Polishing OEM Grand Cherokee SRT8 Rims?

Hey guys, so I finally got my summer rim setup back on my '08 jeep and I cant help by stare at them with the swirls all over them. I believe that they are clearcoated aluminum from the factory and just want to find a way to clean them up. I was wondering what people have done that seemed to work well for them, or even if you have experience with those same rims please throw out some advice. Thanks guys!

*forgot to add I have a PC and a flex 3401 for reference*

 

I'd be curious to know too, might pick up replica SRT8 wheels in the future and this could help.

 

I would treat them like you treat paint; clean, clay, polish and seal.

 

see thats what im thinking. but after i posted this tried a little section of polishing and got a brownish transfer to the pad. I though black/brown transfer with polish was a signal of raw metal wheels?

 

Black transfer means oxidation is being removed which would translate to a non clear coated raw metal rim. I was told by a reputable aluminum polisher that the clear coat would need to be stripped in order to do it properly.

 

also heard that that, just was in denial i guess haha. I know i can use aircraft remover but idk how much i want to deal with that though ive heard its not that bad. Also If i stripped that clear down to the aluminum I'm guessing a new layer of clear wouldnt layer as well if reapplied?

 

Nope, a brown transfer would be embedded brake dust. Raw metal would come out BLACK, you would notice it. I've polished out similar rims, and I remember I used about 4-5 different products on it and can't remember which one worked :/. However, one of them did, and they made a pretty nice improvement, although I didn't spend too much time on them due to the customers budget. I used 4" pads and a rotary.

I believe I used M105 followed by 106FA.

Before:




After:

 

Ok gotcha, try to think really hard of what worked haha. good info though, If i can find a way to do it I would rather not remove the clear. plus ill work on my own time so i have as much time as i want to get it done!

 

They are clear coated according to the Cherokee SRT8 forums, but what do they know.

I have 2010 and my rims are made by Alcoa, I know for a fact that they are clear coated.

 

I think it is a fairly safe bet that rims aren't raw aluminum but it could be clear anodizing rather than clear coat paint or it could be both a clear ano process and a paint layer. Clear ano layers are usually really thin, .001" or less, and they aren't as tough as hard ano surfaces which are both thicker and harder. It is possible to get a light silvery grey finish in hard ano, more like Darkstar's "before" photo, but I very much doubt that factory rims would be hard anodized unless they were a rather expensive option.
Personally, I wouldn't want an un-coated aluminum finish on street wheels.