cleaning up rims in bad shape?

[CheapThrills]

Well, I have a set of 2006 Ford 5 spoke rims, that are chipping, corroded, and pitted.. are they worth keeping and cleaning up? If there is a way to clean them, what is it? Thank you.

 

[fyre82]

Maybe they are. I don't know what that wheel looks like.
If it's dog butt to start with, then it'll just be clean, shiny,
painted or what ever dog butt when you are done.

 

[straycat]

Stock steel or almuinum wheels or are they after market? If they are steel you can beadblast them and then paint them. Once aluminum gets real bad they are not worth the price to make them look nice again unless thay are rare wheels. Get new ones. You can get some nice black wheels almost any tire shop or 4x4 shop.

 

[Junkyardexpress]

if they are the kind i think they are will problably start leaking if you try to clean them up.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

i cleaned my alloy rims with Hydrochloric acid
its a nasty smelling stuff that itches like a sob if u touch it without gloves.

but since your rims have a clear coat idk how it would end up.
maybe try sanding em down first to remove the clear coat.

 

[colby450xc]

If you have the access to sanding tools and someone to paint/ clear coat them cheaply it is worth it. I work at a bodyshop, so I sanded my wheels down to bare aluminum and had them painted with hotrod black with polished edges. The only thing I did not do was spray the paint. Basically cost me $40 which was totally worth it. A year later and they look the same they did when I had them painted.

 

[CheapThrills]

Sorry i've been away for so long, haven't had access to a computer. I'll try sanding them down to a bare rim when I scrounge up some money to do so. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[4.0B2]

screw 'em... clean 'em up, scuff 'em up, paint 'em black...

 

[CheapThrills]

i wanted to paint them with a hammered gray. thats what all the other things are on the truck (bumpers, flares, headache rack)