Wheel Coating Water Behavior Discussion

[Eldorado2k]

Hopefully it helps others understand the water behavior of some that are commonly used, but also to start a discussion of other user experiences.

Ok I’ll jump in and add my recent experience regarding wheels & beading, however since my wheels are chrome I didn’t go the coating route but instead tested out a couple of metal polishes and the results turned out to be quite eye opening.

The 2 products I tested were:
-BriteMax Final Shine Metal Polish & Sealant
-Turtle Wax Chrome Polish & Rust Remover



I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with this Turtle Wax Chrome Polish, but for those of you who are you’ve probably seen the several reviews of it on youtube and it would appear as if this little $3 OTC metal polish is somekind of hidden gem of a chrome polish, but let me tell you that contrary to popular belief, when put under a bright led inspection light it’s anything but brilliant.

The Turtle Wax is easy to work with, but it leaves a slight yellow haze on the chrome no matter how good you buff it off. This is really noticeable when compared to the brilliant mirror bright shine that the Britemax finishes out to. There’s a clear difference in quality between the 2 products.

I agree wheels tend to somehow bead water on their own, but I did see a difference when I coated my wheels. The beads are tighter than a "naked" wheel, and the water tends to sheet off much faster when a coating has been applied. When left to sit in the rain, the wheels seem to have less water standing on them since the beads just roll off.

Up until now I had always believed that beading on wheels was virtually a non factor since IMO all wheels bead to a certain extent.. But seeing what the Britemax did to my chrome wheels opened my eyes for the 1st time, and the results were a bit different that expected.

Check it out. Here’s the wheel that had been polished with the Turtle Wax Chrome Polish & Rust Remover after being cleaned with Megs Wheel Brightener and a soapy Mothers Wheel Brush.
Notice the water behavior after rinsing clean. It mostly sheets right off within seconds. [hence the belief that all wheels shed/bead water]



Now lets look at the front wheel, which was polished with Britemax Final Shine Metal Polish & Sealant 6 days prior. I washed this wheel with Megs D114 and the same soapy Mothers Wheel Brush.
Look at the dramatic difference in water behavior.



Rinse it again just because I almost don’t believe what I’m seeing...



And here it is... 1st time in my life where I’ve seen the mythical water beading on wheels.. Chrome wheels at that!



And look at that BriteMax shine! I was able to see the difference all week. And when I dried the Britemax wheel using the Metro Sidekick, the water blew off faster than I’ve ever experienced before.

I don’t know why I waited so long to polish my chrome wheels with this stuff. I ordered another bottle of it last night.

Whether it’s on bare aluminum and now chrome, I’ve never had another metal polish impress the way that the Britemax Final Shine has. The stuff is the bomb.

[Maresca]

Hi, did someone tried Drexler Wheel Coat for a while? I'm would like to know if it works for 1-2 years like they say or if it lasts less.