Rims Won't Clean Up

[Apinz]

The weather has finally turned decent in Northern Ontario and I brought all my gear out today and gave my 2017 Chevrolet Silverado High Country a good thorough cleaning today.

 

A little background, I started using Adam's Polishes products last year and quickly became addicted.  I have a pretty heavy supply of all kinds of Adams Polishes products now.  I had great luck last year cleaning up my truck, it never looked so good from the wheel and tires up.

 

Today I followed my same procedure I've always followed since I started using these products to clean the tires, rim etc.  It's the same steps Adam shows in the videos.  The brake dust and sum of the grime came off, but there is still all kinds of residue on the rims.  In the barrels of the wheels there are, what appears to be, balls of black tar.  It also looks like some of that substance ran out to the outer area of the rims and it won't come off.  I aggressively tried to clean this with Adams Wheel Cleaner, a Turbo Stick, wheel woolie, Trim and Lug Nut brush, and the wheel brush. No luck.  I'm looking for suggestions on how to clean this up, it's driving me nuts.

 

Now, full disclosure, I did a lot of highway travel over the last few months and couldn't handle how terrible my truck looked, so I took it through a local car wash, which I now deeply regret.  It wasn't touch less and I believe it used some sort of cheap sealant in it's final step.  My paint is so scratched up and looks terrible.  I will now have to invest in all the paint correcting equipment and supplies.  Aside from those problems, is it possible I sealed some of this grime and whatnot to the rims?

 

Can someone suggest the best ways to try to take care of this.  The truck is too nice to not have the wheels looking top notch.

 

Thanks Everyone

[Nickfire20]

2 hours ago, Apinz said:

The weather has finally turned decent in Northern Ontario and I brought all my gear out today and gave my 2017 Chevrolet Silverado High Country a good thorough cleaning today.

 

A little background, I started using Adam's Polishes products last year and quickly became addicted.  I have a pretty heavy supply of all kinds of Adams Polishes products now.  I had great luck last year cleaning up my truck, it never looked so good from the wheel and tires up.

 

Today I followed my same procedure I've always followed since I started using these products to clean the tires, rim etc.  It's the same steps Adam shows in the videos.  The brake dust and sum of the grime came off, but there is still all kinds of residue on the rims.  In the barrels of the wheels there are, what appears to be, balls of black tar.  It also looks like some of that substance ran out to the outer area of the rims and it won't come off.  I aggressively tried to clean this with Adams Wheel Cleaner, a Turbo Stick, wheel woolie, Trim and Lug Nut brush, and the wheel brush. No luck.  I'm looking for suggestions on how to clean this up, it's driving me nuts.

 

Now, full disclosure, I did a lot of highway travel over the last few months and couldn't handle how terrible my truck looked, so I took it through a local car wash, which I now deeply regret.  It wasn't touch less and I believe it used some sort of cheap sealant in it's final step.  My paint is so scratched up and looks terrible.  I will now have to invest in all the paint correcting equipment and supplies.  Aside from those problems, is it possible I sealed some of this grime and whatnot to the rims?

 

Can someone suggest the best ways to try to take care of this.  The truck is too nice to not have the wheels looking top notch.

 

Thanks Everyone

You made my cry a little bit...a brush car wash 🤦‍♂️

 

Ok ok ok I’m over it.

 

Pics of this tar would best.

 

Could possibly try clay 

 

May need a designated tar remover also

 

....a car wash!? 🤷‍♂️

[GXPaycheck]

Clay bar, maybe some tar remover, should work. A plastic scraper/blade might help since it’s in the barrels. 

[RayS]

If you use a plastic razor blade make sure you have some lube for it, car shampoo works well.  Good luck on getting every cleaned off and cleaned up.

[Apinz]

Ok, so I've attached a picture of the problems.  I'm not sure what's going on inside the barrel of the wheel, if it's actually a substance or corrosion.  The face of the rims have been scrubbed and cleaned with wheel cleaner and this is as good as it gets.  Any further advice on how to deal with this would be appreciated, especially with curing the appearance on the face of the rim.

 

And yes, Nickfire20, I deserve all the grief for putting my truck through that car wash, it was a stupid, rookie mistake.

 

Thanks again guys, much appreciated.

[RayS]

From the picture it looks like the center cap is clean, which tells me that they are a different material and therefore it is a chemical reaction and not something stuck to the wheel.  If my eyes are deceiving me, then you might want to reconsider my recommendation.  You need to get anything put on the wheels off without doing additional damage and I have found APC to do a good job on that, you can start with a 50% dilution and go stronger if needed.  If you are using Eco APC, it is your choice on whether or not to go full strength or try diluting it first. 

 

Pick a test area and try the APC, then I'd suggest using Revive on the same spot and a separate spot and check the results.  Then as a last resort you may need to go to Metal Polish.  

 

If you go to Metal Polish, I recommend following the advice on the product page:

Pro Tip!  Many factory wheels finishes are called "polished" by the manufactures, but in reality are clear coated. To determine what kind of finish you have on your wheels take small amount of metal polish #1 on a clean applicator and gently rub on an inconspicuous area. If you get a black residue you're wheels are raw aluminum and can be effectively treated with our system. If you don't then the wheels are clear coated and should be polished using our Revive Polish for paint. 

 

There are so may variations to wheels, whichever methods you try, I would find the least conspicuous place you can to do your testing.  Maybe some others have other methods to try or a way to tell which might be the most effective.   Good Luck.

[rrmccabe]

I am a 2017 High Country owner as well.  What you are seeing is corrosion.

 

GM just replaced my wheels under warranty.  I ceramic coated the new rims with a competitor brand ceramic including the back barrels and back of spokes as it appears the corrosion starts in the back and crawls around to front.

 

From experience you can polish that out with Adams metal polish and make it look really good but its not going to last. You will need to keep doing it.

 

I am sure its related to living in the snow belt and the salt brine and chemicals they put on the road.

 

And for your info, my truck had around 16,000 miles when GM offered to replace them.

 

Rich

 

Edited May 14, 2019 by rrmccabe

[rrmccabe]

 

Here is another shot. You can see it creeping around from back.

 

 

And yes RayS the center caps are plastic

 

 

Edited May 14, 2019 by rrmccabe

[mogleygull]

These are just great! Are you using wool pads for polishing them? 

[falcaineer]

53 minutes ago, mogleygull said:

These are just great! Are you using wool pads for polishing them? 

 

Do you mean wool or microfiber?