Aluminium Wheel maintenance, polishing methods. What do you use....

[the_original_beantown]

I always used Mothers aluminum polish and elbow grease for anything aluminium. Do those ball type buffer heads for a drill work? How do you guys polish your rims?

 

[Sinister]

I used to pay the people at that quonset hut in Casa Grande, and once at Little Sisters in Barstow.

As for doing it myself, I got over that in my 20s.

 

[Humble pie]

I hate doing my own. But green bar crusher up in mineral spirits does the best in my opinion. Put it in a squirt bottle and go to town

 

[Shogun Warrior]

I always used Mothers aluminum polish and elbow grease for anything aluminium. Do those ball type buffer heads for a drill work? How do you guys polish your rims?

My company washes our trucks with acid and really messed up the finish on our wheels. They look horrible and uneven. So I take it to Blue Beacon and have them acid flash them to even them out.

Then i get a liquid polish like Gords , White Diamond from AutoZone or the liquid polish Blue Beacon sells and do it with rags. The liquid takes much less effort to apply and dries fast and removes easier. Otherwise I would have to do like Humble says and get a buffing wheel and a green bar or something along those lines to get out all the haze and scars.

 

[Shogun Warrior]

For example here is what one of our company trucks steer looks like normally. They spray acid on it and don't spray it evenly then don't wash it off in time. It's brown like mud but won't come off with soap and water

Here is my steer after I have blue beacon flash it with acid and use white diamond polish and about five minutes.


I then hide my truck so the company can't wash it .

 

[Johndeere4020]

For example here is what one of our company trucks steer looks like normally. They spray acid on it and don't spray it evenly then don't wash it off in time. It's brown like mud but won't come off with soap and water View attachment 67154

Here is my steer after I have blue beacon flash it with acid and use white diamond polish and about five minutes.
View attachment 67155

I then hide my truck so the company can't wash it .

How often are you allowed to go to the truck wash?

 

[the_original_beantown]

For example here is what one of our company trucks steer looks like normally. They spray acid on it and don't spray it evenly then don't wash it off in time. It's brown like mud but won't come off with soap and water View attachment 67154

Here is my steer after I have blue beacon flash it with acid and use white diamond polish and about five minutes.
View attachment 67155

I then hide my truck so the company can't wash it .

The difference after the acid flash and White Diamond is really impressive. Thankfully we don't use acid on our trucks. Once my truck is assigned to me, I plan on detailing the snot out of it. Once I get it polished up like I want it, keeping it that way seems easier in the long run. Keeping them clean is part of our fuel bonus so there is an incentive.

 

[Shogun Warrior]

How often are you allowed to go to the truck wash?

The company will reimburse me for one a month. I usually just pay out of pocket. I used to wash it by hand at work but we park at the shipper now. I'm thinking about talking to the president of the company and offering to wash them myself after I show him the pics. (Just the 15 trucks on this acct)
I don't think he is aware of how bad a job they do. When the people wash our trucks they don't wash the roof fairing or the back of the cab, sometimes they don't even wash the right side.

The difference after the acid flash and White Diamond is really impressive. Thankfully we don't use acid on our trucks. Once my truck is assigned to me, I plan on detailing the snot out of it. Once I get it polished up like I want it, keeping it that way seems easier in the long run. Keeping them clean is part of our fuel bonus so there is an incentive.

Once you polish them, it's a lot easier to maintain. I redo them about every two or three months usually while at a dock. Some of these polishes have cleaners in them where you don't have to wash the wheel first, just dust it off. They work well.

 

[AK7]

For example here is what one of our company trucks steer looks like normally. They spray acid on it and don't spray it evenly then don't wash it off in time. It's brown like mud but won't come off with soap and water View attachment 67154

Here is my steer after I have blue beacon flash it with acid and use white diamond polish and about five minutes.
View attachment 67155

I then hide my truck so the company can't wash it .

Just say'n...lol