The clay bar "I believe" works well with bugs, tar, grim and other similar things. as far as break dust and stains... not sure. I have an 06 with the chrome clad 20" wheels and so far they look great. Like others I noticed the bit of corrosion of some sort along the outer edge but as far as the clad cover they look fine. I have just applied a coat of chrome polish every few months to keep its shine. The times where things collect on the covers, like winter, I just rubbed the polish in with a wax pad till the rim appears to be clean. Let them sit for maybe 10-15 minutes or until dry then use a sof rag to whipe off the polish. I just use auto soap and water to clean on a regular basis. Like I said my rims look great... so far.

On another note, 2002-2005 there are 2 different types of 20" rims. The first year or 2 they had the polished wheels with the clear coat. Then I think in 03 or 04 they came out with the option of chrome clad wheels, which are plastic covers on a steel wheel. If you have real chrome then at some point they must have been dipped. You can tell if they are polished obviously because you will see what appears as light surface marks on the finish, compared to chrome. Where as the chrome clads they look exaclty like chrome. Of course if you don't take care of them they will look like $**t regardless lol!

You guys may want to check into some new technology that has hit in a few areas. I was supposed to be working with a friend of mine who provides the finish but I didn't. Basically it is a finish thats is as tough as power coat but appears as chrome. When I say chrome I mean real chrome, not like paint or colors. They also have it in black chrome which is really nice. It can only be applied to NON-Chrome wheels. The best part about the finish is that it will never pit, chip, oxidize, corrode or peel which means you can have them on all year through nice weather to salt and snow. My friends company is called "U S Wheel Exchange". It is located in Madison Heights Michigan. The number is 248 373-1300. You either want to speak to Joe or Marcus. I will try to post some pics of samples.

 

Here are a couple examples of the the chrome finish and a couple of the black chrome finish. The Jag in the picture is a Jaguar XF with factory rims that do not come in chrome. The top picture I believe were aftermarket rims with the Black chrome finish. Thats pic was taken from a different site but the others were from my friend who provides the finish. I just wanted to show all of you some examples!

 

My '03 wheels appear to be polished aluminum with a very heavy clear coat. The truck came from the factory with wheel weights on the outside. They fractured the clear coat and the exposed aluminum appears to be corroding. I bought two new wheels (had an accident) and have insisted that wheel weights be on the inside only. So far so good. I'm going to start a new thread about wheel shops.

 

I have the 20" rimms also with the pitting rimms and plastic cover.
The dealer said they would not warranty the due to my negligence and that he has never seen this before. what a liar when i come to this forum its all over the place.
Has anyone got the dealer to cover this while truck is in the warranty period??
thanks

 

Lime away helps get the hard water spots off the plastic...not sure if it eats at the aluminum so i use it carefully.

 

I have aluminum rims with absolutely no plastic cover on them and proud of it! I just use Armor All Triple Action wheel cleaner on it and it works pretty well. I just follow the instructions and scrub the rims and tires (rims first) and it turns out really well. After I dry them I use Meguiars Mag and Aluminum rim polish and they turn out great!

 

I don't think anyone here wants 2003 rims on their 2009 though...