Stained wheels

[Knucklesam]

I washed my truck yesterday and there's one main blemish that is bugging me. My wheels are stained pretty bad, with brake dust I assume. I believe they are just the stock alloys so they aren't chrome or anything. I normally use Bleach-Wite on the wheels and it does a pretty good job of loosening the newer brake dust. No amount of scrubbing, however, has been able to get rid of the stains. I thought of using brake cleaner but I wanted to come here and ask some more experienced people first.

[Brandon1]

Pictures of the stains will help us determine more what to tell you.

[Knucklesam]

Originally Posted by Brandon1

Pictures of the stains will help us determine more what to tell you.

Sure, I'll take some tomorrow sometime then get back to you.

[Jumbo Jet]

Yeah, pictures will help. Westleys Bleach White is pretty harsh stuff for wheels, do you think the stains are from that ?

[Knucklesam]

Originally Posted by Jumbo Jet

Yeah, pictures will help. Westleys Bleach White is pretty harsh stuff for wheels, do you think the stains are from that ?

No, they've been there since I bought the truck a couple months ago.

[Knucklesam]

This is a day after a good cleaning and scrubbing. As you can see the stains are pretty bad.

[Brandon1]

Are the wheels polished aluminum, or clear coating?

[Knucklesam]

Originally Posted by Brandon1

Are the wheels polished aluminum, or clear coating?

I honestly don't know, how might I find out?

[Brandon1]

if you rub it with a polish and a rag, does it turn black?

[Knucklesam]

Originally Posted by Brandon1

if you rub it with a polish and a rag, does it turn black?

Hm, I don't know. Do you really think that's something I should try?

[Brandon1]

Yes, that is something that will allow us to further tell you how to repair the wheels. From the pictures, they look like plain non-coated aluminum, which will require different products than clear coated wheels.

[Knucklesam]

Alright, I'll see if I got some polish in my car wash box and test it on a small spot then get back to you.

[Knucklesam]

Couldn't find any polish so I tried some Turtle Wax instead. The only thing that turned black was my rag. I don't know if that's any help but I used what I had on hand. I do have to go to Wal-Mart in a bit so I'll check out some polish.

[Brandon1]

Yeah, that means that they are polished aluminum.

You will need to invest in a good aluminum polish, and if you have a power drill, a mothers powerball.

The powerball combo is actually really good for what you have and will clean those wheels up right.

[Knucklesam]

Sweet, it just so happens I picked up some Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish this afternoon.