Cleaning up and re-sealing aluminum rims.

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My ford focus was totaled got a ford fiesta. Kept the OEM 15" rims from the focus because they fit the fiesta. After spending 3 hours yesterday breaking the bead I had a good look at the wheels.
There is a bunch of oxidation on the wheels and the clear coat is missing.
Could I use a wire wheel or something similar to knock that stuff off and seal it?

I wanted to get the discount tire direct steel wheels they had (Unique 83 brand) but the sales guy on the phone said that they are designed to run a spare tire and "wont center correctly and will wobble".
 
If the wheels are "hub centric" but the center hole isn't a tight fit, adaptors are available. Tire Rack sent me the adaptors for the Borbet wheels I bought for a hub centric Toyota. I'd call them.
 
I have early 2000 wheels for my 2011 Ford Focus. Posted a picture of them a few days ago with a patch. But the beads are pretty [censored] looking.

I usually break them down then clean them with a wire wheel. My 2000 towncar wheels don't have this problem, so I'm surprised the newer Focus wheels do.

Anyway, since the clearcoat is gone, I used a THIN application of bead sealer - can get it from Advance Auto but be careful as they will try to sell you vulcanizing compound.

I have used it on a few vehicles other than my own with leaky beads and it doesn't cause a problem. If anything, the tires break down easier. It is NOT the rubber cement that most tire shops.

I generally don't use it on the first try if I have a leaky wheel but these were bad enough that I did.

Also, in regards to the steel wheels, seems like the salesrep may have wanted to make a few more bucks selling you a set of fancy alloys. They will work fine - you just have to make sure you draw the lug nuts on EVENLY to get the taper centered on all 4. I have had vehicles with a too-large center bore and never had any wobbling, broken lug nuts, etc from it. Even with a hub ring, they still use the clamping force IN from the lug nuts to hold the wheel on and keep it centered.
 
I use a wire "cup brush" in an angle grinder. Gets a nice shine. You could follow up with 1000 grit sandpaper in hand, though I don't.
 
The DTD guy was right most of their unique steel wheels have giant "centering" hole and are lug centric. Also you cant use hub centric adapters with them. This is so 1 wheel fits many applications.

The Tirerack steelies are correctly hub centric.

I had actually ordered xice xi3 on those wheels for my 2011 forester. It DID wobble on the highway.
I even tightened the wheels in the air so they would be centered as good as possible with the tapered lugnuts. Then final torqued on the ground. after I noticed wobbling I tried retorqueing in the air 1 at a time.. didnt fix it.

Sent them back and DTD customer service was great.



Then purchased blizzak ws-70 on tirerack steel wheels.. They were perfect.

I have xice xi2 on DTD steel wheels.. still lug centric on a 2010 accent.. but they are ok. Still... I'd avoid the DTD unique steel wheels.
 
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I did some poking around, when everything is said and done tire rack price is just a bit more after DTD piles on their "fees" for tire installation.
Going to check run out on the wheels today, if they dont pass probably will go with tire rack steelies.
 
Originally Posted By: Rust_Belt_Pete
My ford focus was totaled got a ford fiesta. Kept the OEM 15" rims from the focus because they fit the fiesta. After spending 3 hours yesterday breaking the bead I had a good look at the wheels.
There is a bunch of oxidation on the wheels and the clear coat is missing.
Could I use a wire wheel or something similar to knock that stuff off and seal it?



Yes, hit them with a wire wheel. That's what we did at the tire shop with alloy wheel bead leaks.
 
I never did these tires myself and had Dunlop tire shop do it.
I was barley able to break the bead, had chunks of corroded aluminum on the bead and chunks of bead on the rim.

But the fine folks at Dunlop sold me a bad tire in the first place, I noticed a week in how dry rotted and cracked all over the side wall and tread they were.
 
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