Blistering on alloy wheels, how to prevent
Bioboffin
month. I noticed that the old car has blistering on the edge of the 'spokes'
of the alloy wheels on the outside of the wheel. They happen to be aligned
with the disk brakes. My first thought was that they could be caused by the
heating and cooling resulting from heavy braking. I looked on the internet
and there is a lot of stuff there about why blistering might occur, most of
it about chips from road gravel. This does not really explain why it should
only be on the outer edge of the wheel, although, of course they are
travelling at twice the speed of the car. However, I digress.
Does anyone have any suggestion as to how I might prevent this happening on
my new car, which I am planning to keep for ten years or so? I have read
that there is something called 'alloy wheel protection' can anyone be more
explicit about what this is, and whether it is worth doing?
John
p.s. apologies to anyone who has seen this posted elsewhere. I posted it on
uk.rec.cars about a week ago and got no response. Any suggestions will be
welcomed.
J
Mrcheerful
I understood it was caused by metal dust from the brakes bedding into the
lacquer and then rusting giving an air hole to let moisture get to the
alloy. exacerbated by people using acidic wheel cleaners.
Bioboffin
"Mrcheerful" <nbk...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:mRFqo.48602$Is7....@newsfe25.ams2...
nothing that can be done to prevent it on a new car? (apart from not using
acidic wheel cleaners, which I never did).
John
Mrcheerful
Regular cleaning should make them last a bit longer, some makes of wheels
seem to last longer than others, ford alloys last better than Toyota ones
for instance, but probably the best bet would just be to get your wheels
re-finished after about 5 years or whenever they start to deteriorate. the
re-finish people put on something much tougher than the cheap finish that
comes new.
Duncan Wood
wrote:
I've always found maintaining a good coat of wax seems to work.
Bioboffin
"Duncan Wood" <dun...@dmx512.co.uk> wrote in message
news:op.vj4isdilcet1rb@newsony...
Thanks Mr Cheerful and Duncan. I will pay closer attention to spraying the
alloys with wax in future. (This is something I've never done - just used
Sainsbury's car wash + wax from time to time).
John
Douglas Payne
The finish on my MX-5's wheels started to bubble on the inner part of
the rim after 2 or 3 years, after 4 or 5 years the finish on the outer
face of the spokes and rim was badly oxidised and starting to bubble.
I had the wheels blasted and powder coated in the early parts of this
year. They are shiny now.
Some manufacturers use better quality finishes than others, my
experience is that Mazda's wheel finish (at least from the period my car
is from) isn't up to much.
Not sure there is an easy way to prevent it, but having the wheels
painted/powder coated isn't all that expensive. I paid £45 per wheel.
--
Douglas
Bioboffin
"Douglas Payne" <dou...@cheerful.com> wrote in message
news:8h4359...@mid.individual.net...
reliability, and yet their alloy wheel finish seems to be inferior to
others. BTW, I should say that my Mazda has been utterly reliable on all
other counts over those four years.
John
Douglas Payne
Mine has also been faultless so far. I have a feeling that quality in
some areas dipped a bit in the mid-late 90s for a few years as
facelifted (mk2) MX-5s have a worse reputation for rotting prematurely
than earlier ones.
I don't know for sure but I suspect closer ties to Ford and
penny-pinching during that period are at least partly to blame.
--
Douglas
john hamilton
===========================================================================
Would there be any reason against getting a water based clear varnish like
Ronseal and brushing on a coat of it?
Duncan Wood
>>>> painted/powder coated isn't all that expensive. I paid ￜ45 per wheel.
>>>>
>>> Thanks Douglas. Interesting, isn't it that Mazda has a reputation for
>>> reliability, and yet their alloy wheel finish seems to be inferior to
>>> others. BTW, I should say that my Mazda has been utterly reliable on
>>> all
>>> other counts over those four years.
>>
>> Mine has also been faultless so far. I have a feeling that quality in
>> some areas dipped a bit in the mid-late 90s for a few years as
>> facelifted
>> (mk2) MX-5s have a worse reputation for rotting prematurely than earlier
>> ones.
>>
>> I don't know for sure but I suspect closer ties to Ford and
>> penny-pinching
>> during that period are at least partly to blame.
>>
>> --
>> Douglas
>
> ===========================================================================
>
> Would there be any reason against getting a water based clear varnish
> like
> Ronseal and brushing on a coat of it?
>
>
>
>
It'll flake off even fatser than the original.
john hamilton
"Duncan Wood" <nntp...@dmx512.co.uk> wrote in message
news:op.vkk0h...@lucy.cable.virginmedia.net...
>>>>>
>>>> Thanks Douglas. Interesting, isn't it that Mazda has a reputation for
>>>> reliability, and yet their alloy wheel finish seems to be inferior to
>>>> others. BTW, I should say that my Mazda has been utterly reliable on
>>>> all
>>>> other counts over those four years.
>>>
>>> Mine has also been faultless so far. I have a feeling that quality in
>>> some areas dipped a bit in the mid-late 90s for a few years as
>>> facelifted
>>> (mk2) MX-5s have a worse reputation for rotting prematurely than earlier
>>> ones.
>>>
>>> I don't know for sure but I suspect closer ties to Ford and
>>> penny-pinching
>>> during that period are at least partly to blame.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Douglas
>>
>> ===========================================================================
>>
>> Would there be any reason against getting a water based clear varnish
>> like
>> Ronseal and brushing on a coat of it?
> It'll flake off even fatser than the original.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faster than your suggestion of wax ? we used a couple of coats of ronseal
polyurethane on a dinining table and it stays stuck on after regularly
taking a hammering.
Duncan Wood
<blues...@mail.invalid> wrote:
>>>>>> painted/powder coated isn't all that expensive. I paid ￜ45 per
The wax is rather more trivial to "repair". ANd I doubt your table already
had a coat incompatible laquer on it