Is it safe to wax/seal the inner part of wheels?

I

imported_detail1

New member
I am cleaning, claying, polishing & sealing my summer rims. I will be using Optimum Opti-Seal. Is it safe to seal the inner portion of the rim?



Will this affect braking performance?



Thanks
 
detail1- It's OK to LSP the whole wheel (we're assuming the tire is already mounted, right?), I've been doing it for ages.



The wheel doesn't really have much to do with braking (only real effects are related to air flow for cooling with maybe a tiny bit of heat-sink too), it just bolts onto the car with the brakes sitting back behind it.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. The wheels r mounted on the rims.



Here's another question if i can pick your brains.

I thoroughly cleaned the rims using Sonax & Optimum Power Clean. Then I used Griots's Rim clay.



Now I am going to use the Flitz polish ball on my Dewalt drill. The wheels are stock 2007 Monte Carlo SS - polished aluminum wheels.



My options for polishing are: 1. 3M Mag and Aluminum Polish 2. Mothers™ Mag and Aluminum Polish

3. Wheel Wax and 4. Surf City Diamond Edge Wheel Dressing.



I will use Optimum Opti-Seal X 2 as my LSP.



My question is which of the 4 products is the best for getting the wheels ready for Opti-Seal?
 
I never used any of those 4 products, but I normally use a polish to clean wheels, do an IPA clean and apply the lsp. Hope this helps.



PS: out of the 4 I'd use 1 or 2
 
detail1 said:
... I am going to use the Flitz polish ball on my Dewalt drill. The wheels are stock 2007 Monte Carlo SS - polished aluminum wheels.



My options for polishing are: 1. 3M Mag and Aluminum Polish 2. Mothers™ Mag and Aluminum Polish

3. Wheel Wax and 4. Surf City Diamond Edge Wheel Dressing.



I will use Optimum Opti-Seal X 2 as my LSP.



My question is which of the 4 products is the best for getting the wheels ready for Opti-Seal?
Click to expand...



I've never used any of those products either, nor am I familiar with either them or the wheels in question.



Are the wheels clearcoated? I'd certainly *expect* them to be if they're oe GM wheels from 2007. If that's the case you need to be careful to *NOT* use products made for "bare aluminum"/uncoated wheels, e.g., the 3M and Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polishes (which are *ONLY* for "bare aluminum" which is awfully rare for wheels these days and almost unheard of for modern wheels from the Big Three).



I dunno about using something like Wheel Wax or something described as a "dressing" prior to OptiSeal :nixweiss



I'd just use the same products I use for (regular) paint, stuff like M105/M205; that's how I prep *my* wheels.
 
Thanks for your reply- Thank God, i did not feel like polishing the wheels this weekend bc i was going to use the 3m stuff. Things happen for a reason.



I will take your suggestion & use my M105 & M205, then Wheel Wax and finally OptiSeal.
 
When I clean wheels properly, I remove them and



1) Clean with APC

2) Clean with Sonax FE, repeat as necessary

3) Detar with Tarminator, repeat as necessary

4) Wash again with APC

5) Clay the whole wheel

6) Mother's Power Cone on my drill to polish with M205.

7) Clean with APC

8) Opti-Coat 2.0



From that point on, you barely even have to spray the wheels with water to clean then and the Opti-Coat will never wash off, unlike Opti-Seal.
 
Why not just shoot a quality, rattle can, of a wheel clearcoat on the insides. A couple of coats on a clean surface should adhere.

Dupli-Color makes a fairly good wheel clear coat that is available at most of the national auto parts stores.

Grumpy
 
Smells like a perfect recipe for some Opti-Coat. I doubt you'll get much durability out of a sealant really. Just imagine Opti-Coating them and never really needing to use a wheel cleaner on them again. Most of the debris will wash right off. And any remaining stuff will easily wipe away.
 
David Fermani said:
Smells like a perfect recipe for some Opti-Coat. I doubt you'll get much durability out of a sealant really. Just imagine Opti-Coating them and never really needing to use a wheel cleaner on them again. Most of the debris will wash right off. And any remaining stuff will easily wipe away.
Click to expand...



I've done it with a few products, on wheels with all kinds of uhm..."quality" on their backsides. Sealants and (durability) waxes work OK, OptiCoat works better. Just IME....
 
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