Hey, I have always used the mothers all wheel cleaner for my rims on my old car, and my friends would use it too, well lets put it this way I pretty much wash my car every other day and they will come over and i would wash theirs but my one friend drives a trailblazer with 20" black rims with the crome lip..after about 1 year he had them the crome on the lip started peeling off, so we went to discount tire and they said it is the stuff we use to wash rims...he told him that he should only use water and soap but IMO it doesnt get that clean clean..Well i just bought new rims with lip being chrome and I dont want the same thing to happen...so my question is...what is safe to use on the rims???? Or is the guy at discount tire just full of BS

 

no he's not full of BS. it's true. you only want to use wheel cleaners to get out embedded brake dust. a lot of wheel cleaners contain acids that will eat away at the wheel's finish, even when they say they don't they have other, harmful ingredients that will. if you're washing your car every other day, or really even every other week you should not need more than soap and water. if i was you i'd wash, clay and wax them that way they're easier to wash off, repel brake dust better and shine more.


btw i work at discount tire

 

yah so does my friend, just was not sure if this other guy knew what he was talking about. What about that wheel wax stuff that you guys sell at discount tire..is that good to use???

 

are you talking about the stuff in an aerosol can? the speed shine stuff, or the waterless wash stuff? i wouldn't really waste my money on that stuff, theres better stuff you can be spending your money on. as a matter of fact my store stopped stocking it because it just wasn't selling. if you want some serious wheel protection i'd look into some Optimum Opti-seal or some poor boys wheel sealant. i can personally vouch for the opti-seal as a good sealant. it will actually bond with the wheel's surface and it can last up to four months on paint...on wheels i wouldn't expect that much life out of it, though - only about two.

what i do when i clean my wheels is i clay them, polish them then i top with some mother's paste wax and finally a coat of opti-seal.
the reason i use the mother's is because it's just some extra wax i have laying around, and it acutally does a half decent job.

if you're looking for products are you going to buy only over-the-counter or are you looking to purchase online?

 

I clean my wheels with simple green. Does a good job & not harsh on the finish.

 

Haven't had my chrome wheels that long but, isWindex bad for chrome wheels?

 

I can do both, order online or go to autozone or what not, just tell me where to get it and how or what not and i'll do it. I am throwing the mothers spray in the freakin air and them stomping on it lol

 

I had some aftermarket 17" black bullitts with a chrome lip. The chrome lip in all 4 corners started peeling bad after about 2 months. I used wheel cleaners sometimes. All it takes is one little peel and all hell breaks loose. Anytime I would spray them with a wand it would peel more. The company told me it was the stuff I was using to clean them, but they would replace the wheels with new ones. Thankfully they did. I now just use soap and water and follow it up with "the absorber" shammy to clean the excess off.

 

A picture of just one of the lips where they peeled.

[IMG]local://upfiles/40273/45DB7C388F004D2196E70BC012D4F918.jpg[/IMG]

 

yep same thing happend to my friend..thanks for the intrest guys.