Community Forums

rotts4u · 07-06-2007, 08:28 AM

My new XC chassis boasts that it has Aluminum wheels that are coated and never need polish etc, however I noted that after washing them with soap and water as suggested by Freightliner they were not really clean at all. I used some mild polish and now of course they look great. But I assum this means they are not really coated and I will have to continue to polish them.

Is this consistant with your experience as well? I used White diamond polish and they look stunning now, but of course this will need to be done 1-2 times a year I assume

rotts4u · 07-06-2007, 08:28 AM

My new XC chassis boasts that it has Aluminum wheels that are coated and never need polish etc, however I noted that after washing them with soap and water as suggested by Freightliner they were not really clean at all. I used some mild polish and now of course they look great. But I assum this means they are not really coated and I will have to continue to polish them.

Is this consistant with your experience as well? I used White diamond polish and they look stunning now, but of course this will need to be done 1-2 times a year I assume

Gary RVRoamer · 07-06-2007, 11:17 AM

Freightliner has several wheel options and your chassis comes with whatever wheels the coach builder specified for it and may be coated or not.
And some of the coated wheels have a slightly milky appearance, as opposed to a chrome-like brightness.

You can polish the coating off the wheels, or scratch it with an abrasive type of polish. Once you do that, you have to polish forever.

Harry B · 07-06-2007, 11:52 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">My new XC chassis boasts that it has Aluminum wheels that are coated and never need polish </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

As stated in the previuos post, Freightliner supplies coated and uncoated wheels, depending what was specified. If you have the coated wheels there will be a transparent sticker on the wheels with black lettering stating that it is coated and should not be polished. This is the case with my wheels and the manufacturer also stated this would be the case.

vicsryd · 07-06-2007, 02:27 PM

I received paperwork from Alcoa as a part of my documentation bundle which explain all of it.

I had an encounter with an 11" high curb last year and due process of professional repair required taking the coating off. Then I had one very nice looking wheel and three relatively dull ones in comparison. So I had the repair/polish outfit take the coating off all the wheels.

Per the pros recommendation I now polish them 3 times a year with Wicked Metal Polish (got it from a stainless steel tank trailer supplier locally) and then have them do the full deal on all the wheels once a year ($140). A little bit of a pain but fortunately they are just down the road and the wheels look better than anyone else's.

rotts4u · 07-06-2007, 05:10 PM

Mine were labeled as clear coated but did not seem to be really clean and in fact had some stains that normal cleaning did not remove. I lightly used the metal polish called white diamonds which instantly turned black indicating it was working on the aluminum so I assume they either are not coated well or not at all. There was no effort required to properly polish the one I tackled and now it looks fantastic compared to the other dull and stained ones. I guess I need to do them all now.

SCVJeff · 07-09-2007, 09:40 PM

If they are coated, wouldn't the polish not turn black? It has nothing to react with. Just curious..

rotts4u · 07-10-2007, 03:02 AM

That is exactly what I thought too Jeff. So I am thinking my wheels are not really coated after all. I look at the one I polished and it looks so much better than the others that I know I will end up polishing them all now.

Sammie · 07-10-2007, 02:35 PM

Here is an excellent easy to use polish. Be sure to use the wheel cleaner prep solution first.

http://www.rvupgradestore.com/index....PROD&ProdID=84

Shanwick · 07-23-2007, 07:56 AM

I don't know if Freightliner uses Alcoa or Accuride wheels, but I have Accurides on my Travel Supreme on a Spartan chassis. I was wondering if I had coated wheels or not, so I called Accuride and was told that if you look on a rear wheel, there will be a 5 digit number followed by either AIP or AIPC. If it says AIPC then you have coated wheels, which, unfortunately, I don't. In my case it was 28844 AIP. I've had good luck using a Mother's Wax Powerball and Powerball Mini and a cordless drill to polish the wheels.

Jeff

rotts4u · 07-25-2007, 05:40 AM

Thanks Shanwick. That gave me the answer I needed. Mine are in fact AIP. So that explins why they need polishing. Now I have some work to do !!

rotts4u · 07-27-2007, 03:43 AM

I already posted this on the Tiffin board but here is a quick report from my wheel polishing test on my new Phaeton

After looking at several posts on how to polish my wheels I went and bought the Meguires Hot wheel polish and then I already had the mothers and Eagle aluminum polish products plus something called White Diamonds that I already had used and liked. My intention last night was just to try all of them and see which was the best and then leave the long polishing task for next week while I was on vacation and would have more time.

So last night I started to work by hand on my one of the two rear wheels of my 08 Phaeton and within a few minutes settled on the White Diamonds as my prefered polish. It is a white milky liquid that needs to be shaken to mix but it was amazing how quickly and easily it would cut the oxidation on the wheel.

Grated my coach is new so it was not in bad condition anway, but of those 4 products this one was by far the best. I just poured it on a rag and lightly rubbed until the black starts to show, then wait one minute and remove with a clean towel. Only in a few sections with bad stains required me to polish it twice.

Then before I knew it I was almost finished with the whole wheel. I think each rear wheel would take maybe 15-20 minutes max maybe more like 10-15. Of course without a powerball I was not able to get the area right around the lug nuts but to be honest it is not that noticable.

My wife came out to see why I was missing from the house and her comment was the wheels are STRIKING. They really do look great and if it is this easy I dont mind doing it several times a year.

I have not seen this White Diamonds product in too many places and I actually found it at a Marina/motorcycle dealer but if you can find it I highly suggest you give it a try. I think in another 15 minutes total I could have also polished the front wheels too.

I also went ahead and waxed them with Collonite insulator wax. It is not really intended for cars but a lot of people use it as do I on normal vehicles. It is a very long lasting product that offers insane beading of water on cars. Hopefully it will prolong the wheel polish status as well.

Good luck for those of you about to tackle your wheels. It really makes them look great.

Chief · 07-27-2007, 04:07 AM

Great Forum--Just another of those interesting little tidbits of info (AIP/AIPC) that I would never have taken the time to research for myself. At ant rate, think I will delay the polishing routine as long as possible. Sounds like a four letter word. ""WORK""

vicsryd · 07-30-2007, 11:03 AM

When I can find some I will try a comparison of White Diamonds to the Wicked Metal Polish I currently use. The Wicked product works particularly well so it will be interesting to see the difference.