Do you find them to be too much work to clean and upkeep?

My wheels are polished with a clearcoat, and the clearcoat is all stained and gross. So I am thinking about stripping off the clear from them. I just like that with raw wheels I can ALWAYS bring them back with enough work. I've tried what is supposed to be one of the best professional wheel cleaning gels and it barely even did anything, the clearcoat is that stained.

 

Very much so, I got really tired of my Classic IIs

 

no not really. i polish mine once a year maybe. if you keep the brake dust off of them by washing them once and a while you wont have any issues. up here salt is really a killer of polished wheels so mine stay off the roads in the winter.

 

I hate polished wheels. My old Eagle Alloys were a PITA. Polish them and then have them clearcoated or something.

My Eagle Alloys were raw polished wheels, they were pitted when I got them. I sanded them and then repolished them. They looked good, but every couple weeks I had to hit them or they looked terrible.

 

i agree, stip and polish them, then re-clearcoat!

 

Nah not gonna get them cleared again. Thanks guys, I'll prob strip them this weekend or later this week. I was thinking about painting them black but I don't think it would look as good. My living in FL and not having snow probably makes it better too.

 

I would try using ZoopSeal. It has worked great so far on my rims. All it takes is a good wipe-down and they look shiney and great again.

 

x10000 I am tired of polishing and then a week later there are water marks... I am going to coat them soon, i just can't decide if I want clear or black...

 

If you use a real clear coat you would be fine for a long long time. If you dont have the tools im sure a body shop wouldnt charge much at all to shoot them.

 

no not after initial polishing when i got them just use a power ball and meguiars polish every couple months takes about an hour to do all of them reminds me i need to do that before winter

 

Ya I have American Racing Baja Wheels. And it does get annoying having to polish them, especially in the winter. I try and polish them once a month, and put a good coat of wax on them.

 

What did you use to strip the clear coat off? I have a set of factory rims that i want to strip but not sure what to use.

 

aircraft paint remover should do the trick

 

can this be used with tire still on the rim?

 

Id say, yes, but with one condition: you thoroughly mask off the tire with some tape and plastic. It would be ideal to do it with the tires off, but, you can do it with the tires on, just be sure to do your best to pretect the tire.

When I painted my rims, I used a piece of 6 mil clear plastic, then cut a hole in it for the rim, and then taped the donut to the tire. The same thing can be accomplished using a contractors garbage bag.

these paint strippers and stuff are brutal cleaners, and who knows what it will do to rubber, I know alot of that sort of stuff advises to not allow it to come in contact with rubber or plastic.