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I like my polished aluminum wheels, but

LITTLEREBEL

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How do I keep them shining, because soap and water isn't doing the job. Do I purchase a polisher or a adapter for my drill? I also picked up some white diamond and mothers wheel polish.
 

djevox

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If they are raw (uncoated), then you will need to polish and seal them with aluminum sealer. I can’t remember the name of it but there was a product I used a dozen or so years ago that claimed the sealant was good for one year. The vehicle I used it on was a show vehicle, so it was almost never driven and the sealant worked fine for that use.
 

Rick3478

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Yeah, they don't stay that way, which is why lots of wheels are plated or painted. If you're stuck on the polished aluminum look, you can wax or polymer coat depending on your spending or maintenance comfort level.
 

Belvedere

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In the old days we used a product called Zoop. Worked good. It's supposedly reformulated, even better and now called Shine. Haven't used the new stuff.

 

LITTLEREBEL

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If they are raw (uncoated), then you will need to polish and seal them with aluminum sealer. I can’t remember the name of it but there was a product I used a dozen or so years ago that claimed the sealant was good for one year. The vehicle I used it on was a show vehicle, so it was almost never driven and the sealant worked fine for that use.
I bought them new and don't think there was a coating on them. I've been watching some videos on youtube on how they sand and polish forged wheels and it doesn't seem too bad.
 

djevox

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I bought them new and don't think there was a coating on them. I've been watching some videos on youtube on how they sand and polish forged wheels and it doesn't seem too bad.
you shouldn’t need to sand anything unless there is extreme oxidation. It’s worth trying mother’s first, preferably with some drill polishing pads like trooper mentioned. I remember setting aside 4 hours every Saturday for polishing the Weld wheels on my first vehicle (an s-10). It was pretty miserable since all I used was an old t-shirt and mothers polish.
 

JerryBsizzle

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How do I keep them shining, because soap and water isn't doing the job. Do I purchase a polisher or a adapter for my drill? I also picked up some white diamond and mothers wheel polish.
I went through this and my experience is there is no easy wipe on/off to keep them shining. Luckily getting a buffer with some buffer wheels and polishing compounds makes it easy. I even used sandpaper to take so.e scratches out then stepped it with the buffing wheels.

You can try to coat them, but with the heat and iron it won't really keep the shine. It takes some elbow grease, but nothing looks as good as fresh polished wheels. Screenshot_20221224_191105_Photos.jpg Screenshot_20221224_191143_Photos.jpg
 

sep1006

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White Diamond is as good or better than anything out there. Used it for years on one of my bikes.

Trouble with Aluminum wheels is they're like Black trucks. Look REAL GOOD when you first clean them but 30 minutes later they show everything.
 

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