Looks like I am gouing to part out my rims for a set that is chrome..is there anything that you can put on these or am I going to spend half my summer polishing these..

Thanks in advance..

Grassy

 

Chrome is relatively easy to take care of, keep a good coat of wax or polish on them. Downside is that if they get nicked or damaged, it's huge money to refinish them ... usually cheaper to replace.

Polished wheels that do not have a clearcoat, like the American Racing Torq-Thrust II, require a lot of upkeep. They are bare aluminium, so lots of elbow grease is needed to keep a wheel like that looking good. Upside is that they can be refinished easier if lightly scuffed or damaged.


cheers
Ed N.

 

I would also agree, stay away from chrome get a polished wheel.

 

I love my chrome rims (Roush). I find that by polish/waxing every 40kms along with the rest of the car they look great.:biggrin: Oh not so much as a scratch on mine and they are 3 years old.

 

From experience I find that the chrome is hard to damage. I wax mine with RV wax and it keeps the finish immaculate.

However, some cheap replicas have a lower quality chrome job done on them.

The FR500's I had on my 04 were replicas and I had to send 1 of them back to AM because the chrome was bubbled. The replacement they sent was perfect but it made me a tiny bit nervous as to if I would have problems with chrome bubbling or pitting down the road.

My chrome cobra r's (I had them on the 04 as well) pitted like a mf'er and I got rid of them. They were replicas as well.

This time I bought the Cragars. They are not replicas and Cragar has a good name out there so I thought I couldn't go wrong.

I think if you go chrome try to get a brand name (American Racing, Shelby, Roush, Foose, Ford Racing, etc...).
I know they are a little pricier but if you are really picky about the finish of the rim holding up over time you are better off spending a few bucks more in the front end than having issues and spending a crap load more on the back end.

Replicas are usually made to a price and the short end of them seems to be less layers of chrome.

 

hey now Ed......my Torq-Thrust IIs look as good as the day I bought them from you....lol

and they're not really that hard to keep mint.....it doesn't take a lot of elbow grease IMO....it simply takes dedication to stay on top of the wheels and keep them spotless

if the car is a daily driver....I'd stay away from bare aluminum cause you'll never keep up with keeping them clean....but on a weekend toy it's easy

never touch the wheels when they're hot...you scratch them when you wipe them when they're hot

if you get caught in the rain....wipe the wheels down when you park it, with a microfiber towel, and never let the water spots dry on the wheel

regular maintenance is a breeze.....you just quickly wipe them down before the car goes for it's next run (aka after they cool down)

you need
2 microfiber towels (one fluffy....one not so fluffy)
a bottle of PoorBoys Spray and Wipe

spray the Poorboys generously on to the not-so-fluffy MF towel and wipe the wheel down

take the fluffy MF towel and wipe the PoorBoys off

done....takes about 5 minutes

pick you favourite mild aluminum polish and giver a shine once per season....throw on a coat of your favourite wax if you feel like it

but IMO...the trick to keeping bare aluminum looking mint is to simply keep it clean and spotless with frequency

 

Thanks for the input. I plan to go cragars..they were "the" wheel when I was growing up and it is kind of a nod to the 70s..I gather that I have two finishes to choose from..I wish I had some of this advice before..has a set of miniliote cosmic mk iv's that i used to spend a day every couple of months with a buffer on a drill. I am pushing for low maintenance nowadays.

I am glad I asked this question. Thanks.

Grassy