Chrome Clad Aluminum Wheels question

[JDinNY]

Hi Guys,

Anyone remove the chrome cover on thier aluminum wheels and polish?

If so, how did they come out?

Have a good day,

jd

 

[MABurns]

I thought they where chrome clad steel wheels.

 

[p-Bar]

I thought they where chrome clad steel wheels.

They are

 

[JDinNY]

the new aluminum wheels are chrome clad, with a polished option.

 

[steved]

I'm in the process of refinishing some 01 aluminum wheels... they are chrome plated aluminum wheels... I had to file/sand some inperfections out (curb rash/corrosion). I plan on simply spraying these, so polishing isn't my concern.



However, I doubt you would be able to get them smooth and "nice" looking after you got the chrome off them. I sands off fairly easily though... it also has an incredibly thick clear laquer coat/clear powder coat layer too.



steved

 

[JDinNY]

The new ones aren't chrome plated, they have a chrome cap in place over them like the chrome clad steel wheels.

 

[steved]

The new ones aren't chrome plated, they have a chrome cap in place over them like the chrome clad steel wheels.

Then I have NO idea of what you are talking about.



steved

 

[JDinNY]

Just what I said, peeling the chrome cap off and polishing the wheel. They seem to be smooth under the chrome cap. I am thinking about picking one up from a junk yard and trying one. But I figured if someone else had tried it, it would save me the trouble.

 

[MABurns]

The confusion is that when you say "Chrome Clad" everyone thinks of the chrome steel wheels that have a chrome Disk glued to it.



JD in NY's 03 has chrome clad steel wheels.

 

[JDinNY]

JD in Nys has chrome clad aluminum wheels off of an '06 mega cab. They are not in the pics in my gallery. I will take a few pics tonite and get them posted so you can see what I mean.

 

[JDinNY]

These are the wheels I am talking about. They are forged aluminum with a chrome facing stuck on the wheel.

#ad

 

[JVolpe]

I was not aware of the new 2006 wheel options either. But they have both Chrome-Clad 17" steel and Chrome-Clad 17" forged aluminum wheels available. Chrome-Clad aluminum looks like part of Sport and Laramie H and Laramie J models.



I saw a post of someone removing from steel wheels and sounded like it was a lot of trouble for the results. Cant find that post now though.

 

[JDinNY]

here are the wheels#ad

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

But they have both Chrome-Clad 17" steel and Chrome-Clad 17" forged aluminum wheels available. Chrome-Clad aluminum looks like part of Sport and Laramie H and Laramie J models.

I still don't get it, you're saying the aluminum wheels are NOT chrome plated but instead have a thin metal facing covering the entire center of the wheel

Got a closeup of the edge of a wheel or spoke so we can see what you're talking about is a stuck-on separate piece of cladding? Does it just cover the flat outer face of the spokes or conformed to them and cover them entirely??

 

[CTieman]

I've got a set of aluminum rims that I was planning on powder coating black but the powder coater wanted $75/wheel plus stripping fee. I'll try to refinish the wheels myself for that price. Any recomendations on getting the clear coat off and what kind of paint to apply for durability?

 

[JayWm]

The better question is why do you want to remove it? Polished aluminum requires maintenance. Chrome requires windex and about 30 seconds to wipe it clean. Did I mention I hate polishing wheels.....



The reason they put skin on it rather than directly chroming the aluminum wheel is that given enough time the chrome will blister on an aluminum wheel. It commonly occurs in the bead seat area leading to air leaks when the bead of the tire will not seal to the wheel any longer.



If its a forged wheel I'm sure you can polish it out. How long and how hard it will be is going to depend on how smoothly Dodge machined the wheel during the manufacturing process. You might consider finding a truck stop that does wheel polishing as they usually for a reasonable price.



Jay

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

That's interesting Jay, I never realized that. I wouldn't be happy if I bought a set of expensive chrome plated forged wheels then have the finish blister a few years later.



I was thinking about finding a set of chrome alum. wheels for my '98 but I'm glad I found this thread. I'm going to look for the polished aluminum ones instead.

 

[TowPro]

in 06 the SLT comes with polished alum wheels, but the laramie has this chrome plated metal skin over the alum. At first I wanted to switch the wheels with an SLT but realized how much work real alum is to keep polished so I kept the metal skin covered ones. It is metal, I put a little dent in one with my tire machine



Then I uncovered my new RV with polished alum wheels and saw the mess growing on those wheels and was glad i kept the plated ones.

 

[JDinNY]

This is removed from the Dodge site:



B. 17-inch chrome-clad steel wheel, standard on 2500/3500 SLT, Mega Cab™ SLT, TRX4, Off-Road. and Laramie. Available on ST models.



C. 17-inch polished forged aluminum wheel. Standard on Power Wagon®, optional on Mega Cab™ SLT models.



D. 17-inch chrome-clad forged aluminum wheel. Standard on 2500/3500 SRW Sport and Laramie H. Available on Laramie and Mega Cab™ Laramie models.



E. 17-inch polished forged aluminum wheel. Available on 2500/3500 SLT and TRX4 Off-road SRW models.

 

[Signal73]

So how did you make out with this, I am wondering the same. I have alloys tucked under my skins.