Polishing wheels on Ford Chassis

I have a 2009 Winnie on a F-53 chassis... I too have 22.5" aluminum rims... The two front rims and the two outer duals are aluminum and the two inner duals are painted steel.

They are made by Alcoa for Ford... The "hubcaps" have the Alcoa logo, and the rims have the Ford logo and some part numbers laser etched along the edges.

liborko wrote:
For number of years until recently, Ford was using 8-studs hubs and wheels hub piloted and standard wheels were steel made by Accuride. Only wheels made of aluminum that fit these hubs are Ford aluminum wheels optional for F550 chassis that are too narrow for 245/70R19.5 tires common on F53 chassis. Few years ago Ford switched to 10 stud hubs and wheels and some of the aftermarket 22.5" wheels might fit these hubs. So the chances that anyone has aluminum wheels on F53 are very slim.

FIRE UP: Your wheels are proprietary Freightliner wheels very likely made by Alcoa(with Freightliner logo holes) for Freightliner not available for anyone else.

My parents bought a 2005 or 2006 (can't remember) Georgetown on the F 53 chassis brand new. It came with aluminum Alcoas.

Duplicate

Nathan,
You should visit the best source of info for you new Allegro, the owners group. Just follow the link over to Tiffin RV Network. Over there you will find a very active, and knowledgable group of Tiffin Motorhome Owners who know all the answers to all your Allegro questions. There are few active rv owners groups that surpass them.

good luck and safe travels...

C-Leigh Racing wrote:
Fire up, you mean you've never heard of or used Flitz polish before.
That Flitz is so good, you can just about dab a wad of the paste on, let it sit & wipe it off & will be chrome looking.
I've used it on fuel tanks, rims & anything aluminum I wanted polished. Even tested some spots on old dull acid washed aluminum tankers & turned the spot chrome.
Is a product from Germany though.
Neil

Neil,
Yes Sir, I have not only heard of Flitz but, I've seen it demonstrated at many-a fairs, RV shows, Hot Rod shows, and much more. Now, I don't doubt your use of it but, Aluminum oxidizes, much like metal rusts. But, Aluminum just get's more and more porous and unless near corrosive atmospheres, it won't change colors like metal will.

Anyway, on extremely weathered aluminum, some which has been neglected and subjected to all the elements have to throw at it, will not simply turn to chrome when being touched by Flitz or any other aluminum polish on this planet. Again, this is not to argue with you, I'm simply stating that it takes a fair amount of work/labor and grades of polish to bring the surface of the aluminum to a "non-porous" or, otherwise seen as a very smooth state.

There are chemicals that will "Etch" aluminum and make it very bright but, not shiny. We used them on the FD for our extremely oxidized diamond deck. It made it real bright and new looking but, was extremely toxic and, therefore it was taken away from us.

Anyway, again, if the OP get's back, he'll state for sure what kind of actual wheels or, wheel liners he has.

" Posted By: VinCee on 03/17/14 07:15am
My previous rig, an Allegro on the smaller chassis had 19.5 wheels with the stainless liners. In comparison to alloy wheels it seems to me that the liners have more shine to them and appear brighter in appearance."

VinCee,
Your statement is partially correct. If you were to put a well cared for Stainless Steel wheel liner right next to a highly polished alloy wheel, there is a different appearance. Yes, they're both shiny but, I feel the Stainless ones are a deep colored tone. Where as the aluminum is actually a brighter shiny. Just an opinion.
Scott

Fire up, you mean you've never heard of or used Flitz polish before.
That Flitz is so good, you can just about dab a wad of the paste on, let it sit & wipe it off & will be chrome looking.
I've used it on fuel tanks, rims & anything aluminum I wanted polished. Even tested some spots on old dull acid washed aluminum tankers & turned the spot chrome.
Is a product from Germany though.
Neil

F53: Motorhome Chassis
•22,000-, 24,000- and 26,000-lb. GVWR chassis equipped with polished aluminum wheels

Post like this make this forum entertaining. If the guy would have just post "best way to polish wheels" we would have had people replying, "what is the make and model". But, he included the chassis type and automatically everyone else knows his RV better than him.

My previous rig, an Allegro on the smaller chassis had 19.5 wheels with the stainless liners. In comparison to alloy wheels it seems to me that the liners have more shine to them and appear brighter in appearance.

2bzy2c wrote:
This picture shows otherwise.



The close up image shows the steel wheel covered by the liner. Or am I missing something???

I won't argue with you, but they do look like simulators. Maybe it is just how the picture came out.

Well Sir,
My eyes, while still somewhat good, can't see the real detail of that particular picture and, because of the way it's pasted on here, I cannot zoom in on it to see any close-up detail. But, most of the time, Stainless Steel Wheel simulators do not have that tight of a fit to the original holes nor are they usually the same shape. They are typically more round. I've not seen all possible versions of them but, again, once one has seen many of them and, know exactly what alloy wheels look like, you can distinguish them from quite a distance.
Scott