Alloy wheels

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

I’m new to this so be gentle with me please!
I’ve just got a new motor (Mega space Actros ,just in case anyone gives a ■■■■) and it’s got Speedline Alloys, they look the nads when they are clean but pants when grubby. Anyone got any tips on what I can spray on them/polish them with to help keep them clean and/or make them easier to clean when they are grubby?

2

WELCOME biggerstuff :smiley:
I have seen professional alloy wheel cleaners use a type of ACID which they spray on but must be power hosed off within minutes !!

3

Welcome biggerstuff. :smiley:

4

welcome aboard, how about some pictures of the new steed.

there are plenty of helpers on here for polishing, but there is more knockers.

5

I grew out of cleaning and polishing truck wheels several years ago, but the main problem is the acidic brake dust which can corrode the wheels, the best thing is plenty of hot soapy water and manual labour. Dont let the sponge get dry as the dust is abrasive and you will remove the laquer which makes wheels look cack quick.

When you do get them clean and sparkling, try waxing them, avoid abrasive polish or compounds and never use wire wool. Avoid using Alibrite too often as it takes a layer off the alloy each time and when you do, follow Rog. dont leave it on too long, apply it, brush it in and rinse it off with lots of clean water.

I worked in a Jeep garage for a short period and it was the same principle, the minging farmers vehicles were washed properly when they were serviced, the ones which had been washed professionally every week had to have new wheels fitted under warranty.

6

I also had Speedline alloy wheels on an Acdross and dare I say they were absolute rubbish.What seemed like a plastic surface started to lift fairly quickly and the wheels soon looked worse than normal steels.Are Speedline still in existence ■■ certainly not a patch on Alcoa but they might just be cheaper.If it’s someones lorry forget them,if it’s yours save up for Alcoas

7

Any not to cheap(maybe £5) alloy wheel cleaner and a wheel cleaning (non abrasife) brush will do the trick.Spray it on,rub in with the brush,wait for a 1min then wash of making sure you WASH IT ALL OFF!!! and don’t get any on the pait work.After you have done that give them a good polish. :smiley: :smiley: That should do the trick. It dosn’t matter to much that the products about £5 contain acid as long as you wash them off well!! Also you can get non acidic products but they tend to cost more. :smiley: :smiley: :wink:
Good luck :sunglasses: :sunglasses:
Im a merc fan by the way.

8

Thanks for the replies everyone, seems manual labour is the way to go. I’ll post some pics as soon as I sus out how.
Always been a Merc fan right from the Powerliners up to today, this is my second Actros, the last one was eight years old when they got shot of it and it only let us down once on the side of the road (gearbox control unit) so if this one is as good I’ll be happy!

9

Once you get them clean, to keep the brake dust from doing its worst you could try applying Autoglym Alloy Wheel Seal.

10

Yeah my dads has never broken down either and thats 9 years old.(He owns Reddaways removals) :smiley:

11

I read somewhere that brick acid from b&q does a good job.

12

donkey-dog:
Once you get them clean, to keep the brake dust from doing its worst you could try applying Autoglym Alloy Wheel Seal.

:grimacing: :grimacing: :wink:

13

removalboy:
Any not to cheap(maybe £5) alloy wheel cleaner and a wheel cleaning (non abrasife) brush will do the trick.Spray it on,rub in with the brush,wait for a 1min then wash of making sure you WASH IT ALL OFF!!! and don’t get any on the pait work.After you have done that give them a good polish. :smiley: :smiley: That should do the trick. It dosn’t matter to much that the products about £5 contain acid as long as you wash them off well!! Also you can get non acidic products but they tend to cost more. :smiley: :smiley: :wink:
Good luck :sunglasses: :sunglasses:
Im a merc fan by the way.

Simples :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing: :wink:

14

those speedlines are terrible for keeping clean , in the end i gave in and put some of the full s/steel wheelcovers on {alcoa lookalike jobs}

15

Armagedon:
I also had Speedline alloy wheels on an Acdross and dare I say they were absolute rubbish.What seemed like a plastic surface started to lift fairly quickly and the wheels soon looked worse than normal steels.Are Speedline still in existence ■■ certainly not a patch on Alcoa but they might just be cheaper.If it’s someones lorry forget them,if it’s yours save up for Alcoas

I had them too on an Actros, found the same problems with the plastic film/laquer surface lifting or chipping and tarnishing the chrome plated like surface underneath. Replaced them with some Alcoa’s I found on ebay, still got the old speedlines lurking in the back of the workshop, utter rubbish.

16

sorry guys but speedline dont polish due to the film on them etc if you paint stripper the film of and do very major rubbing etc you may get a little somewhere!! but to be honest you are wasting your time trying to do anything with speed lines, apart from putting them in a skip,