Aluminum wheel polishing

[jello_jeep]

Anybody do their own polishing of aluminum bus rims? Or is it a job best left to professionals?

I don't have much experience polishing aluminum but I wouldn't imagine it would be too hard, just havent ever seen anyone polish a rim before..

If you do it, what equipment / supplies does it require :confused:

Thanks in advance..

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Here are some considerations. There may be more. Steve Bennet had a marathon at the SF rally with chrome plated wheels. Definitely high gloss and low maintenance. The jury is out regarding if chrome plating has long term life. Very expensive according to Steve.

Alcoa is now selling wheels with their version of a permanent finish. They lack the high mirror polish of new uncoated wheels but there is no maintenance other than washing them required.

Harry had polished wheels to die for and I thought because he was going to teach us how to polish sheet metal at the SF rally that he did the polishing, but he farmed out the job to a metal polisher. Those are the three options for rich folks.

Poor folks like me polish them using stuff you can buy almost anywhere. There are numerous sources for polishing buffs, compounds and machines, including truck stops and places like the Eastwood Company. In between serious polishing work I generally just use Mothers or something similar. Any time I have my wheels off I will poilish them and for now I use a buff on a flexible shaft as shown in the picture.

[win42]

Jello Yeep: I bumped into another rig on the 4th of July outing in N. CA and his wheels looked great. He said he basically had not touched them in four years. He sent me to Reliable Tire in Sacramento for what he described as micro polishing. They removed my wheels and took off the tires. They had a turn table on the floor in a booth and a large buffer on a counterbalanced arm. They used two different types of buffing roughe on the large buffing wheels. They also had corn starch on hand for fine finishing. The whole operation took about 5 hrs. to do 6 wheels. The four smooth faced wheels cost $75.00 ea. and the deep dish tags were $ 85.00 ea. You may have a tire & wheel Co. in your area that will do it for you. As far as how long they will stay shining remains to be seen.

You can do as john suggests and use mothers to polish them, it's a big job and my experiance is you'll be back at it fairly often.

You can go at it with a large portable buffer and polishing roughe after removing the wheels, but it's a big job. They used a small die grinder with a buffing wheel to get into the holes.
You can use a portable end grinder with about 3 ea. 1" wide X 8" dia. buffing wheels attached like the one Dale J and I used @ pog2 on the SS rub rail. Grinding, sanding and finish buffing can be done on any part of our shiny metal busses. It takes time and a lot of effort to get the finish you want. Reliable told me to touch the wheels up using corn starch and cheese cloth when they needed it. As far as the what it cost, if they last 4 years or longer without too much added effort, it is worth it for me.

[bwalz]

I've had great luck with the Busch Polishing kit. All you need is an electric drill, not cordless because of the low RPM's, and some time. I found the kit in the FMCA magazine.

[jello_jeep]

Thanks guys for all the information... Obviously more than one way to skin the cat on this topic.

I have seen Steve Bennet's chromed wheels, they are slick indeed. I forgot what he said it costs, but do remember him saying he bites his nails whenever he gets his tires changed, hoping the don't get chipped.

I will have to see if someone around here does the "micro polish". Maybe it would be smart to have a pro do it first, then do my own upkeep. I am blessed with some time, but not tons of it at the moment.

I saw Kevin E's de-ionized water setup. That was most impressive. I am looking for a good source of a portable unit that one can recharge on the road. My bus has a pressure washer built in, and also has an on-board water softener.. I would think if you could mount a small DI unit in front of the pressure washer, it would be a trick setup for washing the bus.

I am still on the hunt for a good long handled squeege and washing brush, maybe best found at a truck stop.

Thanks again for the help..

[Jerry Winchester]

Warren,

It really isn't very hard to polish them. And you can't really mess them up. They may look ugly, but the shine will be there when you get it right.

To me, it really comes down to time. More than once I have let the local capitalists do it with good results for cheap.

If you are in the "What's Time to a Hog" mode like Jon, Lew and some of the other Hitler Youth, then this is certainly something to master as it beats repotting flowers, sorting your sock drawer, fixing your false teeth or restocking the Metamucil bulk tank in the coach.

And I think Chris Yates has a distributorship for bus cleaning gear....:cool:

[jello_jeep]

Now THATS funny :)

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Don't laugh. It only encourages him.

[matsprt]

I'd give you my special formula used in Truck Beauty shows but then I'd have to put the black ops people on you all.

And with the Frogman/Fire Boy down there it could get ugly.

:D :D :D :D

[jello_jeep]

matsprt,

I will task a bird over you and find out for myself!:p Those shots from above are great these days!