Looking for products to protect my wheels

PPLd

PPLd

New member
Dear all,

I have been away from detailing scene for a while, and I realized there are a lot new products on the market.
I`m now looking for a product that would help to protect my wheels.

I plan to jack up the car, take the wheels off, thorough cleaning, apply the protection.
The wheels in question are:
1. factory painted Mercedes-Benz wheels
2. factory polished Subaru wheels
3. aftermarket Enkei alloy wheels

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I believe the 2 factory wheels are tough, but the Enkei one is more delicate aluminum wheels.
I was thinking to buy McKees 37 wheel coating, or just stick with a good paste wax like Collinite 476 885 or Soft99 Fusso Coat?
I cant find any details on whether these products are compatible with alum wheels or not.
So any tips or experience sharing will be appreciated!
 
Any wheel coating will work to give you that longer protection. Factory wheels are clear coated. You will have to find out if those enkei`s are clear coated or not.
 
I would just use Hydro2 every other wash, much easier and stronger than wax. Wheel coatings are nice but take way to much time and probably need more refreshing than what they advertise.
 
I used McKee`s wheel coating and then would touch it up with Hydro Blue every once in a while. I`m not sure if there is a more durable option out there than McKee`s, but it sure was a lot of work for not a very long duration.
 
I like to use Gyeon Wet Coat or CarPro Hydro2 which are spray on/ rinse off protection products. They should work on all types of rim finishes. I have used them on clear coated, powder coated, chrome plated etc. without any issue.

If I am doing a full wheels off cleaning and coating then I will coat with something like Gyeon Rim or Cquartz Dlux then maintain with Gyeon WetCoat or CarPro Hydro2 every month.

Polish Angel Super Sport is also a nice option for a wheel coating and is in between a full on wheel coating and a spray/rinse product. I have seen 4 months or so of durability before it started to fade on my DD from my testing and that was without any maintenance spray or reapplication. Depending on how much you drive your car you could get the full 6 months or more. this is a PTFE based product too with titanium dioxide and just adds a nice look to wheels as well.

If you are going to do a wheels off and going through the process of cleaning and prepping the wheels as mentioned then definitely look into a specific wheel coating as mentioned. Top up with something like PA Super Sport every few months. You should have great results.
 
I`d never go without a wheel coating again. Single biggest time saver for me during a wash. Does take a bit of time to prep/coat wheels but once done, ease of maintenance far exceeds initial labor. 14 months, 24k miles in NE Ohio and coating is still holding up well. Recently started occasional application of PA SuperSport, more for the interesting look it lends to the non-painted, clear-coated bare aluminum sections of wheel as opposed to protection.
 
someidiot said:
I used McKee`s wheel coating and then would touch it up with Hydro Blue every once in a while. I`m not sure if there is a more durable option out there than McKee`s, but it sure was a lot of work for not a very long duration.
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I’ve only coated wheels a few times, so just making sure I prepped correctly. I used wheel cleaner, finishing polish, then 3 quick wipe downs with Prep Spray then coated. The other set so only cleaned and used Prep polish and coated. Wasn’t too, too bad. Are these the only steps?
 
That`s my problem with these wheel coatings, I`m using a dedicated wheel cleaner. I`m not spending more time to scrub than I have to, it really makes no sense to coat wheels other than maybe looks or if you have carbon ceramics (Your just using soap an water only anyways).

Coat wheels = you ca`t use a dedicated wheel cleaner like sonax which cuts time an thus more scrubbing is required.
No coat = less scrubbing, more effective wheel cleaner (Potentially more expensive though) an use hydro2 or another water based sealant.
 
The Driver said:
That`s my problem with these wheel coatings, I`m using a dedicated wheel cleaner. I`m not spending more time to scrub than I have to, it really makes no sense to coat wheels other than maybe looks or if you have carbon ceramics (Your just using soap an water only anyways).

Coat wheels = you ca`t use a dedicated wheel cleaner like sonax which cuts time an thus more scrubbing is required.
No coat = less scrubbing, more effective wheel cleaner (Potentially more expensive though) an use hydro2 or another water based sealant.
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The purpose of the wheel coating is that you dont have to spend time scrubbing or using powerful wheel cleaners. However most of these wheel cleaning products like sonax wheel cleaner plus are Ph neutral so they aren`t really going to cause any issue if you want to continue to use them on coated wheels though with mine soap and water and a pressure washer often gets them pretty clean without any scrubbing on the faces. Usually the barrels just need a quick wheel woolie scrub.

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RaydiantDetail said:
The purpose of the wheel coating is that you dont have to spend time scrubbing or using powerful wheel cleaners. However most of these wheel cleaning products like sonax wheel cleaner plus are Ph neutral so they aren`t really going to cause any issue if you want to continue to use them on coated wheels though with mine soap and water and a pressure washer often gets them pretty clean without any scrubbing on the faces. Usually the barrels just need a quick wheel woolie scrub.

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Amen. With coated wheels you save money by NOT having to use an expensive wheel cleaner. Most of the time my pressure washer get the wheels clean without scrubbing and I’ve got BMW brake dust.
 
IGL wheel coating works wonders and if you feel the need to use a wheel cleaner Mckees foaming wheel cleaner gel is safe on that coating. But I have found that with regular maintenance on coated wheels the need for a strong cleaner isn`t really necessary.
 
I understand you shouldn`t *need* to use a dedicated wheel cleaner on a coated wheel but I`d hope a wheel coating would be chemically resistant enough to stand up to any autopian-grade wheel cleaner you`d throw at it. Think after a long winter and you want a little chemical help bringing them back to life. Though if shampoo + wheel woolies is enough to revive a filthy but coated wheel then I might be sold...
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
Amen. With coated wheels you save money by NOT having to use an expensive wheel cleaner. Most of the time my pressure washer get the wheels clean without scrubbing and I’ve got BMW brake dust.
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Oh yeah me too. BMW brake dust. Its some of the worst!
When I swicth out my pads ill probably get some EBC pads.
 
Justins00ss said:
IGL wheel coating works wonders and if you feel the need to use a wheel cleaner Mckees foaming wheel cleaner gel is safe on that coating. But I have found that with regular maintenance on coated wheels the need for a strong cleaner isn`t really necessary.
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Off topic - I am in the process of speaking with the IGL folks about becoming an authorized installer.
 
I`m running the "traditional" CQuartz coating on my summer wheels and after two seasons the coating is still holding strong despite the environment wheels face and frequent washes with a mild wheel cleaner. I too don`t think I`ll ever go without coating my wheels again. Clean up is so much easier.
 
I coated some wheels with the first two versions of OptiCoat, but now what I had left in the syringe has gone bad and I`m debating trying some other coating.

My other wheels wear (big surprise..) FK1000P, which does fine but needs redone annually on drivers, usually when I change over to winter wheels/tires. The OptiCoat lasted longer but I couldn`t discern any other diff and applying it was a huge PIA compared to "just waxing them". SO....

Any easy-peasy coatings that`ll last a few years? I would *never* struggle with anything harder than the OptiCoat was, not in a million years.

FWIW, I can`t recall actually struggling to get any LSPed wheel clean (and some of my cars are supposedly bad in this regard). Shampoo mix (as per my foamgun dilution) works fine. Pressure wash, spritz with shampoo mix, let dwell, wash with BHBs/Mitts/swabs/WheelWoolies, rinse, done. Usually go over them with some QD/RW/Drying Aid, which might contribute a little something sacrificial, as I *always* have to knock the surface rust off the rotors and that then needs cleaned off the wheels.
 
Accumulator said:
Any easy-peasy coatings that`ll last a few years? I would *never* struggle with anything harder than the OptiCoat was, not in a million years.
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I found the CQuartz application I mentioned earlier very easy and it is still going strong late into the second season since application. The wheels were new when I coated them, so I simply wiped them own with APC, then followed up with a wipe down of a coating prep spray (probably redundant on a new/never used wheel), and then applied the coating. Since you maintain the wheels so well, it would be similar. Clean them, hit them with prep spray, and then go to town.

My wheels are a pewter-like gray with a satin finish. I simply wiped on the coating and after a few minutes buffed off the high spots. There were very few, so the process was pretty fast. My wheels have some tight spots, so rather than using a normal applicator block, I created my own by cutting a chunk out of an old washing sponge and then wrapped it with the MF swatch.
 
Desertnate- Ah, OK...thanks, perfect feedback :D so the CQuartz goes onto the short-list!

Yeah, some of mine take a *lot* of different sized swabs/etc., which is one more reason why anything I hassle around with needs to really last.
 
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