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Hummer H2For those who like a little more gleam to their Hummer, the H2 offers a similar rugged look as the H1, but as a lower cost, and with more added features, making it almost a massive luxury SUV.
The chrome on my Aluminum H2 OEM wheels is flaking so bad. I would like to remove and repaint. Any suggestions on how to do this at home on a budget? I heard sandblasting is not recommended on aluminum.
I used plasti-dip on my chrome rims, it turned out really well, still looks good after over 3 years. If you use regular paint, you will have to strip the chrome
mcu just like yours, mine were as bad if not worse, so I replaced them with the "alloy" version in the same Hummer style.
Have to say, that although alloys are more resilient, they still suffer corrosion, but for me were the best-fit, most cost effective solution, around $250 a corner.
This is what I found/concluded (in the UK):-
Shot blasting is difficult as chrome is harder than alloy, so the softer alloy gets blasted away 1st .
De-chroming is not allowed in the UK/Europe as the chemicals are banned, however you may find facilities in the US or Canada
Having said "banned" I did find a "back street" company that could de-chrome, but its quite expensive, the quality risk is high, so there's no guarentee on end results,
Flaking and corrosion on the insides causes air-leaks and tire deflation, so in the end you have to do something.
Any re-chrome would 1st require shot-blasting, or some other kind of surface preparation, followed by copper or some other pre-plating process. So in essance it's a multi-step process and likely to be expensive.
There are many alternatives to chrome, such as nickle-chrome, sliver powder-coat, etc, etc, which may be more durable, but nothing beats the look of chrome in my view.
Chrome rims do come up for sale now and then, but again the salt will eventually get to them and so in the end it will be back to "square one"
There are lots of aftermarket rims, but they do not compare to the original Hummer style, again in my view.
So I have a set of corroded wheels sitting in my garage looking for a solution, one day!
The key with any chrome wheels (or really any finish like powder coat, PVD, paint, etc) is to care for them properly. Especially if you live in an area where the roads are salted, near an ocean, etc. This means physically removing the wheels at least once a year and thoroughly cleaning the inside of the wheel and then anywhere you suspect that the finish might be compromised, seal that spot (or sooner than once a year if you notice a spot). Use clear coat, clear nail polish, paint, something. Any compromise to the finish must be sealed as soon as possible or moisture will begin to attack the edges of the finish and start spreading between the finish and the wheel. Brake dust is corrosive and needs to be removed often. It very often starts from the poor cleaning practice of using a brush to clean openings and being too rough so that the wire bristle support causes damage to the most inner sharp edges of the openings in the wheel. Those sharper edges are just easier to damage since the edge is so thin and sharp. Another common area are within deeper recesses where the plating just is not deposited as thick. Another common place it starts are where poorly designed edge clamp style wheel weights were installed that do not have a protective plastic inner edge and harshly hammered onto the edge of the rim and where weights (both edge and stick on ones) were pried off with metal tools directly against the finish. Another spot is the lug nut openings on some wheels are often recessed and have a somewhat sharp edge where lug wrenches/sockets are carelessly allowed to hit that sharp edge.
On my aftermarket full chrome wheels, when I got them (and since it is not terribly obvious) I got the inside of the wheel spotless, taped it off from the front, and put several coats of clear on as additional protection. I also diligently keep them clean and waxed with a good synthetic wax to help prevent anything corrosive like brake dust to adhering. The inside is always susceptible since small stones can often get slung up in there causing small chips or damage. Then just make sure to keep the outside clean and seal any sort of chip quickly. I still have my factory chrome wheels too (in near perfect condition). Of course some wheels might just have a defective or poorly done finish to begin with.... On removing chrome, yeah that is tricky. The proper method is basically the same as chrome plating itself but using the chemicals and current to dissolve the chrome back into solution by reversing the current. There is a place in Texas that does it stripping chrome and deplating, de-plating service , blasting ,acid dipping and cleaning and probably others around the country but costs may vary and well, because of the processes and chemicals a lot of places just have nowhere local that does plating work. Around here where I live, there is nowhere local that does chrome (some brass and copper since the chemicals are a lot less nasty and the regulations are not so tough to meet). I've sent parts out of state to be plated before.
i experimented with some chrome door Handel buckets that looked like your rim. i put it into an old metal pan i had put 2 pencils under it so the buckets would not touch the pan. then i took regular vinegar some water and salt and poured it into the metal pan. i then ran current from a power supply one clipped to the chrome door bucket the other clipped to the metal pan. Positive and negative makes a difference. if i remember i had the positive to the bucket and negative to the pan. it did eat the chrome and nickle but then left alot of the copper. it was a mess and smelled of salad so i decided to just sand the chrome down tried to smooth the edges as best as possible then i hit the buckets with a light sandblasting as we have sand blaster stations at work.i just wanted to roughen it up a bit so the primer would have something to grab to after that i primed it with raptor liner primer and sprayed it with raptor liner. the bucket handles came out great. i painted the back sides with black rustoleum instead of the raptor liner.
That looks like a lot more than minor flaking to me on those ones on eBay. That will only continue to get worse and worse. In my opinion, the best compromise to actual chrome are the factory optional wheels that were offered for about 2 years that are made by Alcoa (top of the line wheels) with a polished and clear coated aluminum finish. Alcoa wheels are well know in the big truck industry for their finish being near bulletproof if taken care of. That specific style are very rare to find and are not cheap though. If I had not scored a deal on the forged Weld wheels I have they are what I was going to try and find.
Pic of the rare special edition Alcoa made wheels... I've seen them posted on here before too. Can probably search for Alcoa on here and find more photos of them.
08-31-2020, 01:42 PM
Anything to do with Chrome flaking rims?
