Refinish + High polish OR Chrome?

[ViperJames]

I picked up a set of SRT 5 spokes (the 2006 coupe style). They have some minor scratches on all of them and I need them perfect before i put tires and mount. I have a guy locally that can remove the clear coat, refinish and high polish the crap out of them for $175/wheel. No shipping either way since its local. I however have always been a chrome fan. When chrome wheels are perfect and maintained beautifully there is nothing nicer in my opinion. What do you guys think? This will NOT be a track car purely for some spirited driving and car shows. Is it worth the extra $$ to ship to Cal Chrome?

Anyone have any pictures of Viper wheels that have been refinished no clear coat with high polish?

Thanks!

[ViperJames]

By the way the car is Steel Grey over black interior 2000 GTS. That probably makes a difference on the outcome. Thanks!

[Matt M, Pa]

I won't comment on the appearance difference....as that's personal.

If you have the wheels polished..they will need to be polished often....at least for me....that would mean getting them chromed.

[Sybil TF]

I picked up a set of SRT 5 spokes (the 2006 coupe style). They have some minor scratches on all of them and I need them perfect before i put tires and mount. I have a guy locally that can remove the clear coat, refinish and high polish the crap out of them for $175/wheel. No shipping either way since its local. I however have always been a chrome fan. When chrome wheels are perfect and maintained beautifully there is nothing nicer in my opinion. What do you guys think? This will NOT be a track car purely for some spirited driving and car shows. Is it worth the extra $$ to ship to Cal Chrome?

Anyone have any pictures of Viper wheels that have been refinished no clear coat with high polish?

Thanks!

I recently had both my Viper and CCW Challenger wheels chromed. It's worth it to me. I spent the extra money to have the inside barrel of the wheel high polished before the chroming process. Brake dust washes off with ease with just water. Cost was $ 1,200 for the set plus $500.00 shipping both ways. Pic on right is the CCW wheel.

[thetalonguy]

Just out of curiosity...Who did you plan on doing them locally? I'm considering having my stock wheels redone and the curb rash removed. Also, would like to see if they could redo my fuel door cover.

[Steve M]

I will never own another set of polished wheels, period. I had a set of polished CCWs on my previous car, and they were the largest PITA to keep looking nice. Get caught in the rain? Accidentally drive through a puddle of water? There goes your weekend polishing the water spots out...it took the fun out of driving it. I put maybe 1,000 miles a year on that car.

If it were me, I'd get a finish that was easy to care for and durable. Chrome should fit that bill just fine. Some people don't like how "fake" chrome looks, but screw them...if you can make a finish that looks as nice as polished but cleans up like chrome/powder, you'd have my business.

[XSnake]

Polished sucks to maintain. They can powder coat chrome like finishes which is what I'd do. Then you can clear over that. If you can't find someone or don't think it's bright enough I'd chrome them. Most local bike shop know a good chromer.

[Steve M]

Polished sucks to maintain. They can powder coat chrome like finishes which is what I'd do. Then you can clear over that. If you can't find someone or don't think it's bright enough I'd chrome them. Most local bike shop know a good chromer.

There is a PVD chrome process (similar to powder coating), which is what I had done to my 5-spokes. I will warn anyone that goes this route though that it is NOT a show quality finish...you can see some slight imperfections in the finish if you get within about 5 feet of them. They look great from a distance though, and they clean up with soap and water, barrels included. I actually ended up leaving them dirty over last winter, and when I went to clean them up in the spring, the brake dust came right off.

[ViperJames]

Very good advice guys. Thank you. You have convinced me that i need to have them chromed. I don't feel like spending stupid time polishing them. The local place is in Danbury CT- AWRSWHEELREPAIR.com thats all they do is refinish wheels, but they don't chrome plate. They also offered to re-clear coat the wheels after polish for no additional price, but that it woudl reduce the shine....after reading your comments if i was going to go the polish route, I woudl defintely add the clear to it, but I have always loved chrome so knowing how much easier they are to keep clean, which i honestly didn't realize I am going that route. The wheels are already in boxes not on my car anyway so it would be easy to ship out and chrome plate, just shipping cost is not fun.

Thanks!

[Steve M]

Very good advice guys. Thank you. You have convinced me that i need to have them chromed. I don't feel like spending stupid time polishing them. The local place is in Danbury CT- AWRSWHEELREPAIR.com thats all they do is refinish wheels, but they don't chrome plate. They also offered to re-clear coat the wheels after polish for no additional price, but that it woudl reduce the shine....after reading your comments if i was going to go the polish route, I woudl defintely add the clear to it, but I have always loved chrome so knowing how much easier they are to keep clean, which i honestly didn't realize I am going that route. The wheels are already in boxes not on my car anyway so it would be easy to ship out and chrome plate, just shipping cost is not fun.

Thanks!

A lot of places are shying away from chrome work due to the environmental impact...I think you'll see fewer and fewer taking on chrome plating as time goes on.

[VoodooRob]

We do a ton of chrome factory wheels for motorcycles and all our wheels are sent to CA., there are 2 actual big time wheel chromers on the West Coast, most others are brokers or smaller shops. Tip for chrome wheels: never use an abrasive cleaner, if up North use a cold air dehumidifier over the winter and keep the temp in your storage area above freezing, liberally coat the wheels with WD-40 for storage.

[C.J]

Polishing and then clear coat would be my preference. You can buff the clear coat as you would paint to get a better finish. Plus, if you didn't want to clear coat, those 5-spoke wheels are pretty easy to clean. Once somethings been polished, it is very easy to maintain that surface.

But, chrome looks great...as has been said earlier, it really boils down to what you're comfortable with doing/spending.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

What VooDoo Rob said. Believe it or not, Aluminum (vs steel) wheels are porous, and in damp climates especially freeze-thaw-freeze storage, this porosity over time causes the chrome plate to discolor, corrode and/or lift and peel.

This is a fact: Multi-piece wheels that are chromed are asking for leaks, as the mounting hardware weakens and cracks the chrome at the 40 bolt-holes and then moisture seeps in to rot the chrome, and cause leaks.

There is also a 'metallurgical' consideration.... the "DOT of JAPAN" {JNCAP?} does not allow factory-chromed wheels, due to their belief that it weakens / brittlizes the aluminum!

[Steve M]

Polishing and then clear coat would be my preference. You can buff the clear coat as you would paint to get a better finish. Plus, if you didn't want to clear coat, those 5-spoke wheels are pretty easy to clean. Once somethings been polished, it is very easy to maintain that surface.

For some things? Possibly...wheels? I'm going to disagree. As soon as you start driving them, brake dust gets all over, with the barrels getting the worst of it. Then there's all the road grime. Add any amount of water to that mix (simply washing your car is enough), and you just set yourself up with a recipe for etching/staining. As soon as that happens, out comes the polish. Been there, done that.

Then again, some people either don't drive their cars much or simply don't notice nasty wheel barrels. I'm probably in the minority where every time I clean mine, the wheels come off so I can get the barrels 100% clean.

[Sybil TF]

From what I've been told by people who have had chrome for over over ten years on their aluminum wheels is you will almost never have a problem unless you drive in salt or snow if the process is done correct. If you hit a curb you are sol...

[Creatre]

I had polished wheels on another car. I agree with others, it was a PITA to keep clean. There is no such thing as cleaning a polished wheel, only polishing. Adds much time to the cleaning process of the car.

[C.J]

For some things? Possibly...wheels? I'm going to disagree. As soon as you start driving them, brake dust gets all over, with the barrels getting the worst of it. Then there's all the road grime. Add any amount of water to that mix (simply washing your car is enough), and you just set yourself up with a recipe for etching/staining. As soon as that happens, out comes the polish. Been there, done that.

Then again, some people either don't drive their cars much or simply don't notice nasty wheel barrels. I'm probably in the minority where every time I clean mine, the wheels come off so I can get the barrels 100% clean.

Agree since you're cleaning the barrels. I was thinking of only keeping the outer portions of the wheel polished.

[VoodooRob]

From what I've been told by people who have had chrome for over over ten years on their aluminum wheels is you will almost never have a problem unless you drive in salt or snow if the process is done correct. If you hit a curb you are sol...

Maybe in certain areas of the country with dry air, not around the Great Lakes. Above and below freezing weather changes plays havoc on chromed aluminum wheels here in the rust belt. The moisture gets in and the bottom copper coat starts to "skate" on the aluminum causing blisters, cracking and popping. Here in Northern Ohio If you let your car or bike sit in the below freezing cold, that has a high content of moisture, your beautiful chrome wheels and parts will not look so good after a season or two. I've worked with the best chromers in the country and all say the same thing, moisture and freezing temps do not do chromed aluminum any favors. I currently have many bikes and Cars with chromed wheels, just have to know your environment to make the plating last... By the way I would NEVER put polished wheels on my car. Talk about creating a PITA.

[Anonymous]

I have chromed five spokes on my 2001 rt 10,very easy to keep clean and they look great.

[My98RT10]

A few months back I purchased a used set of Gen 2 18" wheels for my '98 RT/10. Although I like my 17" OEM wheels, I always wanted to have a set of the 18" wheels, too. They are pretty appealing to me...

When the set arrived it was in relatively bad condition. I purchased them on Ebay from a guy in Texas and got them shipped first to Connecticut and from there to Germany. They were not packed very well, just kind of shrink wrapped. So I am pretty sure that many of the scratches occured during transit.

So I was thinking to get them reconditioned but couldn't decide on whether to get them chromed or stripped, polished and clearcoated. I searched the net and the discussion on this thread mirrors exactly what I found with all the different opinions, pros and cons. I finally ended up buffing the hell out of the wheels' OEM clearcoat and removed some of the lighter curb rash by myself. One wheel had some bigger curb rash so I gave it to a shop as obviously welding up material was required.

Now I have a set that has a few scratches left (minor) but still has the OEM clear coat on it except for those areas where curb rash was removed. These areas I will have to polish with Autosol or Ecromal periodically.

At the end, I believe that this was the best way/compromise. For sure it was the least expensive one ;-)

[Viper98912]

If you polish them, you have to clear coat them so you don't run into constant maintenance problems. I do that with anything I've polished in the past.

Regarding the chrome, the chrome can cause leaks over time. On a different car, I have some aftermarket-chromed factory wheels done by a reputable shop. After 5+ years, I'm starting to get random air leaks in the beads - significant leaks that just begin to appear. I have to take it to the wheel shop to dismount the tire, they clean up the bead area, remount the tire and seal it. So yes it does happen (or at least, has to me). I've had to have three tires remounted so far.

In the end, the chrome wheels do look great. Have a great extra "pop" that you don't get with polished. Regardless, polished wheels do look awesome as well. Just make sure you clear coat them if you go this route.