Polishing wheels on Ford Chassis

[nathan]

Any recommendations on polishing aluminum wheels on Ford 53 chassis. Do not know mfg. Freightliner uses Alcoa but do not know what Ford uses.

[FIRE_UP]

DSDP Don wrote:
Let's get back to polishing....When I first purchased my Monaco in 2005, the Accuride wheels looked nice. They eventually started to dull. I bought a Mother's Power Ball and used Mother's polish. I was like "Tim the Tool Man Taylor", the more the better. I would put on a ton of polish and try to make the wheels look good. All I got were several towels full of black gunk while wiping the polish off of the rims.

Every once in a while I would see someone's rims that looked like "Fire Up's" and ask how they did it. Well....I finally figured out I was using waaaaay too much polish. I started using "Flitz" (Mother's would be fine too) and cut down the amount to about a thimble full per wheel. As "Fire UP" stated, you have to put some elbow grease into it until they get highly polished. After that, keep wheel covers on them when not in use and all you'll need is a little touch up every couple of months.

Here are the Monaco rims after some work.



My new coach has the Accuride AccuShield wheels that are coated and do not require polishing. The good news, no polishing, the bad news, they don't shine like the uncoated wheels. I'm a little disappointed, but not enough to strip off the coating since I have 6 wheels now.

Don,
That wheel looks outstanding Sir. Yep, not much polish is actually needed when you're working the wheels to the shine you want. I have also tried many types of cloth when doing these wheels. So, it's just a matter of finding out what works.
Scott

[DSDP_Don]

Let's get back to polishing....When I first purchased my Monaco in 2005, the Accuride wheels looked nice. They eventually started to dull. I bought a Mother's Power Ball and used Mother's polish. I was like "Tim the Tool Man Taylor", the more the better. I would put on a ton of polish and try to make the wheels look good. All I got were several towels full of black gunk while wiping the polish off of the rims.

Every once in a while I would see someone's rims that looked like "Fire Up's" and ask how they did it. Well....I finally figured out I was using waaaaay too much polish. I started using "Flitz" (Mother's would be fine too) and cut down the amount to about a thimble full per wheel. As "Fire UP" stated, you have to put some elbow grease into it until they get highly polished. After that, keep wheel covers on them when not in use and all you'll need is a little touch up every couple of months.

Here are the Monaco rims after some work.



My new coach has the Accuride AccuShield wheels that are coated and do not require polishing. The good news, no polishing, the bad news, they don't shine like the uncoated wheels. I'm a little disappointed, but not enough to strip off the coating since I have 6 wheels now.

[C-Leigh_Racing]

That is some pretty good info hikerdogs, would be nice if that was a sticky at the top, where everybody could view the years of chassis to see what they have or what they could be buying.
Thanks, Neil

[FIRE_UP]

Liborko,

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

Not that it's any big deal but, my wheels don't say "Alcoa" anywhere on them. They do say "Accuride" on them though. I have tried to find someplace that says Accuride wheels are either owned or manufactured by Alcoa but, as of yet, I can't find it. I've seen wheels with an Alcoa label or sticker on them but, as stated, ours have stamped in them, "Accuride". The part number is 28548 which, when looking them up in the Accuride catalog, it has that part number only sold by Freightliner. Just some info here.
Scott

[VinCee]

Thank you Hikerdog! Good info, I stand corrected.

[hanko]

Man this is like when my wife watches the view. A bunch of women arguing

[Hikerdogs]

VinCee wrote:
Like I said in my previous post. Ford issues standard wheels delivered as a bare chassis to the coach builder. It's what the coach builder decides for their rigs that matters, and conversely, what you see on finished and delivered motor homes.

The 22,000 lb. chassis, the 24,000 lb. chassis and the 26,000 lb. chassis all come standard with 4, 22.5" aluminum wheels and 2 steel wheels. The option on these chassis is 19.5" steel wheels. Here's a quote from the 2014 Ford F53 brochure.

"(6) 22.5" x 7.5", 8-Hole Disc Polished Aluminum
Front and Rear (with Steel Inner Rear) (Standard)
(6) 19.5" x 6.75" 10-Hole Steel Disc (Optional)"

2014 F53 Brochure


The 24,000 lb. and 26,000 lb. chassis have had 22.5" aluminum wheels as far back as 2011.

2011 Ford F53 Brochure


The 20,500 lb. chassis, and the 22,000 lb. chassis had 22.5" aluminum wheels available in 2007.

2007 Ford F53 Brochure

In 2008 aluminum wheels were only available on the 26,000 lb. chassis

2008 Ford F53 brochure

You have to Google "Ford class A motorhome chassis brochure" for the particular year you're interested in. Some years the aluminum wheels were available on chassis as small as 20,500 lbs. Other years they were available only on the 26,000 lb. models.

I found the Aluminum wheels were available as far back as 2006.

2006 Ford F53 brochure

[C-Leigh_Racing]

Duane wrote:
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.

Duane,
On your coach, do you know the ratio of the rear diff & the overall height of the tires.
Just wanting to see the difference between yours & one set up with 19.5 rims & tires.

Theres a company named, Evil Twins, that has custom made 10 hole aluminum rims from 22" up to 24.5", that you see a lot on these fixed up pick ups.
A friend of mine has those rims on his truck, so I asked about them if they would be heavy duty enough for the weight a M/H & he said most of them were big truck type rims that could carry the weight.
I think the site is eviltwin.com
Neil

[LongWeekends]

Oops.

[VinCee]

Like I said in my previous post. Ford issues standard wheels delivered as a bare chassis to the coach builder. It's what the coach builder decides for their rigs that matters, and conversely, what you see on finished and delivered motor homes.

[Duane]

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.

[Bill_Hamilton]

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.

[liborko]

Duplicate

[wny_pat1]

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...