restoring luster on my black wheels

[RaiderFan]

i was wondering what the best product would be to restore the shine back to my black rims on my 88 fj62 landcruiser. i tried to wash em..nothing. tried to wax em...nothing. i thought about taking some polishing compound to em but realized that would probably strip em. any help on how to restore the shine is appreciated. thanks in advance

*tom*

[Murr1525]

Re: restoring luster on my black wheels

They are black paint? Any chance of a pic?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: restoring luster on my black wheels

i was wondering what the best product would be to restore the shine back to my black rims on my 88 fj62 landcruiser. i tried to wash em..nothing. tried to wax em...nothing.

Was the finish glossy to start with?

i thought about taking some polishing compound to em but realized that would probably strip em.

Better safe than sorry...

Let's find out what we're working on and then go from there.

[Megafast13]

Re: restoring luster on my black wheels

Could you give us a picture of them?

[FJDave]

Re: restoring luster on my black wheels

I think they are going to be painted steel rims....but Toyota had a few different types, so a picture would be the best bet before proceeding with advice....

[RaiderFan]

Re: restoring luster on my black wheels

yeah they were/are glossy. they also are not factory toyota wheels. i bought some nxt tech all metal polish and i also bought some black magic all wheel polish. gonna try this weekend if it's not raining. i'll try and get pic up. they have a thin blue and red strip pinstripe around the wheel...if that helps..lol

[Murr1525]

Re: restoring luster on my black wheels

Probably wont want to use a metal polish on paint.

You can treat paint on the wheels just like paint on the car. Wash them, clay, use a paint cleaner, then wax.

[RaiderFan]

Re: restoring luster on my black wheels

i read on another thread that the nxt tech all metal polish would be safe for painted wheels

[Murr1525]

Re: restoring luster on my black wheels

It is safe from the perspective that if a person used it, it would not ruin the paint. Many average Joe's really have no idea what there wheels are made of, and assume it must be metal.

But that doesn't necessarily make it a paint care product.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: restoring luster on my black wheels

It is safe from the perspective that if a person used it, it would not ruin the paint. Many average Joe's really have no idea what there wheels are made of, and assume it must be metal.

But that doesn't necessarily make it a paint care product.

Very, very true. We get a ton of calls to the Customer Care Center about wheels and most people really struggle with the proper way to care for them. Often the biggest problem is distinguishing between chrome and aluminum - chrome being very hard and aluminum very soft and delicate - so people will select Hot Rims Chrome Wheel Cleaner and spray it onto their bare, high polished aluminum wheels. Huge mistake.

Probably the second most common error is to use a metal polish such as NXT All Metal Polysh or Hot Rims Mag & Aluminum Polish, on a polished aluminum wheel that also has a clear coat on it. This is very common with factory wheels. Bottom line - no matter what the wheel is made of, if it has a clear coat or a colored paint on it, you are working on paint. A paint care product, or combination of products, is the correct choice for such a wheel.

Wheels live in a very harsh environment and the finish can easily be scratched or otherwise marred. It's often difficult, if not impossible, to get a buffer into all the areas to correct this, but with some patience and a little effort you can do wonders working by hand. Products with some cleaning ability can do a tremendous job removing fine scratches from clear coated finishes and really restore the luster. Things like M80 Speed Glaze, D151 PRC, M205 Ultra Finishing Polish, etc often do an outstanding job of this.

Keep in mind that everything stated above is dealing with PAINTED wheels. Things change when dealing with powder coated, anodized or polished wheels. It is very important to know and understand what it is you're working on and unfortunately here at Meguiar's we simply do not have a database of all wheels on the market, so we can't tell you exactly what you have. The wheel manufacturer is, of course, the best source of this information. If you're on MOL you obviously have access to the Internet so locating a wheel manufacturer shouldn't be too difficult. Once you know what you have we're happy to help you select the correct products and methods to maintain them.