So I bought these wheels for $180. And they're worse than I thought they were. Here are all four pictured.


Why are they bad? They are suffering from the worst brake dust buildup I've ever personally seen with my own eyes, not to mention the curbing on two of the wheels. I'd like to save them, as they're 15 x 6.5's with a +35mm offset and they look nice on the car itself.


Here is the better wheel of the four:


Followed by the worst:


My ultimate question is this: Should I waste my time cleaning these wheels up myself? and if so how? Or should I save my time and my hands and have a reputable business fix the lips and the rest of the damage and have them powdercoated professionally? I'm leaning towards the latter, but I've seen some impressive DIY stuff here recently. So I'm up for anything at this point. Thanks for your help and yes I've searched, just didn't see anything that pertained to brake dust problems like mine at the current moment.

Thanks.

 

Have them media blasted, then paint them. Shouldn't cost much at all.

PS. Next time, run some low-dust brake pads.

 

oh, no worries bro. These were bought this way, in hopes of returning them to "like-new" condition. It may be just me, but it seems like German makes, like BMW's and so forth, always have huge amounts of brake dust build up on their front wheels.

I guess VW's are the same over time. Either way, I hope to find a place that will be able to take care of this pretty soon.

Should I strip the clearcoat off of the wheels before I have them media blasted? or would the media take that off as well?
Any other comments/tips would be appreciated.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stockbee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Should I strip the clearcoat off of the wheels before I have them media blasted? or would the media take that off as well?
Any other comments/tips would be appreciated.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Media blasting will take care of any coats of paint/debris on the wheels. Using something fairly soft, like baking soda, will prevent pitting of the metal as well.

 

use aircraft remover. it is ment to strip aluminum and works great on rims without a finish on them. it is pretty corrosive though, so keep it away from paint, far away from paint. i was using it outside and over spray was carried by the wind and now i have lil white speckles all over my beaters hood where it landed.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raiden571 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">use aircraft remover. it is ment to strip aluminum and works great on rims without a finish on them. it is pretty corrosive though, so keep it away from paint, far away from paint. i was using it outside and over spray was carried by the wind and now i have lil white speckles all over my beaters hood where it landed.</TD></TR></TABLE>


as mentioned by raiden571, aircraft remover will get that clean. you have a choice of spraycan or brush on, i'll highly suggest the spraycan since its a lot easier to use than the brush type.

 

nope, not selling them, but I probably should. I went to town today and had them balanced.

Found out a couple of things, mainly that two of them have slight bends that are not visible to the eye. I would like to have them fixed but I don't know of a place that will fix them that is local or within a hundred miles.

If anyone knows anyplace near Bowling Green, KY that does anything like this (or Nashville) please let me know....if anyone checks this thread out anymore....

 

Those are nice wheels, man. Good luck getting them fixed up.

 

well, unfortunately I've discovered that two of these wheels are bent.

Fortunately, a friend of mine says he knows someone who has another set of these that he might part with. If so I'll feel a little better about buying wheels that I wasn't sure about in the first place........kicks himself....

What it looks like with the wheels on....yeah I know, I like it too.

 

Don't feel bad man, the RA's are always bent. Out of 2 91 GLI's I had 4/8 wheels were straight, they are super soft. Price out media as stated above, we found great deals on blasting and would run $20 extra then stripping yourself....Worth the time and lack of dealing with the hazards. Good luck, can't wait to see how they turn out!