Polishing aluminum wheels???

[Superbee Jim]

For those that have polished their wheels, what and where did you get the compound and buffing wheels. Any tips?? Thanks, Jim

[schrist]

Oreilly auto parts

[Sunny1]

Jim,
Here's a past thread with some suggestions.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/best-...ls-229946.html

Kirk

[1doodadd]

Depending on How Bad Your Wheels are will determine the Best Process. If they are real bad needing to be acid bath, meaning very dull in luster? Some aluminum wheels still have some light machining groves left in the from manufacturing. If so you will need a spiral sewn 9" buffing wheel. Do you have a 7 to 9 inch grinder? Milwaukee is the best and the most dependable.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...+buffing+wheel

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...=buffing+rouge

I have buffed out Fuel Tankers build heads, fuel tanks, wheels and diamond plate battery boxes. Te above are just some of the items I use, and have provided pics of my wheels on my 42' 2000 Beaver Marquis

[barmcd]

I use mothers aluminum polish and a polishing ball and wax after finished. They stay a lot cleaner since I started using wheel covers when not in use.

[jleamo1]

I just did mine last week.
I used a Mothers polishing ball on a pistol drill, hand buffed off. It was simple and the polish I picked up at Advance Auto Parts on sale.

[RVNewbie55]

Just be sure they are not Acuride which would have a small label stating that you cannot use any compounds on them.

[TRebel]

Funny you should inquire about this today...

The aluminum wheels on my MH look terrible (IMO).... dull and look like they have water spots in several places. I have used paste wax, with no success.

I did a search on YouTube last evening and found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suwAYH1MWws

Are there others that have used Busch products?

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by RVNewbie55

Just be sure they are not Acuride which would have a small label stating that you cannot use any compounds on them.

Accuride is the brand name of one brand of wheels, it has nothing to do with whether coated or not. Accu-Shield are the Accuride brand coated ones that should never be polished.

[WillandJane]

Does anyone have an idea of how well the Acuride brands holds up in perhaps years with the basic soap and water treatment they say is all that is needs?

WDK

[marjoa]

Originally Posted by RVNewbie55

Just be sure they are not Acuride which would have a small label stating that you cannot use any compounds on them.

Do u have any idea where this label would b posted?

If it's stuck on the inner part of the rim how would someone know?

I've attached 2 pics of my aluminum rims:
1) full view shot
2) Stenciled info on the outside of the rim itself in the outer bead, but no label per se

Would these rims react well to a polishing compound?

[desertdd]

I polish mine once a year with Mothers. I have tried about everything but it seems that it's tough to beat plain old elbow grease.

[ThePowells]

I used to use Ivory dish soap and a dedicated brush to clean the polished wheels and tanks.

[jleamo1]

BE CAREFULL of aluminum cleaners! Read the bottle carefully, most aluminum cleaners are designed for wheels that do NOT have clear coating on them. If you apply that to a wheel with a coating it will destroy it, usually they yellow out and flake off. Make sure it says "clear coat safe" on the bottle.
I only wash mine with the same soap I use on the coach body. The wheels above are Accuride, there is no label on them and they are clear coated. The polish I have in the photo is NOT a compound i.e. no grit, just a wax, cleaner and protectant.
I usually use Mothers products, bought that product on sale and figured I'd give it a try, to my surprise it worked better than the Mothers products I had used in the past.