Care for New Wheels

PAN1K said:

I just got a new set of hypercoated FR500 wheels put on my stang this past Friday. As you guys know these were no small investment and I would like to keep them looking new and well protected.

What kind of protectants, cleaners, etc. do you guys use? And what about tools like the Mother's Power Ball? Thanks!

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Howdy, take a look in my Garage and you'll my Mustang Cobra in there. Cycle through the pics until you get to the one of my hood. The hood wasn't all the way down when I took the pic cause I had just taken a pic of the engine compartment, but you can see how it looks. Anyway.. I use mostly meguiars products. I use the GOLD CLASS CARNAUBA PLUS CAR WAX rather than liquids. This wax works great and I wax them every 3 months. I use a applicator pad to apply the wax (meguiars has them too). For the rims, I use meguiars Hot Rims mag and aluminum polish. I haven't taken a close up pic of my wheels yet. They're Chrome Cobra R's though. If you get some break dust or nasty stuff on there always use the least abrasive method first. If you have a nice soft brush and a good car wash this will usually be all it takes as long as you don't let it stay too long on them. You may need to go over it twice in that case. I recommend calling the place you bought them and ask them what they recommend for stuff that doesn't come off with the soft brush or the Hot Rims polish. I will tell you what I used that someone recommended for my Chrome wheels for hard water stains but my wheels are chrome so it may not be the best thing for yours due to your clear coat, not sure. What I used was 0000 steel wool as a applicator along w/the meguiars hot rims polish for some hard water stains they got on them, took it right off when nothing else would. This can happen if you park some where and a sprinkler comes on and it's hot outside and you've left your car there for several hours. You don't need to put much pressure on when you use that method, you don't want to scratch them of course. I also use the Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner. Most of the Parts houses carry it. With your wheels having a lot of tight to get around spokes, I'll call them, the soft brush when washing them should get in there pretty good. I use the Microfiber towells for applying/removing the polish or wax on the wheels. I use a different wax for my wheels than on the paint. Believe it or not I just use the NuFinish once a year brand stuff for the wheels only although again, I polish/wax every 3 months on the wheels as well. If you wash and wax your paint and wheels regularly, you won't have a problem. just ignore the stuff you already know above, by looking at your car, I'm sure you do. Nice Stang ya have man ! I had a 2003 for a while that looked similar to your body style. Our friends bought it and are still loving it. I buy cars that need a little work at times then sell them. Click the following link, if you want to see a lot of cool Stangs, have a good one. Flickr: MustangsPast,Present & Ford technology