aluminum wheels

MI-Bill

Member
not a tractor, my 2010 gmc sierra has badly corroded aluminum wheels. they were partly painted with I assume anodized or shiny raised areas. Under 50,000 mile, just, and due for new tires. thinking about sand blasting and painting them before mounting new tires. I doubt if basic wheel paint-rattle can would hold up for long. I have 2 part epoxy primer as well as other 2 part urethane primer sealer on hand. final finish- silver or black could look good on this truck. I would like whatever I use to hold up for 3 to 4 years. ????
 
Bead blast, sand is too ruff. If you want to make them shine pick up a can of AirCraft Stripper. It will clean them to shiny aluminum.
 
The epoxy primer is a good primer for aluminum. Before using it I would wash the metal with acetone first. The oxidation of aluminum happens quickly and it is similar to oil. Ever notice after climbing an aluminum ladder a lot your hands tend to turn black, it's the oily oxidation that does it. Also there is also the possibility of a little oil coming through the air when sandblasted. All of this needs to be cleaned off soon before priming.
 
Glass bead then clear coat. Or there are wheel shops that will redo yours or exchange
 
(quoted from post at 19:19:39 02/23/19) not a tractor, my 2010 gmc sierra has badly corroded aluminum wheels. they were partly painted with I assume anodized or shiny raised areas. Under 50,000 mile, just, and due for new tires. thinking about sand blasting and painting them before mounting new tires. I doubt if basic wheel paint-rattle can would hold up for long. I have 2 part epoxy primer as well as other 2 part urethane primer sealer on hand. final finish- silver or black could look good on this truck. I would like whatever I use to hold up for 3 to 4 years. ????

The epoxy primer with something like Imron or SPI black would be good over them. The polyurethanes wear hard.

You'll have a decent amount of money in them, is the thing.
 
You might want to consider looking on CL for a set of practically new OEM rims and tires.
Many young whipper snappers buy a new truck and immediately have to change to aftermarket rims and bigger tires.
And they sell off the OEM set for less than what you will likely pay for a new set of just tires of same quality.
And you get new shiny rims too.
 
(quoted from post at 18:26:53 03/22/19) You might want to consider looking on CL for a set of practically new OEM rims and tires.
Many young whipper snappers buy a new truck and immediately have to change to aftermarket rims and bigger tires.
And they sell off the OEM set for less than what you will likely pay for a new set of just tires of same quality.
And you get new shiny rims too.

I agree with this. Painting wheels properly gets expensive fast if you don't have everything lying around.
 
Clean the wheels well with TSP, now you have to find some sort of pretreatment so that the paint will adhere. Most of the treatments I have used would not be commercially available. Wash primer containing chrome would be one possibility, magnesium phosphate would be another alternative. Use an epoxy primer if a treatment is used, any of the topcoats depending how long you want it to last.
 
(quoted from post at 06:08:12 03/31/19) Clean the wheels well with TSP, now you have to find some sort of pretreatment so that the paint will adhere. Most of the treatments I have used would not be commercially available. Wash primer containing chrome would be one possibility, magnesium phosphate would be another alternative. Use an epoxy primer if a treatment is used, any of the topcoats depending how long you want it to last.

Pretreatment is easy. Same product and same time as cleaning. Dollar store oven cleaner. Spray it on heavy to the dry surface, warm if possible. Give it about five minutes and if there was any shiny places left they will be dull.
 
(quoted from post at 13:38:46 03/31/19)
(quoted from post at 06:08:12 03/31/19) Clean the wheels well with TSP, now you have to find some sort of pretreatment so that the paint will adhere. Most of the treatments I have used would not be commercially available. Wash primer containing chrome would be one possibility, magnesium phosphate would be another alternative. Use an epoxy primer if a treatment is used, any of the topcoats depending how long you want it to last.

Pretreatment is easy. Same product and same time as cleaning. Dollar store oven cleaner. Spray it on heavy to the dry surface, warm if possible. Give it about five minutes and if there was any shiny places left they will be dull.

Absolutely do not use oven cleaner on aluminum. It is corrosive.

Clean with hot soapy water, scuff sand, epoxy primer, done. Any treatments or steps beyond this will just cost you more money on something that is already not cost effective.
 
(quoted from post at 07:29:54 04/01/19)
(quoted from post at 13:38:46 03/31/19)
(quoted from post at 06:08:12 03/31/19) Clean the wheels well with TSP, now you have to find some sort of pretreatment so that the paint will adhere. Most of the treatments I have used would not be commercially available. Wash primer containing chrome would be one possibility, magnesium phosphate would be another alternative. Use an epoxy primer if a treatment is used, any of the topcoats depending how long you want it to last.

Pretreatment is easy. Same product and same time as cleaning. Dollar store oven cleaner. Spray it on heavy to the dry surface, warm if possible. Give it about five minutes and if there was any shiny places left they will be dull.

Absolutely do not use oven cleaner on aluminum. It is corrosive.

Clean with hot soapy water, scuff sand, epoxy primer, done. Any treatments or steps beyond this will just cost you more money on something that is already not cost effective.

Yakob, the fact that it is corrosive is the reason to use the oven cleaner. In order for the paint to stick, you posted "pretreatment so that the paint will adhere. Well Yakob what is needed for preteatment is for the surface to be slightly "etched", and it is usually done chemically, and usually with an acid based product, but strong alkaline solution will work nicely too. Sanding with an abrasive will likely leave scratches that will show after the painting. After all you go through many steps of finer grades of sandpaper before the surface is ready for paint, right? So absolutely! use strong oven cleaner. It may interest you also to know that car washes use products every bit as strong as oven cleaner to pre-clean the wheels and tires. They don't have little men in there scrubbing them with nylon scrubbies, LOL. If you would like I can also give you the brand and name of an acid based industrial aluminum cleaner-etcher that I have here.
 
(quoted from post at 11:33:38 04/01/19)
(quoted from post at 07:29:54 04/01/19)
(quoted from post at 13:38:46 03/31/19)
(quoted from post at 06:08:12 03/31/19) Clean the wheels well with TSP, now you have to find some sort of pretreatment so that the paint will adhere. Most of the treatments I have used would not be commercially available. Wash primer containing chrome would be one possibility, magnesium phosphate would be another alternative. Use an epoxy primer if a treatment is used, any of the topcoats depending how long you want it to last.

Pretreatment is easy. Same product and same time as cleaning. Dollar store oven cleaner. Spray it on heavy to the dry surface, warm if possible. Give it about five minutes and if there was any shiny places left they will be dull.

Absolutely do not use oven cleaner on aluminum. It is corrosive.

Clean with hot soapy water, scuff sand, epoxy primer, done. Any treatments or steps beyond this will just cost you more money on something that is already not cost effective.

Yakob, the fact that it is corrosive is the reason to use the oven cleaner. In order for the paint to stick, you posted "pretreatment so that the paint will adhere. Well Yakob what is needed for preteatment is for the surface to be slightly "etched", and it is usually done chemically, and usually with an acid based product, but strong alkaline solution will work nicely too. Sanding with an abrasive will likely leave scratches that will show after the painting. After all you go through many steps of finer grades of sandpaper before the surface is ready for paint, right? So absolutely! use strong oven cleaner. It may interest you also to know that car washes use products every bit as strong as oven cleaner to pre-clean the wheels and tires. They don't have little men in there scrubbing them with nylon scrubbies, LOL. If you would like I can also give you the brand and name of an acid based industrial aluminum cleaner-etcher that I have here.

I did not post about pretreatment.

Leaving scratches that will show after painting would be due to using too coarse of a grit and not finishing it properly...which is unnecessary unless trying to sand out some kind of imperfection. If an imperfection exists, no treatment will fix it anyway and you are back to working through grits. Just hitting them with 320 would likely be perfect in conjuction with working any other 'repair' areas more. Maroon scuff pads would be great friend.

The pretreatments being alluded to before, from what I can see, are in the vein of protection more-so than adhesion.

Can you cite any source of info regarding the car washes? Even if that were true, you would rarely be seeing bare aluminum wheels go through. They would be coming out dark and dingy looking on the other end like an aluminum cookie sheet coming out of a dishwasher. People with these wheels would not go back to that car-wash.
 

Yakob, I am sorry I should have addressed to Paintron. I could send you a catalog of the carwash products that my company makes. Or you could go to our website. Alpha Chemical Stoughton MA.
 
(quoted from post at 17:13:16 04/01/19)
Yakob, I am sorry I should have addressed to Paintron. I could send you a catalog of the carwash products that my company makes. Or you could go to our website. Alpha Chemical Stoughton MA.

I didn't see oven cleaner :p

Actually it's kind of funny you mention the car wash stuff anyway. My wheels never come out clean from any car wash without brushing at home. I'm the little man with a brush!
 
(quoted from post at 07:35:40 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 17:13:16 04/01/19)
Yakob, I am sorry I should have addressed to Paintron. I could send you a catalog of the carwash products that my company makes. Or you could go to our website. Alpha Chemical Stoughton MA.

I didn't see oven cleaner :p

Actually it's kind of funny you mention the car wash stuff anyway. My wheels never come out clean from any car wash without brushing at home. I'm the little man with a brush!

Yes, wheels are the biggest challenge for car washes. Believe it or not the wash spends more on the wheel cleaner than for any of the other products. The main difficulty is that it is a stubborn film and there is no brushing involved and a very short amount of time before the main arch of nozzles sprays the car down with a much milder solution.
 
(quoted from post at 11:30:47 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 07:35:40 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 17:13:16 04/01/19)
Yakob, I am sorry I should have addressed to Paintron. I could send you a catalog of the carwash products that my company makes. Or you could go to our website. Alpha Chemical Stoughton MA.

I didn't see oven cleaner :p

Actually it's kind of funny you mention the car wash stuff anyway. My wheels never come out clean from any car wash without brushing at home. I'm the little man with a brush!

Yes, wheels are the biggest challenge for car washes. Believe it or not the wash spends more on the wheel cleaner than for any of the other products. The main difficulty is that it is a stubborn film and there is no brushing involved and a very short amount of time before the main arch of nozzles sprays the car down with a much milder solution.

Are these products designed to "clean and brighten" COATED wheels or BARE wheels? My instinct tells me coated...especially since it is repeated use. Basically "cleans and brightens" is the intended result of removing brake dust, not getting to a new layer of metal every time.
 
I was not satisfied with my previous answer, here is a more specific one. As a treatment use a product called 1021B sold by a company named Chemtall. This a chrome free treatment that works on aluminum and is used by the OEM'S. We use it for our automotive customers on aluminum. Apply with roller or spray and then paint over.
 
(quoted from post at 09:38:49 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 11:30:47 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 07:35:40 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 17:13:16 04/01/19)
Yakob, I am sorry I should have addressed to Paintron. I could send you a catalog of the carwash products that my company makes. Or you could go to our website. Alpha Chemical Stoughton MA.

I didn't see oven cleaner :p

Actually it's kind of funny you mention the car wash stuff anyway. My wheels never come out clean from any car wash without brushing at home. I'm the little man with a brush!

Yes, wheels are the biggest challenge for car washes. Believe it or not the wash spends more on the wheel cleaner than for any of the other products. The main difficulty is that it is a stubborn film and there is no brushing involved and a very short amount of time before the main arch of nozzles sprays the car down with a much milder solution.

Are these products designed to "clean and brighten" COATED wheels or BARE wheels? My instinct tells me coated...especially since it is repeated use. Basically "cleans and brightens" is the intended result of removing brake dust, not getting to a new layer of metal every time.

Yakob, yes of course it is used on what is on the road which is coated. The need for pretreatment before painting a wheel was for where the coating is "badly weathered" according to the OP.
 
(quoted from post at 17:19:10 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 09:38:49 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 11:30:47 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 07:35:40 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 17:13:16 04/01/19)
Yakob, I am sorry I should have addressed to Paintron. I could send you a catalog of the carwash products that my company makes. Or you could go to our website. Alpha Chemical Stoughton MA.

I didn't see oven cleaner :p

Actually it's kind of funny you mention the car wash stuff anyway. My wheels never come out clean from any car wash without brushing at home. I'm the little man with a brush!

Yes, wheels are the biggest challenge for car washes. Believe it or not the wash spends more on the wheel cleaner than for any of the other products. The main difficulty is that it is a stubborn film and there is no brushing involved and a very short amount of time before the main arch of nozzles sprays the car down with a much milder solution.

Are these products designed to "clean and brighten" COATED wheels or BARE wheels? My instinct tells me coated...especially since it is repeated use. Basically "cleans and brightens" is the intended result of removing brake dust, not getting to a new layer of metal every time.

Yakob, yes of course it is used on what is on the road which is coated. The need for pretreatment before painting a wheel was for where the coating is "badly weathered" according to the OP.

I must have gotten lost somewhere. The comparison of the car wash cleaners to oven cleaner was brought up to make a point about how strong they were, but if the normal intended use is on coated wheels it doesn't matter.

In any case, I don't personally see the need for treatment chemicals 9 times out of 10 and whatever is used needs to be used properly so more harm than good isn't done.

I think what set me off initially was paintron saying "you HAVE TO" use a pretreatment to make the paint adhere which is false. If the OP has a stock pile of sand paper and scuff pads then spending more money on an already economically tight project isn't going to make it any more feasible. You can easily spend enough on materials to cover the cost of a new set of wheels
 
(quoted from post at 04:56:59 04/03/19)
(quoted from post at 17:19:10 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 09:38:49 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 11:30:47 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 07:35:40 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 17:13:16 04/01/19)
Yakob, I am sorry I should have addressed to Paintron. I could send you a catalog of the carwash products that my company makes. Or you could go to our website. Alpha Chemical Stoughton MA.

I didn't see oven cleaner :p

Actually it's kind of funny you mention the car wash stuff anyway. My wheels never come out clean from any car wash without brushing at home. I'm the little man with a brush!

Yes, wheels are the biggest challenge for car washes. Believe it or not the wash spends more on the wheel cleaner than for any of the other products. The main difficulty is that it is a stubborn film and there is no brushing involved and a very short amount of time before the main arch of nozzles sprays the car down with a much milder solution.

Are these products designed to "clean and brighten" COATED wheels or BARE wheels? My instinct tells me coated...especially since it is repeated use. Basically "cleans and brightens" is the intended result of removing brake dust, not getting to a new layer of metal every time.

Yakob, yes of course it is used on what is on the road which is coated. The need for pretreatment before painting a wheel was for where the coating is "badly weathered" according to the OP.

I must have gotten lost somewhere. The comparison of the car wash cleaners to oven cleaner was brought up to make a point about how strong they were, but if the normal intended use is on coated wheels it doesn't matter.

In any case, I don't personally see the need for treatment chemicals 9 times out of 10 and whatever is used needs to be used properly so more harm than good isn't done.

I think what set me off initially was paintron saying "you HAVE TO" use a pretreatment to make the paint adhere which is false. If the OP has a stock pile of sand paper and scuff pads then spending more money on an already economically tight project isn't going to make it any more feasible. You can easily spend enough on materials to cover the cost of a new set of wheels


Yakob, I am not a keyboarder, I have already responded to all of these points. Read it all again maybe you will get it.
 
(quoted from post at 17:37:00 04/03/19)
(quoted from post at 04:56:59 04/03/19)
(quoted from post at 17:19:10 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 09:38:49 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 11:30:47 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 07:35:40 04/02/19)
(quoted from post at 17:13:16 04/01/19)
Yakob, I am sorry I should have addressed to Paintron. I could send you a catalog of the carwash products that my company makes. Or you could go to our website. Alpha Chemical Stoughton MA.

I didn't see oven cleaner :p

Actually it's kind of funny you mention the car wash stuff anyway. My wheels never come out clean from any car wash without brushing at home. I'm the little man with a brush!

Yes, wheels are the biggest challenge for car washes. Believe it or not the wash spends more on the wheel cleaner than for any of the other products. The main difficulty is that it is a stubborn film and there is no brushing involved and a very short amount of time before the main arch of nozzles sprays the car down with a much milder solution.

Are these products designed to "clean and brighten" COATED wheels or BARE wheels? My instinct tells me coated...especially since it is repeated use. Basically "cleans and brightens" is the intended result of removing brake dust, not getting to a new layer of metal every time.

Yakob, yes of course it is used on what is on the road which is coated. The need for pretreatment before painting a wheel was for where the coating is "badly weathered" according to the OP.

I must have gotten lost somewhere. The comparison of the car wash cleaners to oven cleaner was brought up to make a point about how strong they were, but if the normal intended use is on coated wheels it doesn't matter.

In any case, I don't personally see the need for treatment chemicals 9 times out of 10 and whatever is used needs to be used properly so more harm than good isn't done.

I think what set me off initially was paintron saying "you HAVE TO" use a pretreatment to make the paint adhere which is false. If the OP has a stock pile of sand paper and scuff pads then spending more money on an already economically tight project isn't going to make it any more feasible. You can easily spend enough on materials to cover the cost of a new set of wheels


Yakob, I am not a keyboarder, I have already responded to all of these points. Read it all again maybe you will get it.

I think you are missing the point.
 

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