Forum Discussion
- I tend to lean toward the clear coat theory, but...
When you talked about the Alaska road surface water trucks it made me think???
My granddaughter's black car was sitting in a parking lot that had a sprinkler system that used very hard well water. It spotted her car finish, her glass, her chrome wheels, every where the water hit it was spotted and it wouldn't wash off. We rubbed it with rags soaked in vinegar, removed every spot.
This may not be your problem, but worth checking. - My rims are starting to look like that also , not as bad ,but starting. Then again ,they are made in China and they probably have chinese clear coat on them,as factory probably sold the supplied clear coat for a profit and used their lead base crappy paint.
- I would just apply some forgetaboutit until it was tire time.
Then it would be either powder coat or new wheels for me. - For the hobbiest DIY'ers that want to tackle clear coat removal--I'd suggest to remove wheels, take to a tire shop and dismount the tires. You will get stripper on the tires if left in place on the rims and won't have access to the bead flange surface.
Another thing to know about aluminum: as soon as raw aluminum is exposed to air, it begins to oxidise. The valiant efforts to remove a barrier coating may afford the whole rim to start oxidising again if left untreated. blofgren wrote:
Bob Vaughn wrote:
From the you tube video's I have viewed it looks like I can go to home depot and get some spray paint stripper and remove the clear coat. They show it being used on car rims but I am leary of rv rims....
Hi Bob. Do you have a link to these videos? My trailer rims look like this as well and I'm watching this thread with real interest.
No I just googled removing the clear coat on aluminum rims......a bunch came up....Bob Vaughn wrote:
From the you tube video's I have viewed it looks like I can go to home depot and get some spray paint stripper and remove the clear coat. They show it being used on car rims but I am leary of rv rims....
Hi Bob. Do you have a link to these videos? My trailer rims look like this as well and I'm watching this thread with real interest.Bob Vaughn wrote:
From the you tube video's I have viewed it looks like I can go to home depot and get some spray paint stripper and remove the clear coat. They show it being used on car rims but I am leary of rv rims....
Aircraft stripper is the chemical of choice for aluminum and alloy rims - but you HAVE to protect the rubber from it!
Rob- Typically, oxidation of the rims start when the clear coat barrier has been penetrated. Wheel weights is a very typical location of clear coat failure as they are pinched onto the rim and immediately penetrate the clear coat.
There are a few options to remove the "crud" and refinish the rims. One of the better solutions is to pull them off, dismount the rubber, and send them off to a powder coater. The powder coating process involves blasting the aluminum oxide off the rim, applying a paint coating, and baked to temper the paint. the result is a coating with excellent wear characteristics.
FWIW, I have a set of aluminum rims on a BMW with typical oxidation issues. These wheels are about $1500 to replace so they will be sent out to my body shop buddy and given the full treatment. - From the you tube video's I have viewed it looks like I can go to home depot and get some spray paint stripper and remove the clear coat. They show it being used on car rims but I am leary of rv rims....
- Those look like Sendel TO2 wheels. Depending on how old they are you may want to contact them and get a recommendation.
