The rims that came with the 2005 Dak I just bought were Ultra Alloy's... they looked like crap since they were living up in the snow country. Not wanting to buy replacement rims, I decided to clean them up and see how they looked. This should also work on chrome, I suggest testing a very small spot 1st to see the results.
here's how I did it...
This Rim was in the bed of the truck and easiest to work with 1st, notice how it looks dull and has tons of crap on it.
I began by using a super fine steel wool followed by a metal polish.
1st use the steel wool to clean them up as much as possible. Make sure you knock off any gunk that may be stuck on them. Dont be shy about applying some muscle to it, the metal polish will take care of it.
Next take the metal polish and apply it using a clean cloth or paper towel. I used a paper towel and it seems to work great. You will need to put some muscle into it to get the deep cleaning you are after. they will look awesome when your done.
here is the finished pic...
Restore it... dont junk it.
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Polishing bare aluminum rims is one of those projects in which a little elbow grease pays off big. I had some American Racing rims on my '96 Chevy 2500 that looked exactly like the ones on your Dakota. I would dismount them and polish with the Mothers mini ball chucked in an electric drill, along with plenty of Mothers mag polish. The results were similar to what you achieved; not quite like new but pretty good.
that might be a better way to go... this takes a long time per rim. the results are worth it though.
One thing I would like to do is to clean up all of the holes. they appear to be not chromed and it looks like they have accumulated alot of dirt in there. any suggestions?
if it already looks like crap, I think you can only make it better by trying to restore it. you'd end up taking off all the clear coat in the process... these rims did not have any clear coat on them, as well as my 2005 ram chrome moto metals...
that might be a better way to go... this takes a long time per rim. the results are worth it though.
One thing I would like to do is to clean up all of the holes. they appear to be not chromed and it looks like they have accumulated alot of dirt in there. any suggestions?
The Mothers Mini Ball fit nicely into the holes on my American Racing Baja rims. They looked exactly like the rims on your Dakota, although the holes might be slightly different sizes.
DIY alloy wheel restore
