Best Ceramic for Wheels

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Al D

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Need a coating for my wheels.
I'm looking for durability above all else. It's for the inside barrel portion of my wheels. They are aluminum. Something that is going to make it easier to keep them clean. The shine is not as important as durability, since taking off each wheel to coat them is not going to happen very often. Although people will notice if the inside is clean, an ultra shine is probably not going to pop much in that location. Preferably something that can be layered without waiting more than an hour or two between coats. Last of all, something I can buy a small quantity of since the coating will hopefully outlast the shelf life of the material. I did a search and don't see this question answered. This is a weekend car kept inside and not driven in the rain.
 
I've not coated any aluminum wheels, but have used both CQuartz UK and the regular CQuartz coatings on my painted wheels.

In both cases, I coated the entire wheel and then drove them daily for their entire designated season, i.e. spring/summer/fall or winter. They held up for around two full seasons of daily driving.
 
The best thing to do would be to do a cardboard round to lay over the backside of the spokes and then use Wheel Clearcoat to paint the barrel.
 
The thing about coatings is that they don't last long on bare metal such as the aluminum wheels. The wheels will still oxidize just at a slower rate. You can still use any of them but just letting you know since wheel coatings perform best on clear coated wheels. One product that does work well on aluminum and bare metal is wolfgangs metal sealant. It won't have the chemical resistance like a coating but it sure lasts quite a bit of time.
 
Well I should have mentioned that the aluminum wheels must have some type of clear coat since it’s a brand new Corvette C8. I can’t believe that it’s just bare metal. Should’ve mentioned that up front.
 
I put IGL EcoCoat Wheel on my wheels when I had them refinished on my daily driver 957 Cayenne GTS, has handled road trips, mountain pass aggressive and routine driving since May without fail. Quick easy rinse for the heavy pig which throws brake dust like an 20 year old throws soot in their first modified diesel.
 
Al D said:
Well I should have mentioned that the aluminum wheels must have some type of clear coat since it’s a brand new Corvette C8. I can’t believe that it’s just bare metal. Should’ve mentioned that up front.
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The C8 Corvette wheels probably are aluminum or other alloy, but I think they are all painted for this generation, maybe a black, gray or silver color? I thought chrome/polished wheels ended with the C7.

Just so we're all giving you the right advice, can you provide a picture of one of the wheels?
 
It didn’t occur to me that the finish would be important. I went back to the factory specs and they are indeed painted with a clear coat.
 
Desertnate said:
I've not coated any aluminum wheels, but have used both CQuartz UK and the regular CQuartz coatings on my painted wheels.

In both cases, I coated the entire wheel and then drove them daily for their entire designated season, i.e. spring/summer/fall or winter. They held up for around two full seasons of daily driving.
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As updated by AL D, I suspect you are on the best path with the coating over the clear coat on the wheels. I too use CarPro, but use the dedicated DLUX for trim and wheels. I have it running over 2-years on my F150 and been really easy to clean and keep it clean. Now need time to do a wheels off process again and lay down more and keep it shiny.

Agree with The Guz on the sealant or for winter time use a good old fashion wax? I heard of using the Collinite 476S just for this purpose of protection during the winter time. But IMHO, coatings are the way to go if you have time.

C8, a very nice change of pace for the future of Chevrolet.
 
Al D said:
It didn’t occur to me that the finish would be important. I went back to the factory specs and they are indeed painted with a clear coat.
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In that case any wheel coating will suit your needs. A paint coating will also work as the wheels are clear coated.
 
Al D said:
Well I should have mentioned that the aluminum wheels must have some type of clear coat since it’s a brand new Corvette C8.

I can’t believe that it’s just bare metal. Should’ve mentioned that up front.
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Maybe only the front of the wheel is painted and the back of the wheel is cast aluminum?

I've detailed 2 of these new C8 Corvettes but I have not removed the wheels. My guess would be the face of the wheels are clearcoated but the backs of the wheels may just be un-coated aluminum.

Let us know what you find out when you remove the wheels.

The wheel specific coating I've had experience with and good luck with is the Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armor.

Probably the toughest coating I've seen is the BLACKFIRE Black Edition.


:)
 
I don't think the barrels of the wheels are bare aluminum, aren't they typically painted with something?

On the vehicles I've owned and the aftermarket wheels I've also used, the backside of the spokes and the barrels are covered in something. On the aftermarket wheels I've owned, this area is usually the same color as the rest of the wheel, but not glossy. I've never taken a polish to the area, so I don't know if it is clearcoated or not On the factory wheels it is sometimes a different/complimentary color with a flat finish.

I don't know how wheels are actually finished, but to my eyes, it almost looks like the less visible areas are powder coated or at least covered in some form of high durability primer, and the fronts are painted/clear coated.

Regardless of what is on them, I've coated the wheels top-to-bottom when I rotate them out in the spring/winter, and it makes them much easier to clean.
 
Glad to see this..!

I was asked if there was a way to protect new polished aluminum rims. These are one off rims and are polished to a chrome like finish. There are no clear coat on these rims.
They also have vinyl inlays in the spokes.

Guess ceramic coating is out...

So far...Dallas correction-Megs Fast finish, Autogeek-Wheel wax, and Gus mentioned Wolfgang metal sealant. Looks like fast wax and Wolfgang has a long protection of 4 to 6 months.

Also saw that Blackfire metal sealant has a 6 month protection.

Any other suggestions?

Tom
 
TMQ said:
Any other suggestions?

Tom
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I'm coating this floaty toy this weekend.

I'm using the BLACKFIRE Black Edition on the wheels.

Nitro_005.JPG



Every time the boat is launched or pulled out the wheels are submerged in the local lakes. Owner wants to run the boat through a local Coin-Op car wash after a day of fishing and simply WATER BLAST the boat to get the swamp water off.

The BLACKFIRE Black Edition is freaking bullet-proof - should work really well on rims.



:)
 
one question. 15ml is enough for 4 wheels? i am going to buy C5 gitechniq and try to do by myself. tks
 
How big are the wheels? How complex is the design?

I was able to coat a set of 18x8" wheels on a couple occasions; one complex with lots of spoke, the other pretty simple. In both instances, I was able to use a coat those wheels with less than 10mL of CQuartz.
 
I can't follow the link right now, but considering you can coat an entire car with around 15mL, I'd think you could do 19" wheels from a VW Polo with that amount.
 
View attachment 71847

I had a set of forgeline wheels custom made for my C7 that were clearcoated, CquartzUK worked fine for the entire time I had them -about 2 1/2 years…20k miles.... I did periodic maintenance with a spray/rinse of Hydr02.....
 
danfont80 said:
one question. 15ml is enough for 4 wheels? i am going to buy C5 gitechniq and try to do by myself. tks
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danfont80 said:
19". same as link below
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Per Gtechniq's site. You could get by with the 15ml with one single coat on each wheel. If you get the larger bottle you could lay down a nice solid 2 coats.

15ml of C5 will cover the rim faces only of up to 17 inch wheels

30ml of C5 will cover the inside and out of any wheels up to 20 inch wheels
 
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