I'm curious if the wheels are painted. I have a 2004 Sedan with 17" wheels, it is a base car.

The paint gets destroyed by the brake dust, although Wheel Wax helps a bunch. I am considering a set of 18" sport wheels from a 2005. I am wondering if they will hold up better because they appear to be natural aluminum or clear coated.

I am also going to go to Hawk HPS pads eventually which should take care of the problem on either wheel.

Thanks for any help. I already searched the forum for this answer with no success.

Mark

 

Most if not all oem wheels are either painted (as in this case) or machine finished with a clear coat (again painted).

So you will run into the same problem and it will be more expensive to fix.

 

They're actually lacquer finished (stronger), not painted.


The 05-06 wheels have a great satin look to them that is rather hard to replicate (paint stages).


The key to keeping wheels looking good is regular cleaning with a mild cleanser. I just use car wash soap to clean mine weekly. You might want to look into 05-06 pads as I know the 03-04s were "X'd" due to their high dust rate.

 

Well from my experience with paint, lacquer is hard but brittle. Also it's fairly thin. Any finish that might be lacquer(ie.. base coats for the wheels), most likely has a clear coat that's a polyurethane in nature. Thicker and more durable. ie. has a catalyst for chemical drying and increases durability.