anyways guys got some nice american racing rims for my camaro-but the front ones are tarnished badly from brake dust. the chrome still looks good but theey wont come totally clean. what works the best. is there any acid or something heavy that can clean them????????? let me know what the best solution to use is and your expierences also-

 

You sure they are chrome and not polished aluminum? what have you been using to clean them so far? i've always used mothers chrome polish. it seems to work pretty good for me.

 

In my experience, any chemical always ends up making it dull. With chrome, you never want to use extra strength or hard core acids, the milder, the better. I have found WD-40, dabbed on a rag, and scrubbing hard with a rag helps, but you will probably get a dull appearance afterwards.

The BEST thing ive found is steel wool. It scrapes off any minor imperfections, and polishes it. Dont get cheap synthetic steel wool, use the real stuff. And i dont remember how fine they get, but you wanna use one level coarser than the finest. I beleive 0000 is the finest, i used 000. Or maybe it was only 00? Try steel wool, before solvents.

 

so far ive used nothing but mothers on a test spot. the chrome is not pitted at all. (they are chrome not alum) it just has a dark look to the chrome on the ones off the front. there are awesome wide tires and id like to salvage the rims-two look freakin awesome. they dont make these anymore because ive looked all over also. anyways im poor and i must make due with what i got lol thanks for your suggestions so far and keep em coming

 

I agree with steel wool, works great on the baked on brake dust.

 

Steel wool is really cheap. And everyone carries it, even hardware store, doesnt have to be auto parts places. I went to home depot, and paid $3.00 canadian dollars, for a huge bag of steel wool. They come in rolls, about the size of a twinkie, and one bag contains at least 15 rolls.

 

mothers and steel wool- dip your wool in the mothers chrome polish. this worked so good i couldnt believe how clean and shiny they are again!!!

 

One lady at my work has a Harley with lots of chrome and she said she uses Windex on all of it, and knows other bikers who have done it to their bikes for years. I never tried it personally...

 

Two things, the steel wool dipped in mothers wont clean, as much as it will polish. You need the abrasive action of the dry wool to clean away the brake dust. Dipping it in mothers will trap the brake dust, and may do more harm than good. However on a clean surface its all good.

Secondly, i can see windex shining up the chrome, because its a glass cleaner. However, id be weary of using it too often, because if left on the chrome, evetually it will cause corrosion due to oxidation (rust). But again, if used properly, and dried off after, i can see how it will work, because its not a strong acidic cleaner, its relatively mild.

 

0000 steel wool and a can of coke.

Then put a coat of glass wax on em.

or go buy some of this...

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/...me_cleaner.jsp

 

i used meguires "hot rims" metal polish. it cleans all metal types. its like $6 for a wax sized can. my buddy used it on his chrome rims...and i used it on my alum. it came out nice. here is the before and after(s)

 

the after pics look black, I thought this was about cleaning chrome, is it a reflection??

 

Hes just showin off his paint job. Look at the first black wheel pic's lip (before) and second black pic's lip (after). It got shinier after he cleaned it.

 

oh I see, I never painted wheels and never knew what kind of cleaners could be used on painted wheels, let alone spray paints. Guess ya learn something new everyday...

 

ya lol im sorry the pics kinda go crappy better best lol

 

anyone see myth busters?? they used coke!! worked a treat!!

 

i used meguires "hot rims" metal polish as well...it worked like wonders...here it is used on my american racing rims.....and my restored 86 iroc's after using aircraft remover to remove the clear coat...came out amazing