Winterizing Mustang chrome / alloy rims
 

Guys, thought I would share a tip.
This applies to any vehicle of course and not just mustangs.
If you have a vehicle with nice alloys or chrome wheels and don't want to swap them out for steel rims here is an option.

Make sure the rim is really clean and smear a coat of vaseline on them.
Not too thick or it will fly off when you go down the highway and may get on your brakes.
I put a thin coat all over the surface of the rim each year right before the snow comes.
It stays on the rim all winter but does look unsightly because all the salt, sand and road grime sticks to the vaseline.
But.........it does not make it to the rim and therefore you do not get any crap destroying the finish of your rim.

In the spring I get a bottle of Simple Green Max, a bucket of hot water and some clean rags and the crap comes right off.
I wax the rims and they are just like new.

I park the mustang each winter but I do this to my Jeep every winter and it works like a charm.

Sounds like a good how-to.

Stickied

I've done same thing but with axle grease,.... It does't come off as easily. Looks awful,.... But in the winter who cares as long as the interior is clean.

What about on a Painted or a powder coated rim???

definetly going to give this tip a try in the fall. I have 20"ers on the Avalance and after two winters they are less than acceptable.

As long as the paint is in good shape (not all scabbed up or flaking off) the vaseline should have no effect on it other than to keep the crap off of them.

I had the rims on the Cherokee coated for this past winter and about 3 weeks ago I got the Simple Green Max out with a bucket of hot water and it all came off.
Second winter on the rims and they still look like new.

I do the same thing with my rims, except I use a thin coating of axle grease... the cold further thickens it creating a buffer zone between alloy and salt ( 2 deadly arch enemies
In spring I remove a wheel at a time and do a through cleaning with simple green and then wax them up...
been doing this since 004 and my enkei's are like new!

They do not use 1/100th of the salt here as say Win dsor so I just wax my rims twice a week and all is good (daily driver)

I've heard also that another option if you can believe it is to spray your rims lightly with Pam.Everything including snow slush salt just dosn't stick.Anybody else hear about this or is just another urban myth?

The factory chrome wheels on my Lincoln LSE lasted 3 years. The replacement chrome wheels which were made in China lasted 2. The warranty replacement for the replacements lasted 1. My feeling is if you have chrome, may as well get painted/clearcoated wheels for the winter. BTW, Vaseline degrades rubber.

Oops. Sorry. just noticed this was an old thread.