Stainless steel rims?

[pteam]

I have 22 inch chrome rims, the problem is I cant use them in the winter due to Ohio snow and salt which leads to rusting.

I hate going back to stock rims in the winter. Has anybody ever bought something like stainless steel with chrome polished rims for winter? Would polished aluminum rims rust? Do the chrome OEM rims rust in the winter / salt?

[lennyrebel]

My theory about stainless is its exactly what it says --STAINS LESS- I had stainless lower panels on my Yukon and Each fall I had to coat it with metal protector. I used Amsoil brand but I'm sure there are a dozen kinds out there.With the amount of salt and roadspray in Mich and Ohio everything gets a severe corrosion workout. Remember the stainless body Bricklin it came with a shop manual on how to paint messed up and stained and rusty panels. Regards The Rebel

[KingVinnie]

They wont rust but they'll still corrode. Stainless will hold up better than chrome or aluminum, but will still be attacked by the salt.

[3Hummer]

just drop down to 4 inch rims, ad get ridiculosly large tires

[Agriv8r]

Originally Posted by 3Hummer

just drop down to 4 inch rims, ad get ridiculosly large tires

think they need to be at least 6" to cover the bolt pattern....

[dkhummerh2]

I never worry about it, just try and keep the ones you have clean and treat them. As long as you do that I have never had a problem. I have had a ton of custom wheels. The better the brand the better the surface tolerance.
dk

[Vettster]

Originally Posted by KingVinnie

They wont rust but they'll still corrode. Stainless will hold up better than chrome or aluminum, but will still be attacked by the salt.

Stainless will rust if exposed to a harsh enough environment.

[vlxjim]

Originally Posted by Vettster

Stainless will rust if exposed to a harsh enough environment.

Its all in the grade of SS, my boat is sitting in the ocean 24/7 and the SS looks great. I have SS on alot of my dive gear and all my gear looks almost new. But a poor grade of SS will rust mostly pit.

A wheel made of SS would be very week on a H2 and would need to be very heavy to work at all.

[DRTYFN]

Originally Posted by pteam

I have 22 inch chrome rims, the problem is I have chrome rims.

Fixed

Why don't you invest in a good clear coat to protect your wheels?

[johndjmix1]

Speaking about wheels, whatever happened to chrome steel wheels? They were cheap and looked awesome. Then came out all these aluminum forged wheels that were much more expensive.

Heck with the steel chrome wheels you could just replace them every year for a few hundred!

I had some cool craigers on my Grand Cherokee durring high school. Looked awesome!

--John

[pteam]

Originally Posted by DRTYFN

Fixed

Why don't you invest in a good clear coat to protect your wheels?

We get a good 5 months of winter here. I store my h2 inside like all the time either at my office or at home, and when at home I spray it off with a hose. But salt still sits on there for sure. I'm not going to completely clean them and wipe them dry every time I drive it in the winter, that would drive me insane. Our roads are just caked with salt during the winter.

Do you think clear coat would prevent 100% of rust? What kind of clear coat? I just had one of our cleaners put a coat of tech wax on the rims a week ago.

[IRA51]

I shure don't miss those New Jersey winters ,and rusted every thing .

[dkhummerh2]

What about wait? Forged wheels are suppossed to be lighter, right? Not an expert but that is what I have become accustomed to believing. I usually put a custom set of wheels on every truck I get, but really am wheel dumb! I have some Chip Foose wheels right now, not very impressed for the price they cost. They came with the truck when i bought it so I can't bitch.
thanks guys
dk

[H2Finally]

What snow? What salt? What rust?

Aaah...! You guys don't live here in sunny SoCal...!

[MotorsportsAuthority aka Dragon]

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

^ What the heck??? I'll try this again:

American Racing makes teflon coated wheels. We rarely have to worry about salt, so I don't know if it will hold. I'm sure it would though. You can contact American Racing or your local wheel shop on that.

[DRTYFN]

Originally Posted by H2Finally

What snow? What salt? What rust?

Aaah...! You guys don't live here in sunny SoCal...!

And they don't have to carry 30 million illegal aliens' welfare & health care financial burden like you guys in Kalifornia.

[tower]

Originally Posted by [LEFT

dkhummerh2[/left]]What about wait? Forged wheels are

suppossed

to be lighter, right? Not an expert but that is what I have become accustomed to believing. I usually put a custom set of wheels on every truck I get, but really am wheel dumb! I have some Chip

Foose

wheels right now, not very impressed for the price they cost. They came with the truck when i bought it so I can't bitch.
thanks guys

dk

The difference is negligible. Aluminum needs to be thicker, since it's softer than steel. When people say aluminum is lighter, they really mean that it is less dense. A pound of Al and a pound of steel weigh the same, but the Al is bulkier, that is it has more volume for the same amount of mass (or weight, here on Earth). But you need to use more mass of Al than steel to make a strong wheel. Also, when Al deforms, it is shot. New wheel time. Whereas steel is much more elastic, it can bend and recoil. And if it gets deformed, it can be bent back. There are advantages and disadvantages to each.

[Drainbamaged]

I have been told by some guys that own some chromed out harley's that you can put WD-40 on the chrome and leave it in the sun to dry then wipe it down. They say the WD-40 gets into the pores of the chrome and will protect it from corrosion. Also they said you can coat the chrome in wax. They recommended a high quality Furniture wax because it will not leave any residue but you will have to wax them regularly.

[tower]

Wax is good, but use a good chrome polish first.

[DRTYFN]

The WD-40 thing might work. Not sure how long the stuff will last, but repeated applications might do it. Remember - WD stands for water dispersant.