The number one complaint about billet aluminum wheels is the elbow grease involved to keep them looking polished. Polishing wheels is the equivalent of cleaning the kitchen-it has to be done but no one enjoys it. For this wheel and tire issue, we wanted to show you how your acid-stained, rock-chipped, dull-looking wheels can look brand new again in a day's time, and for less money than you may think.
After a recent call to Mag Masters in Santa Ana, California, an appointment was made for your favorite truck magazine to sit ringside as the crew at Mag Masters polished a set of Budnik M5 billet wheels. These wheels were probably just like yours; they had been well taken care of and hand-polished several times. But, they still didn't have the exquisite luster they did right out of the box.
The wheels real undoing was when a wheel cleaner was used that said it was aluminum safe, but actually contained harmful cleaning acid that ate into the billet hoops. No kind of hand polishing can fix that problem, but our pros at Mag Masters had over 25 years of experience taking the dirtiest of wheels and making them look new again. Read on as Roberto, from Mag Masters, took us through the necessary steps to transform our billets into beauties.
1. Here is a close-up shot...
1. Here is a close-up shot of our Budnik M5 billet wheel when we delivered it to Mag Masters, in Santa Ana, California. Notice the large rock chip divots, acid stains, and even small amounts of rust on the inside lip.
2. Take a long look at this...
2. Take a long look at this wheel and take a look outside on your truck. If these wheels-that were hand-polished just a week before this photo-look like your billet hoops, then take them to Mag Masters and have them professionally polished for an incredible new look.
3. One of the nicest things...
3. One of the nicest things about going to Mag Masters is their ability to keep the tire on the rim while being polished. The first step was to break the outside bead, so that the outside of the rim could be fully cleaned.
4. This is the magic machine....
4. This is the magic machine. A 5hp engine is mounted onto two U-joints that allowed the polishing head to swivel at almost every angle. Turning at 3,450 rpm, the polishing wheel had no problem busting through dirt, grime, and acid stains. Here, Roberto mounted the wheel and tire to the base that allowed the wheel to free spin while being cleaned and polished.
5. On the polisher, a large...
5. On the polisher, a large dense wheel was used to remove the chips and dings from the outer rim. Getting rid of a year's worth of imperfections and driving mishaps was awesome, especially when they disappeared in just a few minutes.
6. Using a special Mag Masters-formulated...
6. Using a special Mag Masters-formulated polishing compound, Roberto used a softer polishing wheel to start the cleaning process.
7. After the outer rim was...
7. After the outer rim was cleaned, the inside lip was cleaned by using an up-and-down motion to ensure the entire lip had been detailed.
8. Here, you can see how much...
8. Here, you can see how much pressure was applied from the polishing head to the hoop. Seventeen year's worth of polishing experience helped Roberto to know just how much finesse needed to be used in order to prevent scarring.