Let's keep my shiny black wheels shiny

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Just purchased a 2022 Pilot SE with the shiny black wheels (20 inch). Since they are basically new (100 miles) they don't require any aggressive cleaning. I'm using Mothers non-acidic cleaner on our older Honda's wheels and it seems to work just fine. I plan on doing a light wipe down of the new wheels using this cleaner to start. I do not require any tools other than my MF tire cleaning mitt. The spokes are wide enough so that I can get my hand in there and reach the entire barrel.


Once I get these wiped down and dry what should I use as a wheel coating to keep the wheels as shiny as possible with the least amount of repeated effort? This is our 2nd car that won't be seeing more than 7000 miles a year and 95% of it's miles will be in sunny Southern California, so no mud or snow.
 
There are a couple of ways you can adress this.

The longest lasting solution would be to ceramic coat them with something like Carpro DLUX, Gtechniq C5 or Gyeon Q2 Rim. This is the more involved method, ideally you would remove the wheels from the car, but you can still do it with them still attached.

The next step would be to use something easier like Gyeon Can Coat. This can be used on all vehicle surfaces including wheels. Compared to a full ceramic coating, Can Coat would be easier to work with when leaving the wheels on the car.



If you like to go old school, something like Poorboy's Wheel Sealant could be an option.



The easiest way to protect your wheels would be a spray and rinse type product like Carpro Hydr02 or Gyeon Wet Coat. These are also a good option for getting the barrels coated without removing the wheels or when access behind the spokes is limited. The longevity of something like this is low, but the ease of application means that it's easy to just top it up as required.





 
Cleaning them correctly as to not get them swirled up is best to keep shiny. I would ceramic coat them.


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Thank you for the tips and product recommendations. They're going to get their first washing later this week and I'll see how good my access to the entire wheel is. I don't mind the extra effort to clean a wheel face, I'm mostly concerned with keeping those barrels shiny for as long as possible (which looks like it's going to mean ceramic). We'll see how it goes for a couple of weeks and if I need to I'll remove the wheels and do a pro level job.
 
Regardless of what you put on the wheels (coatings are a great idea), I'd be VERY careful in how you wash and dry them. The gloss black will scratch very easily so make sure any brushes and even your drying towels are soft and clear from any debris that could cause a scratch.
 
I coated mine with a regular coating ( I/E: UK 3.0 etc.. ) I use hydro 2 after every wash to maintain. But as stated above, how you wash them will play the biggest part in keeping them glossy. Strong blast of water first then heavy soapy solution.
 
luckydawg said:
I coated mine with a regular coating ( I/E: UK 3.0 etc.. ) I use hydro 2 after every wash to maintain. But as stated above, how you wash them will play the biggest part in keeping them glossy. Strong blast of water first then heavy soapy solution.
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I'll be treating everything on this new car with the utmost care. MF fiber towels are my friend.

As stated above, I'm able to get my hands into and onto the entire wheel without having to remove it. I can even get in between the caliper and the wheel with my hand and MF cleaning mitt. My plan is to first wash the wheel with soap, then use the Mother's wheel cleaner, wipe, rinse, dry and then apply a ceramic coating. Right now I'm looking at my choices for a good bang for the buck ceramic wheel coating that is locally accessible.
 
Honda Fan said:
Right now I'm looking at my choices for a good bang for the buck ceramic wheel coating that is locally accessible
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You dont need a dedicated " ceramic wheel coating "--- unless your tracking the car and see excessive temps on the wheels. Just your standard coating will work fine. Technique and maint. are the key here.
 
Honda Fan said:
Thank you for the tips and product recommendations. They're going to get their first washing later this week and I'll see how good my access to the entire wheel is. I don't mind the extra effort to clean a wheel face, I'm mostly concerned with keeping those barrels shiny for as long as possible (which looks like it's going to mean ceramic). We'll see how it goes for a couple of weeks and if I need to I'll remove the wheels and do a pro level job.
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If gloss black I would use wheel woolies over SpeedMaster/EZ type brushes. I would use a 2 bucket method.


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Coatingsarecrack said:
If gloss black I would use wheel woolies over SpeedMaster/EZ type brushes. I would use a 2 bucket method.
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I agree. I wouldn't get any kind of bristle brush near them. To be quite honest, I'd probably just clean them with a microfiber towel.
 
This may be a stupid question, but does (or has) anyone ever PPF-wrapped these kind of wheels?

Or does even normal driving produce too much heat for practical PPF use on wheels?
 
PaulMys said:
This may be a stupid question, but does (or has) anyone ever PPF-wrapped these kind of wheels?

Or does even normal driving produce too much heat for practical PPF use on wheels?
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Well...you could Plasi-Dip them. :D

Seriously though, that's an interesting idea. Depending on the complexity of the wheel design, that could be a difficult job to get around the contour of the wheels and fully cover all the surfaces.
 
Honda Fan said:
Just purchased a 2022 Pilot SE with the shiny black wheels (20 inch). Since they are basically new (100 miles) they don't require any aggressive cleaning. I'm using Mothers non-acidic cleaner on our older Honda's wheels and it seems to work just fine. I plan on doing a light wipe down of the new wheels using this cleaner to start. I do not require any tools other than my MF tire cleaning mitt. The spokes are wide enough so that I can get my hand in there and reach the entire barrel.


Once I get these wiped down and dry what should I use as a wheel coating to keep the wheels as shiny as possible with the least amount of repeated effort? This is our 2nd car that won't be seeing more than 7000 miles a year and 95% of it's miles will be in sunny Southern California, so no mud or snow.
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Clean them up, polish them to remove any swirls if there are any, coat with GYEON Q2 RIM then care for them day forward with a MF Towel/rag to wash them with and every couple weeks when washing use GYEON WetCoat.

original.jpg


original.jpg
 
Gloss black wheels will be the bane of your existence. You can coat them and it will help make maintenance easy but it won’t prevent them from being scratched up.

DFB posted up some good solutions.
 
The Guz said:
Gloss black wheels will be the bane of your existence. You can coat them and it will help make maintenance easy but it won’t prevent them from being scratched up.

DFB posted up some good solutions.
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Agree. The first thing I did when I picked up my car was powder coat them in Porsche's Vulcan Grey Metallic.

original.jpg
 
TTQ B4U said:
Clean them up, polish them to remove any swirls if there are any, coat with GYEON Q2 RIM then care for them day forward with a MF Towel/rag to wash them with and every couple weeks when washing use GYEON WetCoat.

original.jpg
Click to expand...

Those are the wheels. As the car sits right now they are brand spanking new, no scratching. I do realize that this black is going to be a bear keeping clean. I'm retired with lots of time so staying on top of them should not be a problem. There is plenty of room to get my hands in there without removing the wheel (I've tested that out) so it should seriously cut down on the time and effort involved. But... only time will tell. If the day ever comes where I tire of keeping them clean I'll just swap them for something else. But for now I'm really enjoying them and will try my best
 
If your Honda is anything like mine, the brakes won't dust much. I pretty much wipe my wheels with a MF periodically and I'm good to go. Now, German cars are a totally different story: they can be a nightmare. They typically need wiping down, if not full cleaning ,at least once a week.
 
Bill D said:
If your Honda is anything like mine, the brakes won't dust much. I pretty much wipe my wheels with a MF periodically and I'm good to go. Now, German cars are a totally different story: they can be a nightmare. They typically need wiping down, if not full cleaning ,at least once a week.
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I shouldn't be spending too much time on this car in total. As I stated it's basically a 2nd car for us and will be a garage queen. It's really not getting driven much at all. We've had it for 9 days and only have 107 miles on it. The limited use should really cut down on the amount of time I need to spend keeping it looking good. It will probably just require a light wash every 2 weeks and I'm good to go.

I really appreciate all the support in this thread.
 
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