Tell me again why you haven't Opticoated your wheels....

A client of mine picked up a Dinan modified BMW X5. She had it for 6 months before calling me and the wheels were a freaking disaster. With the upgraded brakes, this truck pukes brake dust. I decided for her that we were going to Opti Coat the wheels. Well, I pulled the wheels and properly prepped and coated them with Opti Coat about 8 weeks ago and then purposely kept putting this client off so I could let the brake dust build up. This truck is a daily driver for her as well as taxi-ing the kids around. After two months there was a nice layer of brake dust accumulated. Please excuse the poor pics as it was POURING rain out so I used my iPhone instead of dragging out my camera.

Here are the wheels upon arrival. This is one of the fronts.


Before washing, i just swiped my finger across the wheel. Wiped right off.


After cleaning with nothing more than a wheel brush and soap/water. Once. To say I was blown away by how easy the wheels cleaned up would be an understatement. To clean these wheels every two weeks would an absolute joy. Having said that, there were a few tiny black dots of caked on brake dust on the lip of the wheel. Just for fun I used my wheel acid at 3:1. Sprayed it on and wiped it off with virtually no dwell time. After rinsing, the spots were gone and the water was sheeting off those areas as well as the rest of the wheel.


Another pic showing how clean the barrels are. Keep in mind these were hit once with a wheel brush and soap/water. NO WHEEL CLEANER OR APC EVER TOUCHED THESE WHEELS. Even the brake calipers cleaned up with just a light brushing and rinse. Nice

 

I love that I opti-coated my wheels when I got them. They are black so brake dust does not show much but other grime does and little soap as water in a foaming bottle is all I have ever needed...I will use GTech EXO on them to see how it does when put I too of OC and see if the wheel stays cleaner longer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Great wright ken I'll have to try that on my black wheel. I've been using Adam's sealant on my wheel for a while now and it doesn't work as good as opti-coat.

 

I wish Opticoat was around four years ago when my truck wheels were destroyed by road salt.

 

Nice testimony and results Ken!

 

What happened to the wheels? Were they uncoated? Or clearcoated?

If you're talking about corrosion underneath the clearcoat I highly doubt any wax or sealant product would have helped you with road salt. I have had my new aftermarket wheels completely destroyed by chicago salt winter too.... live and learn I guess.

 

What happened to the wheels? Were they uncoated? Or clearcoated?

If you're talking about corrosion underneath the clearcoat I highly doubt any wax or sealant product would have helped you with road salt. I have had my new aftermarket wheels completely destroyed by chicago salt winter too.... live and learn I guess.

 

Thanks for posting Ken. I'll be opti-coating a set of BMW wheels in the spring and hope to get the same results.

 

Nice going Ken! I've been doing this for a while as well now, but with Body Wrap. Any German car that comes through gets "upgraded" from regular wheel sealant and I will eventually make the move to everyone gets it.

 

Ken I wondered why I didn't do my wheels sooner. I did the bare aluminum wheels on my car last year and they still look freshly polished and they clean up without any work

 

Good work Ken. And to answer your question: it's because I wash the wheels on our cars about once a week. But if you cannot do this or live in a harsh climate such as yourself, it makes good sense.

 

cause i am lazy...........................

 

I picked up Wolf's Rim Shield, but this thread is making me think of using Opticoat instead. I'm just really nervous about putting a "permanent" sealant on any part of my car. I'm not sure my abilities are there yet.

 

I don't have opti coat yet, but I put DG501 and finish kare Hi-Temp on my wheels.
I am also kind of scare to use opti-coat, that's why I am going to buy Wolf's hard body.

 

In all honesty, if you can't apply Opti Coat without messing it up, you probably shouldn't leave the house without your helmet and supervision. If you are nervous, try it on your wheels first. Snooze, you're more than welcome to pop by and I'll show you how to use it.

 

I put Hardbody on my wheels, they are holding up going on two months already........ next set of wheels OC here I come

 

Factory Ford Chrome clearcoated, mainly on the inside part of the wheel, thousands of little rusty spots.

 

I have a bottle of Hardbody and i was gonna use it on my wheels, love the stuff on paint. my wheels are chrome plated, hoping itll bond. Ive used OC2 before on paint, it was ok followed the very vague instructions but the car i did got sold a few weeks later so i was never able to see the durability.

I may give opticoat another chance one day, the thing that turns me off is the container, i would definitely transfer it from the syringe into a dropper or spray bottle.

Im pretty sure hardbody will do well. we shall see.

 

For a solid cheap alternative, a nice coat of 476s allowed to set for 20-25 mins will last pretty long. Removal on the wheels is much easier then paint.

 

Planning to oc my new wheels when I go on vacation next week. No brainer if you purchase new wheels