[BillyJack]

I have the painted 2006 10 spoke aluminum wheels. Lots of little corners to get at. I usually use paint cleaner and lots of elbow grease to get rid of all the discoloration from the winter. Just did the spring cleaning with tire rotation when my dad handed me some Turtle Wax Rim Cleaner (orange bottle), I really liked it, it removed all the discoloration without scrubbing. Wear rubber gloves as it can be harsh on the hands.

 

[waterfowler76]

nice!! have to give it a try.

 

[carlosjimenez21]

i got the same stuff works very well...

 

[gapotts]

Mother's Tire and Wheel Cleaner seems to have great reviews too.

 

[360ci]

I have the chrome rims on my GT...

I wash off what I can with a hose, then take a small amount of NEVRDULL (petroleum based wool) to clean deposits off and bring out the luster. Then I wipe with a dry cloth to a shine. I then use BlueMagic polish with a powerball and buff it to a mirror finish. I do this twice a year, early fall, and after the snow melts in the spring. They'd put a showroom cars wheels to shame.

 

[waterfowler76]

Huh? I always wondered how that powerball works.

 

[Darin.Overturf]

I am gonna have to try some of these things.

@waterfowler76 - I the powerball and I think it was totally worth the price. It takes out almost all of the effort of buffing polish. I have a crappy $20 corded drill I use it with and the drill gets pretty hot. I wouldn't suggest using a cordless unless you have a few batteries to swap through the process.

 

[Daniel]

I will be cleaning some rims in a couple days. And never tried the power ball tempting..
But i think im going to try the mothers or turtle wax. I had some aftermarket rims and they discolored badly before and i have new ones one the way (bright satin) hope this does the job!

 

[srh44]

I got the chrome rims on my GT, i just clean me rims off and us Windex for a streak free shine lol. I dont know if its bad for the rims, but it doesnt seem to hurt it, comes out great everytime.

 

[360ci]

I was against spending the $25-30 on the powerball at first, but then I decided to try it out and I've used it 6 times (three years, four wheels each time) and the ball still polishes great and cleans up well. I bought the smaller one. There are two sizes, the larger ball is about 5" diameter and the smaller one is about half the size. It fits fine where I need it to around the wheel spokes and such. I use a corded drill as well for greater torque and power, I wouldn't even try it with my 14.4V cordless, it's heavy and underpowered unless you can lift the wheels up a few feet off the ground I wouldn't advise using one. A variable corded drill runs under $40, and is a solid investment for a multitude of tasks around the house. Garage sale price can be as low as $2 for one that still works!

 

[360ci]

I got the chrome rims on my GT, i just clean me rims off and us Windex for a streak free shine lol. I dont know if its bad for the rims, but it doesnt seem to hurt it, comes out great everytime.

I used to use Windex on everything, but I couldn't stand the smell after a while! It was nice only having to buy and store one product instead of 5-10.

 

[MartyBeats]

wish i had some wheels to join this topic in....all i have is the base hubcaps smh

 

[gaush007]

I had a bad experience with one of such a cleaner when I purchased it from an online store. But I can say that such cleaner helps a lot to remove the excess dirt from the rims.

 

[360ci]

wish i had some wheels to join this topic in....all i have is the base hubcaps smh

Those are the wheels I'd prefer for winter! All I wanted was the autostick transmission, and for that, I had to go all out on the GT package. Meh.

 

[360ci]

wish i had some wheels to join this topic in....all i have is the base hubcaps smh

Don't forget, the steel wheels are also fairly light as they are. I know my 'chrome tech' wheels weight 2lbs more, each! They might look nice, but they're terrible to have in the winter....

If I were you, and you want some aftermarket alloy rims, check out tirerack.com and you should be able to find wheels under 20lbs each for around $130 a piece, which ain't all that bad. Of course, styles vary.

 

[gamejunky16]

I would also try Turtle Wax Ice wheel and tire cleaner. It can be used to clean any type of wheel and can also clean the tires. it also comes with a nice brush that can get into little cracks and crevices.

 

[jerrymoen]

I just try to keep mine clean every week and they clean really easily then.. I heard to if you keep the dirt and brake dust on for long periods it eats away your clear coat slowly.

 

[waterfowler76]

Jerrymoen...If youd like to advertise your products on this site please contact Admin.

 

[NT1078]

Oh, I had to resort to desperate measures because of the caked in brake dust on my rear left rim! It was either scrap it, or try something desperate so here it was:
SOS pad on the REALLY caked on stuff. A freakin' chisel, yup you read that right, a CHISEL on the really really caked on stuff. Then I smoothed the scratches left by the chisel with some light grit sand paper, polish and wet send, reapply clear coat, and it looks as good as the other three. True story, don't recommend those measures! What I do reccomend is keeping them clean! Prevent that stuff from building up!

Adam

 

[360ci]

Adam, I clean my chrome wheels 3-4 times a year or about once per season. Have to! Otherwise crap sticks. It's also bad over the course of time for it to accumulate as it can unbalance the wheel if not kept up with.