20" polished wheels

[combatcraig]

Has anyone polished their "Polished" OEM 20s? I've seen polished aluminum look nearly like chrome and my stock wheels look sort of dull. I guess I should have gotten chrome...

 

[julio]

are you talking about the polished ones with the clear coat? if so, all you can do is wash them as you do the paint.

 

[combatcraig]

hmm, that sucks. Years ago I stripped the clear coat off of the frame of a sport bike I had. I then sanded it with 100, 200, 400, 600, 1000 grit sandpaper and then polished it with mothers. It looked like a mirror but took me forever to get to that point. Everytime I washed it it had to be polished because it would have tons of water spots on it if I didn't. I think I'm going to sell these polished wheels and buy some chrome ones...

 

[TN Tahoe]

hmm, that sucks. Years ago I stripped the clear coat off of the frame of a sport bike I had. I then sanded it with 100, 200, 400, 600, 1000 grit sandpaper and then polished it with mothers. It looked like a mirror but took me forever to get to that point. Everytime I washed it it had to be polished because it would have tons of water spots on it if I didn't. I think I'm going to sell these polished wheels and buy some chrome ones...

I have seen a few wheel companies out there that are taking the OEM in on trade and selling a chrome version :thumbsup:

 

[73shark]

Don't know if they are still doing it or not but OEM Rims on ebay was chroming the OEM 20s.

Couldn't find them but here's another one that's a little cheaper and has a five year warranty. http://http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__20-CHEVY-TAHOE-OEM-FACTORY-CHROME-WHEELS-RIMS_W0QQitemZ330269520850QQadnZCarQ20Q26Q20TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadiZ2865QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330269520850&_trkparms=72%3A543%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

 

[combatcraig]

Great suggestion, thanks. I"m waiting on an email from them but will probably either buy from them or exchange.

 

[Black Dog]

That is a viable option, I remember friends doing the exchange back in the 5 star 5.0 Mustang days. I remember thinking it was affordable but at the same time a little pricey when all you're getting is chrome. At the time I think it was around $100 a wheel. I also remember worrying that someone else's used wheels would probably not be as perfect, straight, undamaged as the ones I was giving up; though they were probably fine in most cases.

 

[combatcraig]

I just got an email from the company in Cali that does it. They also do wheel repairs so all the wheels are spun, trued and balanced if necessary. I think the price is pretty good $625) but the shipping is going to kill me since I'm on the east coast. The total is $958 to exchange my polished 20s for their chrome ones. That includes caps and shipping theirs to me and mine to them. I've seen the same wheels on Ebay for $1300 to buy out right, then I could sell mine for 6 or 700 bucks. Decisions, decisions...

 

[grafgl]

polishing polished wheels

Over on corvetteforums.com some guys are stripping the clear coat off and then polishing the aluminum wheels - to get higher gloss.

 

[73shark]

The downside to stripping and polishing is that you will have to keep polishing forever and heaven forbid if you ever get road salt or any other chemical that attacks aluminum.

 

[JD Larue]

From someone who had polished rims in the 60's (for those of you too young to know) in the days before rims were coated with anything, you'll be sitting in the driveway with a tube of semi-chrome polishing those things everytime you wash it. No fun and gets really labor intensive in a very short time. DO NOT strip off the coating or you'll be sorry!! (Unless of course you enjoy spending hours polishing your rims) fyi imo

 

[combatcraig]

DO NOT strip off the coating or you'll be sorry!! (Unless of course you enjoy spending hours polishing your rims) fyi imo

I think you're right. I'm just going to find some chrome ones or exchange mine for chrome. Since my LTZ is black and chrome bits all over it, the polished just looks a little out of place on mine...

 

[Black Dog]

I was wondering if you could polish it and then clear coat it, but thinking maybe it wouldn't bond well to the polished surface, or if that's exactly what they are already and it'll make no difference...

 

[combatcraig]

I've heard of a product called zoop I think. I saw it on an episode of trucks a couple years ago. It is for polished alluminum. It's supposed to seal the wheel after polishing and suppose to stay nice for months... Supposed to...

 

[73shark]

I saw that and passed out when I priced it plus you had to buy a large quantity.