powder coated. The wheel shop sent them out to be polished, and then proceeded to powder coat over some etched spots that the polishing guy missed AND some black polishing residue.

This will be fun when my wife tries to get me in for dinner and I yell back "I'm just trying to get this brake dust off, but it almost seems like it's under the clear..."

When you say you had the wheels refinished..so you sent them out to be stripped -repolished and clear powder coated?

[Setec Astronomy]

When you say you had the wheels refinished..so you sent them out to be stripped -repolished and clear powder coated?

Yes, I didn't know they weren't going to do the polishing in-house, and I surely didn't know they weren't going to polish some of the factory polished areas and just leave them all stained and etched, much less think they wouldn't clean off all the polish residue before powder coat. I made the mistake of thinking the polished parts were a no brainer, we spent a lot of time talking about what they were going to do with the barrels that were not painted at the factory and were badly etched. The barrels came out great, though, lol.

[hoyt66]

Yes, I didn't know they weren't going to do the polishing in-house, and I surely didn't know they weren't going to polish some of the factory polished areas and just leave them all stained and etched, much less think they wouldn't clean off all the polish residue before powder coat. I made the mistake of thinking the polished parts were a no brainer, we spent a lot of time talking about what they were going to do with the barrels that were not painted at the factory and were badly etched. The barrels came out great, though, lol.

I've polished some aluminum and brass for plastic injection molds in my early years. Specifically molds for clear lens's. So were talking near optical polish. It's a TON of methodical work. I couldn't imagine doing my wheels. I've thought about it....for a split second and then came to my senses. Maybe if it more than a 2012 Challenger...like maybe if it were a Hellcat:dblthumb2:

[Setec Astronomy]

I've polished some aluminum and brass for plastic injection molds in my early years. Specifically molds for clear lens's. So were talking near optical polish. It's a TON of methodical work. I couldn't imagine doing my wheels. I've thought about it....for a split second and then came to my senses. Maybe if it more than a 2012 Challenger...like maybe if it were a Hellcat:dblthumb2:

Yeah, but most of the surfaces were already polished, it was just the areas where the original clear was compromised where they needed correction. Although it may be the chemical stripping of the original clear frosted the polished surfaces, but that shouldn't have taken much.