Taking care of C-6 polished wheels

[RickM]

Looking at using Mother's "Incredible Billet Metal Polish" on my polished alum. wheels. Any tips, opinions, recommendations, greatly appreciated.

Rick

 

[redvett]

Looking at using Mother's "Incredible Billet Metal Polish" on my polished alum. wheels. Any tips, opinions, recommendations, greatly appreciated.

Rick

If you have the OEM wheels you better follow the MFR's instructions. Anything abrasive will hurt the clearcoat on the wheels. Clean soapy water and a mitt are the best.

 

[Aurora40]

If your wheels have a clearcoat (which almost all OEM wheels do) you will damage it with a metal-specific polish. The clearcoat on wheels is very similar to the clearcoat on the rest of your car, and should be cared for similarly. Metal polishes are for wheels with an exposed metal surface, not coated wheels.

To make sort of an analogy, it would be like if I tried to use an aluminum polish on my hood. Sure, my hood is made out of aluminum, but the surface is a paint. Most polished wheels are the same way, polished metal under a clearcoat.

 

[slapshot]

I have always waxed my wheels. It keeps them nice and shiny, and also keeps them easy to clean. I wax them about 3x a year.

 

[RickM]

If your wheels have a clearcoat (which almost all OEM wheels do) you will damage it with a metal-specific polish. The clearcoat on wheels is very similar to the clearcoat on the rest of your car, and should be cared for similarly. Metal polishes are for wheels with an exposed metal surface, not coated wheels.

To make sort of an analogy, it would be like if I tried to use an aluminum polish on my hood. Sure, my hood is made out of aluminum, but the surface is a paint. Most polished wheels are the same way, polished metal under a clearcoat.

So the "polished wheels" are clear-coated even though made of aluminum. Other than "just" washing them, regular wax should be OK, correct? Any recommendations or do I use the same stuff I use on the rest of the car?

TIA
Rick

 

[Aurora40]

So the "polished wheels" are clear-coated even though made of aluminum. Other than "just" washing them, regular wax should be OK, correct? Any recommendations or do I use the same stuff I use on the rest of the car?

TIA
Rick

Well, I can't say for sure as I don't have a C6, but GM does this with basically every wheel but chrome. I would say with 90% certainty, but you should be able to tell on close inspection and feel. Does it feel like paint, or like metal when you touch it?

Regular wax should be fine on them, or you can buy products like Wheel Wax that claim to have an advantage on wheels. But anything is better than nothing.