Determining Wheel Types

[MrHandWash]

So... I know it's pretty straight forward. I could always use a multi-purpose wheel cleaner. However!!! I am curious about determining a couple types wheels.

-Chrome and Polished Aluminum (visual differences?)

-Painted silver or white aluminum vs. standard coated aluminum or steel. They look very similar.

I know to always ask the customer general questions, but I would like to get to the point where I can just stare at any wheel and be like: Boom! already know what type of wheel that is. I also know to always go with a general multi-purpose just to be safe, but this subject irks me by not knowing

P.S. I looked in the FAQ and How To's and didn't see any thread directly related to this. I think I may have posted a question relevant to this topic a month or two ago, but I don't think anyone gave visuals or a reference link.

[Setec Astronomy]

I'm sorry to say that this mostly comes from experience and knowing a bit about manufacturing and metallurgy. Steel wheels will always be stamped and welded, so they will look a bit different that a cast aluminum wheel (occasionally you may see a billet wheel with a spun rim and a machined center, but that's pretty unusual).

It can be really tough to tell the diff between a polished, chromed, and cleared wheel, chrome is a slightly different color than aluminum, but it can be tough to tell. Similarly it can be tough to differentiate anodized vs. painted vs. cleared on different surfaces of wheels, frequently some areas are machined, while others are as-cast, and have different finishes, so it's tough because you've got (perhaps) a different finish and a different texture...plus they are always coming up with new variants like the chrome-plated plastic fronts that are glued on that they sell as "chrome" wheels...

[MrHandWash]

Yeah, It's hard to diferentiate the types of wheels. I know certain materials of knock-off brands. However, on nice cars though... it's hard to tell.

[artofdetailing]

I'm sorry to say that this mostly comes from experience and knowing a bit about manufacturing and metallurgy. Steel wheels will always be stamped and welded, so they will look a bit different that a cast aluminum wheel (occasionally you may see a billet wheel with a spun rim and a machined center, but that's pretty unusual).

It can be really tough to tell the diff between a polished, chromed, and cleared wheel, chrome is a slightly different color than aluminum, but it can be tough to tell. Similarly it can be tough to differentiate anodized vs. painted vs. cleared on different surfaces of wheels, frequently some areas are machined, while others are as-cast, and have different finishes, so it's tough because you've got (perhaps) a different finish and a different texture...plus they are always coming up with new variants like the chrome-plated plastic fronts that are glued on that they sell as "chrome" wheels...

I can help out a little bit by saying that most of the mercedes AMG rims are clear coated.