Old_School

I have a set of Procomp 1089 polished aluminum wheels that are not holding up well. After one short winter the wheels are "stained" and I am unable to clean or polish them. The culpret may be magnesium chloride which CDOT uses as a road de-icer. The surface does not feel pitted but the clearcoat surface is definitely deteriorating. Any cleaning suggestions? I am going to drop in to 4 Wheel Parts where I purchase the wheels and tires to see what they have to say.

Yamaha90

i remember looking at the M/T classic II's and they had a thing that said remember to polish the wheels with some kinda of metal polish from somewhere if that helps..basically, wheel polish and cleaning should get it back, but pro comp may be different

porschebreath

I had the same problem W/pro comp wheels. They did warn me about what the road salt would do. I cleaned them up with Griot's mag wheel polish and the red power ball for waxing wheels. I don't know the name of the waxing ball, but they have them at any car part supply center. It mount's to your drill. It takes awhile, but they eventually clean up nice.

Old_School

Thanks for the tip. I bought a Mothers power ball and some nasty aluminum polish. The spare wheel (worst) came out pretty good. I still have a little staining or oxidizing or whatever it is.

Old_School

Does anyone know if Procomp polished are clear coated?

bly109

If it just says "polished" then it isnt clear coated. Ive owned a few pairs of polished wheels(including procomp) and road salt is VERY hard on them. Salt causes raw aluminum to pit and oxidize very quickly. The only way to prevent it, is to not run them in the winter. But you can minimize it by washing the salt off often during the winter. I used to wash mine at least once a week and they still showed some pitting. The only way to fix it, is to machine polish them out. Mothers power ball works good for minor pitting, but a small buffing wheel on a die grinder will get them back to a mirror polish. Usually takes several passes with different grit polishes.

I have seen treatments out for raw wheels that are supposed to protect them from road salt, but Ive never tried them. I think they advertised one on "two guys garage"... I cant remember the name though It would be great if it worked. But living in PA, I will never own another pair of raw polished wheels unless they are off the vehicle before the salt hits. They are just too much of a pain in the ass to keep nice.