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Rusted American Racing Wheels - cure?

wb2jte

NAXJA Forum User
Does any one have a cure for pre mature rusting of americal racing tailgunners? Chrome isnt warrantied at all, mine are only 11 months old and look real bad. Yes they were cleaned and waxed before the rust started! It never happaned to steel bumpers till they were very old, any ideas??
Thanks.
 
HA, HA, HA. You live in NJ. Short of removing chrome wheels in the winter, or buying aluminum wheels there is no cure, wax every day if you want, once the salt hits em they are as good as gone. Chrome wheels are cheaper than aluminum right? There is a reason for that.

You could try mothers chrome polish, but I would recommend buying a seperate set of winter wheels.
 
prolly cheapest to just get some black wagon wheels. That powder coat is tough. I live in Syracuse so I know alot about rust. I have wagon wheels now and my buddy has some that are about 4 years old and they still look great.
 
I have a set of American Racing black soft-8 looking wheels that are about 10 years old. They've been on and off a few of my Jeeps over the years, and have spent the rest of their lives stacked next to my dad's garage.

They are rusted around the seams (between the rim and the spoke pieces) pretty good.
 
If you live anywhere that they salt the roads, its a fact of life...steel will rust...and in a hurry. Save up and buy a good set of alloys and be done with it.
 
Used to detail cars, get some wheel acid and some steel wool. I've cleaned many rusted wheels that way when I lived in Montana. That stuff is real caustic though, make sure to wear gloves. Most detail shops have stopped using it due to insurance liabilities with their employes, but ask around, someone is likely to have some. Stuff works awsome for all around wheel cleaning too, one spray leave on a few seconds and spray off, all brake dust and grime is gone. That stuff was a real time saver for us. I worked at a flat rate shop and we secretly ordered it to save us time, boss never new(ha ha)Just keep away from aluminum wheels with no coating, will turn them a different color. Hope this helps.
 
y2kxj said:
prolly cheapest to just get some black wagon wheels. That powder coat is tough. I live in Syracuse so I know alot about rust. I have wagon wheels now and my buddy has some that are about 4 years old and they still look great.


Wheel much? Yeah that powder coat is fine as long as you don't scrap or chip the coat. As soon as there is a imperfection in the coat, kiss your powder coat good bye. It flakes off like paint film. I've had this problem on my street locks and my g/f's regular black steelies.

With my street locks the outer reinforcing rig got all scraped up and started to rust, though the inside was fine. So I just wire wheeled the outside and used a good rattle can enamel. We have still have to take her off, bead-blast and re-paint them. There are two areas with powder coated rims that will cause the coat to peel away, at the lug interface and any scrap/rock rash.

Everybody is right, just save up for some quality alloys if you don't plan to wheel, if so stick with steel or get a good set of alloy bead-locks. Trust me on this one. Steel bends back, alloy just cracks. Even stock 15x8 TJ canyon rims. Ask me how I know :wave:
 
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