I'm not sure if it's best to buy 'seperate' cleaner and polish, or if seperates even exist, since all I've seen is 'combo' cleaner&polish at my local auto parts stores.

Anyhow... I have some turtle wax chrome polish that I've been using on my Silverado's chrome steel wheels ever since I bought the truck and the wheels look amazing after I use it. On a bright day you'll be damn near blinded, and if they weren't so curved they'd make a better mirror than I've seen come with many bedroom suites.

But I've got to say the Mothers "Mag and Aluminum" polish is kind of disappointing. It says Mag and Aluminum but also says "perfect for any kind of metal".

Well since my Lexus' wheels aren't chrome, I figured I needed to find something other than my chrome polish. Needless to say I'm not very impressed with this stuff. I can polish the heck out of one wheel and compare it to the other wheel on the same side and even I, as **** as I am about these things, can't tell much if any difference at all between the two.

It says I'll know it's working because my rag will turn black. Well it takes a whole lot of rubbing for the rag to turn black.. and even then it's not really black... more of just a faded brown color.

I know my wheels on my Lexus are considered "alloy" and they are not chrome. But beyond that I don't know. They seem to be made of a similar type of metal to salad-shooter 16" wheels I had on my 94 Z28. But I'm not really sure about that.

So who makes the best wheel-cleaning\polishing products on the market for my type of wheel?

 

You might try EagleOne's NevrDull wadding polish. I've always had good success with it. Either that or another type of metal polish, like Wenol (blue tube), Blue Magic, etc...

http://store.yahoo.com/classic-motoring/y-335.html

http://store.yahoo.com/classic-motoring/nevrdull.html

http://www.blulightning.com/

I've had good luck with EagleOne for it's rather inexpensive price....

I've heard some good things about Flitz metal polish, you might look that one up too....

 

I need to see a picture of your Lexus wheels, as most factory wheels are clear coated, this is the reason the metal polish is not turning black as it will only do that with a bare metal wheel.

If your wheels are clear coated you will not be using any chrome or metal polish on them.

 

OK I'll get some pics up later today if I can get home before dark. If they are clear-coated, what do I use? Zaino wax?

 

Actually Zaino can be used on any hard smooth surface, paint, glass, bare metal, chrome, etc. But do not expect the Zaino to make problem areas go away as it contains no abrasives or cleaners.

I would try some polishing or rubbing compounds on the wheels.

 

They don't really have any problems that I've noticed besides minor curb rash on the edge of one wheel. I just want them to shine and stay protected. I guess the clear coat takes care of the protection part for me though, eh?

Will Zaino protect the wheels? Or will it just shine them up until they get dirty again?

I'll get pics to you soon. I'm at work, gotta move a server and then hopefully get home in time for there to be enough light.

 

Here are the pics... I got one from far away and then one really close to show you one of the deeper scratches to see if you think they can be fixed, and also to give you a closer look at the metal/finish of the wheel.

http://www.gulfcoastrealestatenews.com/PR/dsc00140.jpg

http://www.gulfcoastrealestatenews.com/PR/dsc00137.jpg

 

Thats a standard factory clear coated wheel and I do not thing you will be able to make that flat gray color shine very much and the scrapes on the edges will have to be touched up with paint and clear to really help them.

Looks also like you have some serious dry rot setting up on those tires

 

Dry rot? I've heard the term but I'm not sure what it is or how you can tell? If you mean they look kind of dry and faded that's because every time I take it in for service (free oil changes to 50k miles) they do a light detail job complimentary and every time I forget to tell them NOT to use their (cheapo) tire dressing... so as soon as I get it home I wash the dressing off and the results look kind of faded and blotchy. I haven't had time to put on any of the good stuff yet (Meguire's endurance).

But if you're referring to something else... I can believe it. The guy who owned this car before me knew he was going to be getting rid of it but knew it needed new tires... so he put on the cheapest POS tires he could buy. They're sold exclusively at Sam's club for 42 bucks a tire installed. He even got the size of tire that's supposed to be on the GS300 instead of the GS400.

Do you think Z2 will do the wheels any good?

 

I can see a lot of cracks in the rubber right where it meets the rim edge, and the rubber looks faded and gray in color, not fresh and black. The tire has been abused before you got the vehicle, the tire damage really can not be reversed by you putting tire dressing on at this point. Also cheap tires rot like this quicker than better tires.

Dry rotted tires will have a crackly, grainy look to the rubber, not smooth like a new tire.

Z-2 or Z-5 will be fine to use on the wheels

 

So would you say this is most likely from it being a cheap tire or more likely from the car being driven hard?

The guy who had it before me was a 60+ year old doctor. I can't imagine him pushing the car very hard.

 

Does not have anything to do with hard driving, he just never put any kind of tire/rubber protectant on the tires and the rubber was dried out by UV and starting with cheap tires also.