Wheel coating spray?

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Anyone have experience with the spray coating for wheels? They say it makes wheels easier to clean and keeps them cleaner and prevent against minor damage. You can peel it off afterwards also. I was thinking of getting the clear spray to spray on my clear coated aluminum wheels. Anyone use this yet, opinions? Thanks!!
 
I've seen informal tests of these on the detailing sites. Some of them kinda work, others barely work. The results don't look much different from just waxing the wheel.
 
I'd say just wax the wheel with a high quality durable wax like Collinite. Before waxing, clay it to remove some of the bonded contaminants.

This will yield better looking results than hoping a temporary paint will end up looking good, more often than not they don't unless you prep the wheel really well for the painting, but if you get to that level of prep work you might as well just spray your wheels with another coat of real clear coat for extra added durability.

Plus Plastidip clear will end up matte looking. If you want your wheels matte, then yes go with the Plastidip it'll protect quite well and last a pretty long time and will peel off.
 
Which products are you considering?

Originally Posted By: qwertydude
I'd say just wax the wheel with a high quality durable wax like Collinite. Before waxing, clay it to remove some of the bonded contaminants.

This will yield better looking results than hoping a temporary paint will end up looking good, more often than not they don't unless you prep the wheel really well for the painting, but if you get to that level of prep work you might as well just spray your wheels with another coat of real clear coat for extra added durability.

Plus Plastidip clear will end up matte looking. If you want your wheels matte, then yes go with the Plastidip it'll protect quite well and last a pretty long time and will peel off.


Claying the wheel takes way too long. I would use Iron-X or Sonax Full Effect, then either Hydr02 or coat the wheel.
 
Claying and waxing the wheels doesn't take all that long. Certainly it would be faster than prepping and masking the wheels and tires for painting.

With those iron sprays I would be more worried about rusting the iron components behind those wheels like the calipers or parts of the disc brake should any of the stuff get caught in some crevices and not be removed on the rinse.
 
Originally Posted By: qwertydude
Claying and waxing the wheels doesn't take all that long. Certainly it would be faster than prepping and masking the wheels and tires for painting.

With those iron sprays I would be more worried about rusting the iron components behind those wheels like the calipers or parts of the disc brake should any of the stuff get caught in some crevices and not be removed on the rinse.

I've never heard of any issues from Iron-X or its equivalent products. The stuff is not acidic based like the ABC system is, so there's little to be concerned about.

If you have not tried it, you really owe it to yourself to try some. It makes the job go a lot quicker when you are trying to remove any moderate to heavy build-up.
 
Iron x it, polish it, and then get something like sharkhide to coat them if you want to keep them nice and corrosion free.

Something like Finish Kare 1000p high temp wax would be a cheaper alternative. It can stand up to 200 degrees apparently.
 
Just because it isn't acidic in the bottle doesn't mean it still won't rust metal. The msds for iron-x is a bit misleading. It doesn't actually contain ferrous sulfate. In fact that's actually the byproduct after what's in the bottle takes its course. It's a similar chemical reaction used in an iron limit test in chemistry. I can deduce it from the fact that people complain of its strong smell with the same resultant purple color. And in order to make it pH neutral in the bottle an ammonia buffer is added. All together it may be pH neutral but it is still very corrosive specifically to iron.

http://forum.dodojuice.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3188

This is a good discussion on the complicated chemistry behind those iron sprays.

It may be a subtle and long term but my approach has always been to use the most gentle method that gets the job done, it's the basis for my philosophy on why excessive compounding is bad for paint too since paint is thin. No need to break out such active chemicals if only a light decontamination is used. Considering on my cars I would never need that level of heavy iron decontamination in the first place, and I still have worries about the long term effects of essentially dissolving a layer of the metal, if that stuff gets into the pores of the paint it essentially undercuts the paint on top of oxidizing it. When metals oxidize they also tend to expand significantly, the undercutting of the metal and subsequent expansion of the steel would, in my opinion have a negative effect on the adhesion of the paint to metal.

I have no current use for iron sprays because my cars get clayed and polished every year and regularly waxed. Perhaps if I were still running a business and needed it for very heavy decontamination and for speeding up production I'd use it. But as of now it's still too big a gun for me to need or want to use for my cars. It's like compounding, use only when absolutely necessary.

Maybe on heavily contaminated wheels I'd break out either the acid cleaners or Iron-X if I had it. But my own vehicles, they'll never see it because their finishes are always maintained.
 
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I've had great results using ReJex on my wheels.

Put two coats of ReJex on them (24 hours apart) and you'll be amazed at how easily road grime and brake dust just sprays off with a garden hose.
 
Ive heard good things about rejex.

Wheels seem like a place where a heavy silicone coating would be good. Not sure if that hydrophobicity would interact with brake dust, but it seems to me that it would help the dust to wash away since the drops of water wont stay.
 
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