‘04 ranger wheels question

[Eddyjo]

Any ideas are welcomed !
These factory wheels are pitted- what is a “cheap” solution? Paint? If so recommendations….. thanks in advance!

 

[97RangerXLT]

Duplicator gm silver. Sand the pitted area well starting with 150 grit then 300 grit., use a filler primer and sand again.. clean and wipe down with a damp towel and then a towel dampened with rubbing alcohol before each primer and painting.. use a light skim of bondo to fill in any imperfections.

One you have all the imperfections done do a final primer coat and sand starting with 300 grit then 450 then 600 grit. Apply 3 coats of silver, sanding with 600 grit in between, then put a coat of Clearcoat on top.

Do *NOT* paint any surface where the tire bead rests..

I did this with a Maxima rim a few years ago, and you could not tell the difference between it and the originals. I will post some pics and the paint I used later tonight

AJ

 

[pjtoledo]

I have media blasted corroded aluminum with fine glass. that will get into the pits without cutting down the high spots.

 

[rubydist]

I would add that using a 2K paint is much better - you can get Eastwood 2k paint in a rattle can. When you break the bladder, it mixes the hardener into the paint and then you have like 24 hours of pot life, which is plenty of time to do the actual painting. Same thing on the clear. I did that on some wheels this past year and they turned out great and are holding up great.

 

[Ranger850]

I did this
Step 1: clean off the wheels as good as possible with a pressure washer.


That went pretty good I suppose. Actually, I was a little disappointed, because when I was done, they still looked pretty nasty. I know my wheels are aluminum, but that did not stop me from using "Stainless steel" appliance cleaner to these wheels.

Step 2: sprayed on the SS cleaner and let it sit for a few minutes, then I went to town with an assortment of wire brushes, sand paper and window scrapers and basically anything that would help remove all the crud that was on these wheels.

Step 3 : Pressure wash wheels again, to remove residual build up. This is when I noticed "overspray" or a very thin coat of paint. I have no idea what this is from. who knows, any guess is a good one.

Step 4 : Using a wire wheel on my DeWalt 3spd Hammer Drill, I scuffed up the face and removed as much "chipped" clear as possible.

I have used "Krylon; Brushed Nickle" silver spray paint to paint Rims and Valve Covers with excellent results.

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[CrabGuy]

Mine weren't quite as corroded as yours but they were still pretty bad. I started with a 2:1 water/wheel acid mix to remove baked on brake dust and metallic deposits. I followed that with Rustoleum Aircraft Remover; that stuff will strip them to bare metal, clear/powder coating included. A brass wire wheel will generally get badly pitted areas at least paint ready. I wanted to restore the polished OEM look so went a different direction. Good results are a direct function of proper surface prep.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Mine weren't quite as corroded as yours but they were still pretty bad. I started with a 2:1 water/wheel acid mix to remove baked on brake dust and metallic deposits. I followed that with Rustoleum Aircraft Remover; that stuff will strip them to bare metal, clear/powder coating included. A brass wire wheel will generally get badly pitted areas at least paint ready. I wanted to restore the polished OEM look so went a different direction. Good results are a direct function of proper surface prep.

Wow man, that came out really nice. Wonder if I can use that technique on a pair of steel wheels. Is the darker color around the rim of the holes 'pin striped' on?

 

[Eddyjo]

Nice- thanks

 

[CrabGuy]

Wow man, that came out really nice. Wonder if I can use that technique on a pair of steel wheels. Is the darker color around the rim of the holes 'pin striped' on?

The openings were just masked off after polishing the wheels. I used a razor to carefully cut away the tape and then sprayed them with 2 coats of Krylon color and two coats of Krylon clear coat. The cleaning process I used would work on steel wheels just fine. The wheel acid mix and Aircraft Remover will result in bare steel. The wheel acid etches and opens the pores in the paint making the paint stripper work much better.

 

[Fast Eddie]

The openings were just masked off after polishing the wheels. I used a razor to carefully cut away the tape and then sprayed them with 2 coats of Krylon color and two coats of Krylon clear coat. The cleaning process I used would word on steel wheels just fine. The wheel acid mix and Aircraft Remover will result in bare steel. The wheel acid etches and opens the pores in the paint making the paint stripper work much better.

thanks