Aluminum wheels

[ARFFMAN]

Anyone know of a product for coating an aluminium wheel. so as to reduce the maintenance. I polish mine once a month if I don't want to work real hard on polishing each time.

[FIRE UP]

Well Gang,
It's been a while since a wheel polishing thread has popped up. To those of you that are new to the scenario, polishing aluminum, ANY ALUMINUM, not just wheels, is LABOR. There's a bit to think about here. One, what kind of condition are the wheels in, prior to the start of polishing them? Two, if in bad shape, as in no shine at all, then you have to start with a more aggressive polish or, rouge. I've done a few million miles of aluminum polishing, starting on my '70 Norton 750 Commando back a few decades.

Been polishing aluminum ever since. I think my fingers on my right hand, are shorter than the left ones, due to the amount of rubbing I've done for all these years. Yes, you can use a machine, if all the parameters are in place.
1 The right type of machine
2. The right type of pad, foam or wool
3. The right type of paste, polish or rouge bar

And about "coating them" after you've done them, well, good luck with that. The factory clear coated wheels, no matter who's they are, is normally a pretty darn strong coating. Some say to NEVER try and polish it. "It will ruin it immediately"!! Well, pretty much assured that they've never polished any wheels or, messed with any Urethane coatings. You could rub on a clear coated wheel 'till your hearts content or, your fingers fall off and you won't even scratch the factory coatings.
If those coatings were as weak as some think, just washing the wheels with a brush would damage them. And if that was the case, the companies that supplied the "coated" wheels, would get an earful way more than they'd like to.

So, suffice to say, if you've got clear coated wheels and, they're not damaged or, have the clear coating peeling in any way, shape or form, you're on good shape. But, for the rest of us, once you've taken the time and energy to do a fine, super nice job on your wheels, they will last a long, long time before they will need a touch up. One of the things that effect how long they last is, what kind of environment they're subjected to. Something like parking next to an OCEAN, will have way more of a detrimental effect than say, parking some place in Phoenix for an extended stay.

Aluminum, especially un-coated aluminum, oxidizes as we sit here and read this. There's no doubt about it. But, and here's the kicker here, the nicer the finish, as in the smoother, shinier (weird way to spell that) they are done to, the longer they will last between touch up jobs. And, a touch up job for a wheel like like that, takes by hand, oh, about 20 minutes or so. And then lasts for easily a year, depending on conditions.

Here's mine, they've been displayed on here before. They are pretty nice and, even though the coach sits indoors when not in use, if I go do a touch up job about every six months, I can still see a nice difference in the before and after.
Scott

[barclay7568]

Fire UP, can you lend some advice?? As I said earlier, I've never done wheels before and am in new territory. I did one back wheel today and had no problem going around the wheel (like yours in the photos except mine have round holes). I ran into difficulty going around/between the lugs. On the other side, I would like to remove the axle cover, then polish the cover and wheel separately, then put the cover back on. I can't figure out how to remove the cover. Mine is like yours but is solid on the top of the hat and has no emblem. Can you educated me in this regard? thx in advance. joe

[beenthere]

I have found that the Honda plexi polish does seal the finish like it says on the bottle.. works for any alloy metal and especially for plexi glass....I to have polished much..i kbuilt first chopper in 1974 and many since, and go figure sold last bike last yr and now don't ride

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by barclay7568

Fire UP, can you lend some advice?? As I said earlier, I've never done wheels before and am in new territory. I did one back wheel today and had no problem going around the wheel (like yours in the photos except mine have round holes). I ran into difficulty going around/between the lugs. On the other side, I would like to remove the axle cover, then polish the cover and wheel separately, then put the cover back on. I can't figure out how to remove the cover. Mine is like yours but is solid on the top of the hat and has no emblem. Can you educated me in this regard? thx in advance. joe

Hey Joe,
Sorry for the late reply. Been messing with changing out TVs in the coach and, ever heard of the perverbial "can of worms"? Anyway, I'd have to see a picture of your hub cover. The ones on the rear are held on with that center "Hub Nut". It's the large octaganal one with the logo on it that you see. It's actually a form of a cap bolt. They make, and I have, a too for removing it. It's a plastic tool so it doesn't deface the hub nut. On the drivers side, the hub nut is removed by turning it as you would any normal nut, counter-clockwise.
But, on the passenger side, that hub nut is turned CLOCK-WISE to remove it. That's like the old ford (as in waaaaaay along time ago) lug nuts on the drivers and passengers side, different directions for removal. Anyway, once you remove that cap nut, that entire hub cover will come right off.

Now, you say you're having a time getting around the lug nuts, correct? Well, there's really only one remedy for that. REMOVE THE WHEEL, from the coach. Yes, I know, it's a pain in the A$$. But, you only have to do it one time, if it's done correctly. From then on, it's a matter of a touch up, about every six months or so. And since the surface was well done when you removed the wheel, it doesn't take very much to touch things up when the time comes.

I'm retired and, the coach sits in an RV garage attached to the house that is climate controlled. Here in Lake Havasu, it get's a bit warm, to say the least so, it's nice to tinker in about 80 degrees or so, when it's over 100 outside. Hence, this is why I'm doing the TV change-out now. Hope this helps some. Good luck and please ask if you need help.
Scott

p.s.
Here's the "Hub Nut" tool I have mounted in my tool bay.

[barclay7568]

Scott, thanks for the reply. The end of my hub is rounded over and smooth with no emblem. I looked at the wheel/lugnuts again and mine is attached by 5 of the 10 lugnuts. I confirmed that with others over on the Country Coach forum. Since I don't have the tools to remove a tire, I had to find a workaround. So I spent a lot of time getting into all the nooks and crannies and got it done where it looks pretty good.

I don't envy you spending the summer in Havasu. I worked and lived in Palm Springs for 23 years and made a departure when I retired. Nice place to visit, though.

Thanks much for the help.

joe

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by barclay7568

Scott, thanks for the reply. The end of my hub is rounded over and smooth with no emblem. I looked at the wheel/lugnuts again and mine is attached by 5 of the 10 lugnuts. I confirmed that with others over on the Country Coach forum. Since I don't have the tools to remove a tire, I had to find a workaround. So I spent a lot of time getting into all the nooks and crannies and got it done where it looks pretty good.

I don't envy you spending the summer in Havasu. I worked and lived in Palm Springs for 23 years and made a departure when I retired. Nice place to visit, though.

Thanks much for the help.

joe

Joe,
You're quite welcome Sir. Keeping up our coach is kind of a hobby for me. I don't any issues when it comes to taking the time to keep her nice. Polishing the wheels can be a pain, depending on what kind of shape they were in when one started doing it. Mine weren't too bad but, it still took about a couple of hours on each wheel to get them to what you see in the pictures. But, once that's done, it's merely a touch-up about every 6-8 months, depending on what kind of conditions the RV resides in. Ours is in our RV garage so, the touch-ups can be prolonged for up to a year or so.

As for living in Lake Havasu, yep, it does get a tad warm here. But, a couple of things. One, our house is brand new with 2x6 walls all the way around so, the insulation is top knotch. The A/C is ON but, does not cycle but every 1/2 hour to 45 minutes or so. And when it does, it's only cycling for about 6-8 minutes or so and we keep it at 80 in the house. Two, we've installed pool. The water right now is also sitting at 80-82 without any form of heating. Then, there's the BOAT. We take her out often and have fun during the week when the crazies are not racing about running into each other.

Finally, if we just want to get out of the heat, we jump in the big girl and head north to higher altitudes.

One more thing, we'd both rather be here in the heat (when it gets that way) than trying to dodge hurricanes, twisters and earth quakes. Been there done that.
Scott

[marknpeg]

Once you have them polished, get them clear coated. Then you just have to keep them clean, no more polishing. Some will argue that the shine isnt as hard, but I think they are more lustrous.

[mpierce]

Originally Posted by NW Explorers

Seems to me that in the long run you'd be better off to have your wheels clear coated.

In the long run, clear coat fails, and you now have splochy wheels.