How to Clean Corroded Aluminum Pickup Truck Wheels

If you're restoring an old truck or have a vehicle with corroded aluminum wheels that need to be shined up, it's possible to restore them with a little bit of elbow grease and the right materials. Restoring and polishing aluminum is a dirty job, but if you take your time and do it right, you can clean off all of the corrosion and bring the wheels back to new condition in no time.

Things You'll Need

• Bucket filled with water
• Flexible sanding block
• 320-, 600-, 1200-, and 2000-grit sandpaper
• Microfiber towels
• Drill
• Aluminum polishing wheel
• Aluminum polish

Instructions

1. Lay the wheel on a flat surface, in an area that you're OK with getting dirty. This is going to be very dirty by the time it's done, so cover up any areas if you have to.

2. Wet down the 320-grit sandpaper and wrap it around the sanding block. Run the sandpaper all over the aluminum, making sure to frequently dip the sandpaper in the water to keep it wet. Change the sandpaper if you see it getting gummed with aluminum. Stop once it has the same gritty sheen to the entire piece.

3. Repeat Step 2 with progressively finer sandpaper, moving up to 600-, 1200-, and then 2000-grit sandpaper. The goal is to sand out all of the scratches from the previous step, and also to take out any imperfections.

4. Rinse off and dry the wheels using a microfiber towel. Then place the aluminum polishing wheel inside of the drill, and put the aluminum polish on the wheel.

5. Slowly pull the trigger on the drill, working the polish across the metal until you have a universal finish. Once the polish has done its work, dry off the wheel using the microfiber towel.

References

• Polishing Aluminum