Caring for your wheels

Wheels are an important part of what makes a vehicle outstanding. It imbues a certain character to a car.

From tuners seeking a better ride to enthusiasts looking to give their car a more personalised look, wheels inexplicably represent a vehicle’s identity.

We dedicate a significant amount of time and effort transforming these wheels into showpieces at AutoDetailer Studio.

What we plan to do in this series focusing on detailing wheels is to guide you through what it takes to detail a set of wheels and how best to protect them.

We begin this series with a walkthrough so that you can better understand the basics of wheel detailing.
 
Wheels are essentially made of three common materials: 

1. Steel - Found in older cars, they are painted in silver or black and in certain cases come along with plastic hubcaps.

2. Magnesium - Classic cars were fitted with them especially from the 60’s.

3. Alloy - The choice of modern cars. They vary in terms of their finishes from factory-fitted to aftermarkets, from one-piece to three-piece construction types.

As the most popular option for today’s vehicles, we’ll concentrate on alloy wheels which are made from a blend of aluminum and other elements. Now alloys have a number of advantages over previous materials in terms of strength, weight reduction and finishing options.

And while they might vary in the method of manufacturing from lower-cost low pressure gravity casting, counter pressure casting, high counter pressure molding (HCM) to forging (which by far results in the strongest and lightest alloys), each still requires a unique approach to detailing. Understanding the different types of finishes allows you to bring out the best results from your set of wheels.

Oxidisation and heavy corrosion has damaged the wheel. Below is an example of a two-piece, two-toned brushed aluminum/painted alloy wheel.

Let’s take a look at their finishing options. Alloy wheels have seven different types of popular finishes:

1. Polished Aluminum - High-gloss finish

2. Polished Aluminum and Clear-coated - High-gloss finish with a urethane clear-coat for added protection

3. Painted and Clear-coated - Most generic alloys are made in typical painted and clear-coated finishes

4. Machined Aluminium(Brushed) - A unique finish where the aluminum is abraded in a consistent pattern to achieve a dense hair-line effect

5. Two-toned Finish - A hybrid chrome/painted/brushed aluminium/powder-coated finish which has the wheel’s spokes, lips or barrel in contrasting effect

6. Chrome Plated - The ultimate bling effect. Old-school look but the toughest to maintain

7. Powder-coated - Extremely durable finish

If you want to quickly identify a clear-coated alloy versus bare non-coated aluminum, the latter will leave a dark residue upon polishing.

The primary contaminant for wheels are brake-dust.

They are highly acidic and bonds to wheels quickly because they carry an electrostatic charge.
 
When detailing the wheels on imported reconditioned vehicles which originate from countries which have winter, road salt is commonly used to melt the ice and that can also etch onto the alloy finishes and have an equally corrosive effect.

High-performance super-cars are usually equipped with more heat-resistant braking systems like carbon-ceramic brakes or similar composite materials which produces much-less dust but they are costly to say the least.

Brake-pads mainly consists of ferrous metal particles and adhesives, each with their own ability to degrade the surface of a wheel via oxidation and corrosion and if left untreated, can permanently damage the wheels themselves. 

In the next article, we’ll look at what tools are needed to detail a set of wheels and the processes behind them. We’ll also take a look at what you can do to protect your wheels and maintain them for longer periods of time.

Check out www.autodetailer.co for more information.