Hi everyone, I bought a set of 19" Volk Racing SF Challenge about a year ago and I'm having problem with them. As you can see in the attached pics, the polish sections of the wheel are very dull and look like some cravity iron on there. It's pretty bad. I'm not too sure what caused them but I think it's the hard water by the sprinkler and then the wheels dried up under the sun. I've tried many solutions - a few different brands of wheel cleaner, soap, and a couple metal polish cleaners but nothing works. Anyone can point me to the right direction to get these "fixed"? Thank you in advance.

 

looks almost like mine. I think yours is worse though. I too have a problem with the sprinkler and haveing to park outside, damn 2 car garages!

Anyone know how to fix this?

 

I shall remember to for sure keep my Volks hidden in the garage, they are too expensive for that kind of crap!!

 

my volks are still good. try clay bar, aluminum polish, then wax.

 

Those Mr. Clean "Magic Erasers" seem to work pretty good for stuff like that.

 

Ya we've used Blue Magic polish/wax or something which works pretty darn good. i'll have to check. But that happens with "JDM" wheels because they actually anodize the lip.

MY SUGGESTION FOR ANY JDM WHEEL LOVERS:

WAX YOUR WHEELS WHEN YOU GET THEM AND MAINTAIN IT LIKE NO OTHER. THIS WILL PREVENT THAT PROBLEM AND BRAKE DUST BUILDUP.

Rishie

 

yup, gotta wax the wheels.

i wax them every week.

 

wax the wheels, eh? I shall be doing that now!

 

Get a drill. Put on a buffing wheel use metal polish.

Then wax all the time.

 

Thanks guys for the info. Tried clay bar tonite and not much luck with it. Will try other metal polish as mentioned. Also sent an email to Rays and see what they'd recommend. Good luck for me.

 

You know there's a chance that's a clearcoated polished lip, which means you should never take a metal polish to it. It looks a lot like REALLY SEVERE water spotting to me. I would go try one of those $3 bottles of vinegar. Oxydation would look a lot worse I think, the whole lip will be hazed with concentrations of water spots in the way.

Check to make sure there's not a clear coat on it before you take anything abrasive to it.

If there's no clear and that really isn't just a bunch of dried up minerals and calcium, then polish away. I would try to polish by hand before using any machine as you may hit the painted/coated spokes (I'm not familiar with Volk's processes).

 

NO METAL POLISH, absolutely not.

This is an anodized lip and should be treated accordingly. I agree that these are mineral deposits. If settled for too long won't come out but this Blue Coral stuff is NON ABRASIVE.

Rishie

 

I just got the Volk RE30s I guess me and my wife will be switching parking spots and I'll let her car bet cleaned by the sprinkler

 

I don't think the lip looks anodized at all. I used to work for Fikse (if you're not familiar, check out fikse.com), we anodized A LOT of wheels and lips. The Volk lips are either:

Polished and bare
Polished and clear coated
Diamond turned and clear coated

I can't tell from pictures if there are machining marks and all literature say they are polished.

 

I just spoke to Mackin

They said special buffing techniques and then clear coated.

So appears to not be anodized like some of the other Japanese wheels.

Rishie

 

turtle wax polishing compound will work. use it with something like the mother's power ball. don't use metal polishers, it's too abrasive and will cut through the clear coat. after 2 years of daily driving (all 4 seasons) my wheels still look new.

 

Seriously.... vinegar. Try that first, then move to mild paint polishes.

 

I just tried clay bar and its didn't help much, made it feel smoother though.

 

Sorry for the double post, but I just got my wheel fixed. I took it to a detailing shop and they were able to clean em. I told them that it is not chrome, and so should not be treated with any metal cleaners. They used some kind of degreaser and what seemed like a very powerful pressure washer. They look brand new. I highly suggest you call up a local detailing shop. It took $30 and about an hour of my time.

 

I wonder if I should wax my ultraleggeras...

 

I've been very busy at work lately so I didn't have much time to deal with the rims. Here's the update for those who care, hehe.

The bad news is, the stains weren't removable (!). It's been verified by Mackin Industries that the clear coat on the outer lips was probably gone so my the lips needed to be re-finish - stripping down the wheels and polish, clear coated.

Well the good news is, after spending $500 (ouch!) for the repair, the rims came out perfect, I will try to post some pics later.

BTW, anyone knows where I can get a set of the SF Challenge decals that came with my rims? For those of you who got the same rims know what I'm talking about. The shop cannot save those decals on the lips since they have to remove them for the repair procedure. I've heard those decals are hard to get??

Now I will be waxing my rims weekly!!

 

Looks to me like mineral deposits from lots of hard water drying over time. I know CLR works on that kind of stuff, i wouldnt think it would hurt the wheel if youre careful... that or scrub like hell.

 

I just got the work emotion XT7.. Do i need to wax these wheels too?

 

I have always used Autosol to polish wheels, but its for polished aluminum, so im not sure if it will work or not.

Make sure you never use a degreaser on them, thats usually what causes it.